Coronation (1762) , 1763–66 Catherine was crowned at the
Assumption Cathedral in
Moscow on 22 September 1762. Her coronation marks the creation of one of the main treasures of the Romanov dynasty, the
Great Imperial Crown of Russia, designed by Swiss-French court diamond jeweller
Jérémie Pauzié. Inspired by
Byzantine design, the crown was constructed of two half spheres, one gold and one silver, representing the Eastern and
Western Roman Empires, divided by a foliate garland and fastened with a low hoop. The crown contains 75 pearls and 4,936 Indian diamonds forming laurel and oak leaves, the symbols of power and strength, and is surmounted by a
398.62-carat ruby spinel and a diamond cross. The crown was produced in a record two months and weighed 2.3kg (5.1 lbs).
Foreign affairs , the chief architect of Catherine's foreign policy after the death of
Nikita Panin During her reign, Catherine extended the borders of the
Russian Empire by some , absorbing
New Russia,
Crimea, the
North Caucasus,
right-bank Ukraine,
Belarus,
Lithuania, and
Courland at the expense, mainly, of two powers—the
Ottoman Empire and the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. of Sweden and Empress Catherine II of Russia in
Fredrikshamn in 1783 Catherine's foreign minister,
Nikita Panin (in office 1763–1781), exercised considerable influence from the beginning of Catherine's reign. A shrewd statesman, Panin dedicated much effort and millions of
rubles to setting up a "Northern Accord" between Russia, Prussia, Poland, and Sweden to counter the power of the
Bourbon–
Habsburg League. When it became apparent that his plan could not succeed, Panin fell out of favour with Catherine and she had him replaced with
Ivan Osterman (in office 1781–1797). Catherine agreed to a
commercial treaty with
Great Britain in 1766, but stopped short of a full military alliance. Although she could see the benefits of friendship with Britain, Catherine was wary of Britain's increased power following
its victory in the Seven Years' War, which threatened the
European balance of power.
Russo-Turkish Wars 's uniform, by
Vigilius Eriksen Peter the Great had gained a foothold in the south, on the edge of the Black Sea, during the
Azov campaigns. Catherine completed the conquest of the south, making Russia the dominant power in the
Balkans following the
Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774. Russia inflicted some of the heaviest defeats ever suffered by the Ottoman Empire, including at the
Battle of Chesma (5–7 July 1770) and the
Battle of Kagul (21 July 1770). In 1769, a last major
Crimean–Nogai slave raid, which ravaged the
Russian held territories in Ukraine, saw the capture of up to 20,000 slaves for the
Crimean slave trade. Russia's victory brought the
Yedisan between the rivers
Bug and
Dnieper, and
Crimea into the Russian
sphere of influence. Though a series of victories accrued by the Russian Empire led to substantial territorial conquests, including direct conquest over much of the
Pontic–Caspian steppe, less Ottoman territory was directly annexed than might otherwise be expected due to a complex struggle within the European diplomatic system to maintain a
balance of power that was acceptable to other European states and avoided direct Russian
hegemony over Eastern Europe. Nonetheless, Russia took advantage of the weakened Ottoman Empire, the end of the
Seven Years' War, and the withdrawal of
France from Polish affairs to assert itself as one of the continent's primary military powers. The war left the Russian Empire in a strengthened position to expand its territory and maintain hegemony over the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, eventually leading to the
First Partition of Poland. Turkish losses included diplomatic defeats which led to its decline as a threat to Europe, the loss of its exclusive control over the
Orthodox millet, and the beginning of European bickering over the
Eastern Question that would feature in European diplomacy until the
dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of
World War I. The Russian victories procured access to the Black Sea and allowed Catherine's government to incorporate present-day southern Ukraine, where the Russians founded the new cities of
Odessa,
Nikolayev,
Yekaterinoslav (literally: "the Glory of Catherine") and
Kherson. The
Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca, signed 21 July 1774 (OS: 10 July 1774), gave the Russians territories at
Azov,
Kerch,
Yenikale,
Kinburn and the small strip of Black Sea coast between the rivers
Dnieper and
Bug. The treaty also removed restrictions on Russian naval and commercial traffic in the
Azov Sea, granted Russia the position of protector of Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire and made Crimea a protectorate of Russia. In 1770, Russia's State Council announced a policy in favour of eventual Crimean independence. Catherine named
Şahin Giray, a
Crimean Tatar leader, to head the Crimean state and maintain friendly relations with Russia. His period of rule proved disappointing after repeated effort to prop up his regime through military force and monetary aid. Finally, Catherine
annexed Crimea in 1783. The palace of the
Crimean Khanate passed into the hands of the Russians. In 1787, Catherine conducted a triumphal procession in the Crimea, which helped provoke the next Russo-Turkish War. It was widely expected that a 13,000-strong Russian corps would be led by the seasoned general
Ivan Gudovich, but the Empress followed the advice of her lover,
Prince Zubov, and entrusted the command to his youthful brother, Count
Valerian Zubov. The Russian troops set out from
Kizlyar in April 1796
and stormed the key fortress of
Derbent on 21 May (OS: 10 May). The event was glorified by the court poet
Derzhavin in his famous ode; he later commented bitterly on Zubov's inglorious return from the expedition in another famous poem. By mid-June 1796, Zubov's troops easily overran most of the territory of modern-day
Azerbaijan, including three principal cities—
Baku,
Shemakha, and
Ganja. By November, they were stationed at the confluence of the
Aras and
Kura Rivers, poised to attack mainland Iran. In this month, Catherine died, and her son and successor Paul I, who detested that the Zubovs had other plans for the army, ordered the troops to retreat to Russia. This reversal aroused the frustration and enmity of the powerful Zubovs and other officers who took part in the campaign; many of them would be among the conspirators who arranged Paul's murder five years later.
Relations with Western Europe of an attempted mediation between Catherine the Great (on the right, supported by Austria and France) and the Ottoman Empire.
William Pitt the Younger is shown in armour riding
George III, his horse. Catherine longed for recognition as an enlightened sovereign. She refused the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp, which had ports on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and refrained from having a Russian army in Germany. Instead, she pioneered for Russia the role that Britain later played through most of the 19th and early 20th centuries as an international mediator in disputes that could, or did, lead to war. She acted as mediator in the
War of the Bavarian Succession (1778–1779) between the German states of Prussia and Austria. In 1780, she established a
League of Armed Neutrality, designed to defend neutral shipping from being searched by the British
Royal Navy during the
American Revolutionary War. From 1788 to 1790, Russia fought a
war against Sweden instigated by Catherine's cousin, King Gustav III of Sweden, who expected to overrun the Russian armies still engaged in war against the Ottomans and hoped to strike Saint Petersburg directly. But Russia's
Baltic Fleet checked the Royal Swedish navy in the tied
Battle of Hogland (July 1788), and the Swedish army failed to advance. Denmark declared war on Sweden in 1788 (the
Theatre War). After the decisive defeat of the Russian fleet at the
Battle of Svensksund in 1790, the parties signed the
Treaty of Värälä (14 August 1790), returning all conquered territories to their respective owners and confirming the
Treaty of Åbo. Russia was to stop any involvement in the internal affairs of Sweden. Large sums were paid to Gustav III and peace ensued for 20 years even in spite of the assassination of Gustav III in 1792.
Partitions of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth carried out by Russia,
Prussia, and
Austria in 1772, 1793, and 1795 In 1764, Catherine placed
Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski, her former lover, on the
Polish throne. Although the idea of partitioning Poland came from Frederick II of Prussia, Catherine took a leading role in its execution in the 1790s. In 1768, she formally became the protector of the political rights of dissidents and peasants of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which provoked an
anti-Russian uprising in Poland, the
Confederation of Bar (1768–1772), supported by France. After the rebels, their French and European volunteers, and their allied Ottoman Empire had been defeated, she established in the Commonwealth a system of government fully controlled by the Russian Empire through a
Permanent Council, under the supervision of her
ambassadors and envoys. Empress Catherine was also satisfied despite the loss of Galicia to the Habsburg monarchy. By this "diplomatic document" Russia gained
Polish Livonia, and lands in eastern
Belarus embracing the counties of
Vitebsk,
Polotsk and
Mstislavl. In the
War in Defense of the Constitution, pro-Russian conservative Polish
magnates, the
Confederation of Targowica, fought against Polish forces supporting the constitution, believing that Russians would help them restore the
Golden Liberty. Abandoned by their Prussian allies, Polish pro-constitution forces, faced with Targowica units and the regular Russian army, were defeated. Prussia signed a treaty with Russia, agreeing that Polish reforms would be revoked, and both countries would receive chunks of Commonwealth territory. In 1793, deputies to the
Grodno Sejm, last Sejm of the Commonwealth, in the presence of the Russian forces, agreed to Russian territorial demands. In the Second Partition, Russia and Prussia helped themselves to enough land so that only one-third of the 1772 population remained in Poland. Prussia named its newly gained province
South Prussia, with
Poznań (and later Warsaw) as the capital of the new province.Targowica confederates, who did not expect another partition, and the king,
Stanisław August Poniatowski, who joined them near the end, both lost much prestige and support. The reformers, on the other hand, were attracting increasing support, and in 1794 the
Kościuszko Uprising began. Fearing that the
May Constitution of Poland (1791) might lead to a resurgence in the power of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the growing democratic movements inside the Commonwealth might become a threat to the European monarchies, Catherine decided to refrain from her planned intervention into France and to intervene in Poland instead. She provided support to a Polish anti-reform group known as the
Targowica Confederation. Kosciuszko's ragtag insurgent armies won some initial successes, but they eventually fell before the superior forces of the Russian Empire. The partitioning powers, seeing the increasing unrest in the remaining Commonwealth, decided to solve the problem by erasing any independent Polish state from the map. On 24 October 1795, their representatives signed a treaty, dividing the remaining territories of the Commonwealth between their three countries. One of Russia's chief foreign policy authors,
Alexander Bezborodko, advised Catherine II on the Second and Third Partitions of Poland. The Russian part included and 1.2 million people with
Vilnius. After defeating Polish loyalist forces in the
Polish–Russian War of 1792 and in the
Kościuszko Uprising (1794), Russia completed the partitioning of Poland, dividing all of the remaining Commonwealth territory with Prussia and Austria (1795).
Relations with China The
Qianlong Emperor of China was committed to an expansionist policy in Central Asia and saw the Russian Empire as a potential rival, making for difficult and unfriendly relations between Beijing and Saint Petersburg. In 1762, he unilaterally abrogated the
Treaty of Kyakhta, which governed the caravan trade between the two empires. Another source of tension was the wave of
Dzungar Mongol fugitives from the
Qing Empire who took refuge with the Russians. The
Dzungar genocide which was committed by the Qing Empire had led many Dzungars to seek sanctuary in the Russian Empire, and it was also one of the reasons for the abrogation of the Treaty of Kyakhta. Catherine perceived that the Qianlong Emperor was an unpleasant and arrogant neighbour, once saying: "I shall not die until I have ejected the Turks from Europe, suppressed the pride of China and established trade with India".
The evaluation of foreign policy Nicholas I, her grandson, evaluated the foreign policy of Catherine the Great as a dishonest one. Catherine failed to reach any of the initial goals she had put forward. Her foreign policy lacked a long-term strategy and from the very start was characterised by a series of mistakes. She lost the large territories of the Russian protectorate of the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania and left its territories to Prussia and Austria. The Commonwealth had become the Russian protectorate since the reign of Peter I, but he did not intervene into the problem of political freedoms of dissidents advocating for their religious freedoms only. Catherine did turn Russia into a global great power, not only a European one, but with quite a different reputation from what she initially had planned as an honest policy. The global trade of Russian natural resources and Russian grain provoked famines, starvation and fear of famines in Russia. Her dynasty lost power because of this and of a war with Austria and Germany, impossible without her foreign policy.
Economics and finance Catherine II ММД - Krasny Mint Russian economic development was well below the standards in western Europe. Historian François Cruzet writes that Russia under Catherine: Catherine imposed a comprehensive system of state regulation of merchants' activities. It was a failure because it narrowed and stifled entrepreneurship and did not reward economic development. She had more success when she strongly encouraged the migration of the
Volga Germans, farmers from Germany who settled mostly in the Volga River Valley region. They indeed helped modernise the sector that totally dominated the Russian economy. They introduced numerous innovations regarding wheat production and flour milling, tobacco culture, sheep raising, and small-scale manufacturing. In 1768, the
Assignation Bank was given the task of issuing the first government paper money. It opened in Saint Petersburg and Moscow in 1769. Several bank branches were afterwards established in other towns, called government towns. Paper notes were issued upon payment of similar sums in copper money, which were also refunded upon the presentation of those notes. The emergence of these
assignation roubles was necessary due to large government spending on military needs, which led to a shortage of silver in the treasury (transactions, especially in foreign trade, were conducted almost exclusively in silver and gold coins). Assignation roubles circulated on equal footing with the silver rouble; a market exchange rate for these two currencies was ongoing. The use of these notes continued until 1849. Catherine paid a great deal of attention to financial reform, and relied heavily on the advice of Prince A. A. Viazemski. She found that piecemeal reform worked poorly because there was no overall view of a comprehensive state budget. Money was needed for wars and necessitated the junking of the old financial institutions. A key principle was responsibilities defined by function. It was instituted by the Fundamental Law of 7 November 1775. Vaizemski's Office of State Revenue took centralised control and by 1781, the government possessed its first approximation of a state budget. Catherine then sought to have inoculations throughout her empire and stated: "My objective was, through my example, to save from death the multitude of my subjects who, not knowing the value of this technique, and frightened of it, were left in danger".
Serfs According to a census taken from 1754 to 1762, Catherine owned 500,000 serfs. A further 2.8 million belonged to the Russian state.
Rights and conditions At the time of Catherine's reign, the landowning noble class owned the serfs, who were bound to the land they tilled. Children of serfs were born into serfdom and worked the same land their parents had. Even before the rule of Catherine, serfs had very limited rights, but they were not exactly slaves. While the state did not technically allow them to own possessions, some serfs were able to accumulate enough wealth to pay for their freedom. The understanding of law in
Imperial Russia by all sections of society was often weak, confused, or nonexistent, particularly in the provinces where most serfs lived. This is why some serfs were able to do things such as to accumulate wealth. To become serfs, people conceded their freedoms to a landowner in exchange for their protection and support in times of hardship. In addition, they received land to till, but were taxed a certain percentage of their crops to give to their landowners. These were the privileges a serf was entitled to and that nobles were bound to carry out. All of this was true before Catherine's reign, and this is the system she inherited. Catherine did initiate some changes to serfdom. If a noble did not live up to his side of the deal, the serfs could file complaints against him by following the proper channels of law. Catherine gave them this new right, but in exchange they could no longer appeal directly to her. She did this because she did not want to be bothered by the peasantry, but did not want to give them reason to revolt. In this act, she gave the serfs a legitimate bureaucratic status they had lacked before. Some serfs were able to use their new status to their advantage. For example, serfs could apply to be freed if they were under illegal ownership, and non-nobles were not allowed to own serfs. Some serfs did apply for freedom and were successful. In addition, some governors listened to the complaints of serfs and punished nobles, but this was by no means universal. Other than these, the rights of a serf were very limited. A landowner could punish his serfs at his discretion, and under Catherine the Great gained the ability to sentence his serfs to hard labour in Siberia, a punishment normally reserved for convicted criminals. The only thing a noble could not do to his serfs was to kill them. The life of a serf belonged to the state. Historically, when the serfs faced problems they could not solve on their own (such as abusive masters), they often appealed to the autocrat, and continued doing so during Catherine's reign, but she signed legislation prohibiting it. Although she did not want to communicate directly with the serfs, she did create some measures to improve their conditions as a class and reduce the size of the institution of serfdom. For example, she took action to limit the number of new serfs; she eliminated many ways for people to become serfs, culminating in the manifesto of 17 March 1775, which prohibited a serf who had once been freed from becoming a serf again. While the majority of serfs were farmers bound to the land, a noble could have his serfs sent away to learn a trade or be educated at a school as well as employ them at businesses that paid wages. This happened more often during Catherine's reign because of the new schools she established. Only in this way—apart from conscription to the army—could a serf leave the farm for which he was responsible, but this was used for selling serfs to people who could not own them legally because of absence of nobility abroad.
Attitudes towards Catherine on Catherine's morals and on the
Russo-Turkish war, from 1791 The attitude of the serfs toward their autocrat had historically been a positive one, usually choosing to blame the nobles for blocking off communication with Catherine. Additionally, because the serfs had no political power, they frequently rioted to convey their message. They were suspicious of Catherine upon her accession because she had annulled an act by Peter III that essentially freed the serfs belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church. People far away from the capital were confused as to the circumstances of her accession to the throne. The peasants were discontented because of many other factors as well, including crop failure and epidemics, especially a major
epidemic in 1771. The nobles were imposing a stricter rule than ever, reducing the land of each serf and restricting their freedoms further beginning around 1767. Their discontent led to widespread outbreaks of violence and rioting during
Pugachev's Rebellion of 1774. The serfs most likely followed someone who was pretending to be
Peter III because of their feelings of disconnection to Catherine and her policies empowering the nobles, but this was not the first time they followed a pretender under Catherine's reign. Pugachev had made stories about himself acting as a real emperor should, doing noble things like helping the common people, listening to their problems, praying for them, and generally acting saintly, and this helped rally the peasants and serfs, with their already moral values, to his cause. Under the peasants' dislike of Catherine, she overall ruled for 10 years before their anger boiled over into a rebellion as extensive as Pugachev's. The rebellion ultimately failed as Catherine was pushed away from the idea of serf liberation following the violent uprising. Despite Catherine's enlightened ideals, the serfs were generally unhappy and discontented under her rule. == Arts and culture ==