Catherine's nobles 2. Provincial reform in Siberia and the Middle Volga region. Catherine's foreign policy

A foreigner by birth, she sincerely loved Russia and cared about the welfare of her subjects. Taking the throne through palace coup, the wife of Peter III tried to implement the best ideas of the European Enlightenment into the life of Russian society. At the same time, Catherine opposed the outbreak of the Great French Revolution (1789-1799), outraged by the execution of the French king Louis XVI of Bourbon (January 21, 1793) and predetermining Russia's participation in the anti-French coalition of European states at the beginning of the 19th century.

Catherine II Alekseevna (nee Sophia Augusta Frederica, Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst) was born on May 2, 1729 in the German city of Stettin (modern territory of Poland), and died on November 17, 1796 in St. Petersburg.

The daughter of Prince Christian August of Anhalt-Zerbst, who was in the Prussian service, and Princess Johanna Elisabeth (née Princess Holstein-Gottorp), she was related to the royal houses of Sweden, Prussia and England. She received a home education, the course of which, in addition to dancing and foreign languages also included the basics of history, geography and theology.

In 1744, she and her mother were invited to Russia by Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, and baptized according to Orthodox custom under the name of Ekaterina Alekseevna. Soon her engagement to Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich (future Emperor Peter III) was announced, and in 1745 they got married.

Catherine understood that the court loved Elizabeth, did not accept many of the oddities of the heir to the throne, and, perhaps, after Elizabeth’s death, it was she who, with the support of the court, would ascend to the Russian throne. Catherine studied the works of figures of the French Enlightenment, as well as jurisprudence, which had a significant impact on her worldview. In addition, she made as much effort as possible to study, and perhaps understand, the history and traditions of the Russian state. Because of her desire to know everything Russian, Catherine won the love of not only the court, but also the whole of St. Petersburg.

After the death of Elizaveta Petrovna, Catherine’s relationship with her husband, never distinguished by warmth and understanding, continued to deteriorate, taking on clearly hostile forms. Fearing arrest, Ekaterina, with the support of the Orlov brothers, N.I. Panina, K.G. Razumovsky, E.R. Dashkova, on the night of June 28, 1762, when the emperor was in Oranienbaum, carried out a palace coup. Peter III was exiled to Ropsha, where soon after mysterious circumstances died.

Having begun her reign, Catherine tried to implement the ideas of the Enlightenment and organize the state in accordance with the ideals of this powerful European intellectual movement. Almost from the first days of her reign, she actively participated in government affairs, proposing reforms that are significant for society. On her initiative, a reform of the Senate was carried out in 1763, which significantly increased the efficiency of its work. Wanting to strengthen the dependence of the church on the state, and provide additional land resources to the nobility supporting the policy of reforming society, Catherine carried out the secularization of church lands (1754). The unification of territorial management has begun Russian Empire, and the hetmanate in Ukraine was abolished.

A champion of Enlightenment, Catherine creates a number of new educational institutions, including for women (Smolny Institute, Catherine School).

In 1767, the empress convened a commission, which included representatives of all segments of the population, including peasants (except for serfs), to compose a new code - a code of laws. To guide the work of the Legislative Commission, Catherine wrote “The Mandate,” the text of which was based on the writings of educational authors. This document, in essence, was the liberal program of her reign.

After graduating from Russian- Turkish war 1768-1774 and the suppression of the uprising led by Emelyan Pugachev began new stage Catherine's reforms, when the empress independently developed the most important legislative acts and, taking advantage of the unlimited power of her power, put them into practice.

In 1775, a manifesto was issued that allowed the free opening of any industrial enterprises. In the same year, a provincial reform was carried out, which introduced a new administrative-territorial division of the country, which remained until 1917. In 1785, Catherine issued letters of grant to the nobility and cities.

In the foreign policy arena, Catherine II continued to pursue an offensive policy in all directions - northern, western and southern. The results of foreign policy can be called the strengthening of Russia's influence on European affairs, three sections of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, strengthening of positions in the Baltic states, annexation of Crimea, Georgia, participation in countering the forces of revolutionary France.

The contribution of Catherine II to Russian history is so significant that her memory is preserved in many works of our culture.

German princess on the Russian throne

Sophia Augusta Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbskaya (or as her family called her - Fike) on her way to Russia set herself two important lessons - to master the Russian language, customs and learn to please. Fike succeeded. Her outstanding abilities allowed her to occupy the throne of the Russian Empire for 34 years. However, before becoming Catherine the Great, the German princess had a hard time.

Fight for place
In February 1744, Fike arrived in Moscow, where the imperial court was located at that time. With enviable persistence, she took up the study of the Russian language. On June 28, 1744, the German woman converted to Orthodoxy. During her address, she clearly pronounced her confession in good Russian, which greatly surprised those present. The next day, the princess became engaged to Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich. After this, she received the title of Grand Duchess and a new name - Ekaterina Alekseevna.
Ekaterina Alekseevna’s position was not an easy one. She found herself in a foreign country, her husband neglected her, and Empress Elizabeth humiliated her. For 18 years, the Grand Duchess waged a hidden struggle for her place at the Russian court.
Therefore, when the time came, Catherine acted boldly and decisively.
After the death of Elizabeth on December 25, 1761, Peter III ascended the throne. The new emperor did not behave quite adequately (an admirer of Frederick II, the first thing he did was stop Russia’s victorious participation in the Seven Years’ War and signed an agreement according to which all its lands were returned to Prussia), turning not only his surroundings against himself.

As a result, not only the guard regiments, but also the Senate and the Synod readily swore allegiance to Catherine, who led the coup.

As historian Vasily Klyuchevsky noted, she was “the last accident on the Russian throne.” Catherine all the time “with a firm, although inaudible, step walked along the intended path, creeping up to the throne.” As a result, she illegally seized power twice: she took it away from her husband and did not transfer it to her son Pavel.
Being German by origin, she learned the main thing - the Russian empress must put the interests of Russia first and tried not to deviate from this fundamental rule. Possessing enormous capacity for work, willpower and determination, the autocrat was able to different conditions suppress emotional outbursts.
Catherine II began her reign with internal reforms. The Secret Expedition was established - the highest body of political supervision and investigation, the hetmanate in Ukraine was abolished, and monastery lands were alienated and transferred to the state. Catherine II cleverly fragmented the united noble Senate, which forever lost its former importance after a decree was signed in September 1763 dividing it into six departments. Subsequently, the Empress single-handedly headed the central government apparatus, only in individual cases convening as an advisory body the Council at the Highest Court, composed of major dignitaries of her choice.
Also in Russia, the first banknotes (paper money) were put into circulation, and new credit institutions appeared - the State Bank and the Loan Treasury. In the same year, Catherine II created a medical commission and orders of public charity, which for the first time began to deal with health issues. An associate of Catherine II, Ivan Betskoy, thought out and brought into reality a system of educational institutions, which included boarding schools, pedagogical, artistic, medical, commercial and drama schools. The following were opened: a school at the Academy of Arts, a commercial school, the Educational Society for Noble Maidens in St. Petersburg and the Catherine School - the first women's educational establishments. Subsequently, the empress continued the education reform: a system of public schools for the mixed population was developed, which opened in cities, counties and large villages.
After the end of the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774 and the suppression of the uprising led by Pugachev, a new stage of Catherine’s reforms began. In 1775, a manifesto was issued that allowed the free establishment of any industrial enterprises. Merchants who owned capital over 500 rubles were exempt from the poll tax and paid a fee of 1% on capital; They could get rid of conscription by paying 360 rubles. The Empress also adopted a preferential customs tariff for the Black Sea ports and abolished industrial and trade monopolies. Development southern Russia made grain trade on the Black Sea possible; New cities were founded in Russia, a naval base was built in Sevastopol. All these activities contributed to the expansion of exports and the improvement of various industries.
In the same year, the “Institution for managing the province of the All-Russian Empire” appeared. The new provincial reform introduced changes to local government. Instead of the previous three levels of regional government - province, province and district - only two remain - province and district. The number of provinces increased from 20 to 50. Catherine II personally selected people known to her who had already proven themselves to the highest administrative positions. The provincial reform significantly strengthened state power in places. The established institutions (provincial board, upper zemstvo court, provincial magistrate, upper zemstvo justice, orders of public charity, noble guardianship, orphan's court) performed extensive functions.

In 1785, Catherine II issued her most important legislative acts - charters granted to the nobility and cities.

Thus, the empress stimulated the creation in Russia of full-fledged estates of the Western European type. For the Russian nobility, a charter meant the legal consolidation of almost all the rights and privileges they had.
A third charter was also prepared - for state peasants, but it never came into effect. Despite the fact that Catherine was a staunch opponent of serfdom (her papers contained discussions on various options for the elimination of serfdom), she did not dare to do anything concrete in this area for fear of a palace coup.

Golden age
In the foreign policy of the state, not a single serious issue passed by Catherine II. “I want to manage myself. And let Europe know about this!” - she said to her favorite Grigory Potemkin. Catherine had significant experience in international affairs. She mastered the art of pretense, which in the 18th century was considered the main quality of a diplomat. “They will be very mistaken,” she said about herself, “whoever judges matters by the initial methods.”

The Empress believed that Russia should take an active position on the world stage and pursue an offensive policy.

In 1764, Catherine II achieved the election of her protege Stanislav Poniatowski to the Polish throne and supported him in every possible way, providing assistance in the fight against the Bar Confederation (it was convened to counter Russian influence in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and advocated for the deposition of Poniatowski). The Confederation, in turn, sought support from France and Ottoman Empire. Taking advantage of the attack of the Haidamaks on the border Tatar village of Galta, Porta, at the instigation of France and counting on the assistance of Austria, declared war on Russia under the pretext of its non-compliance with treaties regarding the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
The Russian-Turkish war was generally successful for Russia, but the difficult internal political situation prompted the country to seek peace, for which it was necessary to restore relations with Austria. As a result, a compromise was reached; Russia, Prussia and Austria carried out the first division of part of Polish territory. The Kyuchuk-Kainardzhi Peace Treaty was signed with Turkey, which ensured the independence of Crimea, which was beneficial for Russia. Also came under the rule of the empire Black Sea coast with the fortresses of Kerch, Yenikale and Kinburn.
In subsequent years, Russian positions in Crimea and the Caucasus were strengthened, culminating in the inclusion of Crimea into Russia and the signing of the Treaty of Georgievsk with the Kartli-Kakheti king Erekle II in 1783 (the treaty ensured the presence of Russian troops in Georgia).
In 1787, Catherine II, accompanied by the court, foreign diplomats, the Austrian Emperor Joseph II and the Polish King Stanislav Poniatowski, made a trip to the Crimea, which became a grandiose demonstration of Russian military power. Soon after this it began new war with Turkey (1787 - 1791). Russia successfully dealt with the enemy. The Treaty of Jassy was signed, which consolidated Russian influence in Bessarabia and Transcaucasia, as well as the annexation of Crimea. In 1793 and 1795, the second and third partitions of Poland took place, ending Polish statehood.

The territory of the country expanded due to the conquered lands, the influence of the empire grew so much that, in the words of Chancellor Alexander Bezborodko, “not a single cannon in Europe dared to fire without our permission.”

Russia included the Northern Black Sea region, Crimea, North Caucasus, Western Ukrainian, Belarusian and Lithuanian lands. In the east, the development and settlement of Alaska and California by Russians began. The Aleutian Islands went to Russia.
Catherine II, a subtle psychologist and an excellent judge of people, skillfully selected bright and talented associates for herself. Her time was marked by the appearance of a galaxy of outstanding statesmen, generals, writers, artists, and musicians. Catherine’s reign was considered to be the “golden age” of the Russian nobility. However, the end of the empress's reign was not so glorious. Millions of sums were spent on the favorites, the results of numerous wars also affected them, expenses on the army and navy doubled. The excessive issue of banknotes led to the depreciation of the ruble. The country's external debt amounted to 41.4 million rubles. However, huge territorial expansions, industrial growth, and an increase in the number of hospitals and schools as a result successful activities The empress allowed her descendants to name Catherine the Great. The autocrat died after an apoplexy on November 6, 1796.

Special for the Centenary

(1729-1796) Russian empress from 1762 to 1796

Her real name was Sophia Frederika Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst. In 1743, she came to Russia from Stettin to become the wife of the nephew of Empress Anna Ioannovna Peter of Holstein-Gottorp - the future Tsar Peter III. On August 21, 1745, their marriage took place, and she became Grand Duchess Ekaterina.

Until the end of her reign, the Empress never managed to combine two incompatible desires: to become famous throughout the world for her liberal views and reforms and not to allow any freedoms in Russia. These contradictions of hers were especially evident in her relations with educated people. She instructed Ekaterina Dashkova, one of the most educated women of that time, to develop a project for the creation of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and supported secular education. At the same time, it was during her reign that already strict censorship was established.

The Empress was afraid of the slightest manifestation of free-thinking and severely punished A.N. Radishchev for his criticism of the existing order, set out in the book “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow”, at the same time punishing N.I. Novikov, who dared to publish this book.

At the end of her reign, Catherine II ordered the dissolution of all Masonic lodges. N.I. Novikov was arrested and imprisoned in the Shlisselburg fortress, Prince Trubetskoy was exiled.

Nevertheless, Catherine II was an extraordinary and bright personality, a brilliant publicist and writer. She wrote a lot on the most different topics, left behind personal “Notes” and numerous letters. Her correspondence with Diderot and Voltaire is especially interesting. True, she wrote mainly in French, since Russian remained the language of everyday communication for her.

Empress of All Russia (June 28, 1762 - November 6, 1796). Her reign is one of the most remarkable in Russian history; and dark and bright sides he had a tremendous influence on subsequent events, especially on the mental and cultural development of the country. The wife of Peter III, nee Princess of Anhalt-Zerbt (born April 24, 1729), was naturally gifted with a great mind and strong character; on the contrary, her husband was a weak man, poorly brought up. Not sharing his pleasures, Catherine devoted herself to reading and soon moved from novels to historical and philosophical books. A select circle formed around her, in which Catherine’s greatest trust was enjoyed first by Saltykov, and then by Stanislav Poniatovsky, later the King of Poland. Her relationship with Empress Elizabeth was not particularly cordial: when Catherine’s son, Paul, was born, the Empress took the child to her place and rarely allowed the mother to see him. Elizabeth died on December 25, 1761; with the accession of Peter III to the throne, Catherine’s position became even worse. The coup of June 28, 1762 elevated Catherine to the throne (see Peter III). The harsh school of life and enormous natural intelligence helped Catherine herself to get out of a very difficult situation and to lead Russia out of it. The treasury was empty; the monopoly crushed trade and industry; factory peasants and serfs were worried about rumors of freedom, which were renewed every now and then; peasants from the western border fled to Poland. Under such circumstances, Catherine ascended the throne, the rights to which belonged to her son. But she understood that this son would become a plaything on the throne, like Peter II. The regency was a fragile affair. The fate of Menshikov, Biron, Anna Leopoldovna was in everyone’s memory.

Catherine's penetrating gaze stopped equally attentively on the phenomena of life both at home and abroad. Having learned, two months after her accession to the throne, that the famous French Encyclopedia had been condemned by the Parisian parliament for atheism and its continuation was prohibited, Catherine invited Voltaire and Diderot to publish the encyclopedia in Riga. This one proposal won over the best minds, who then gave direction to public opinion throughout Europe, to Catherine’s side. In the fall of 1762, Catherine was crowned and spent the winter in Moscow. In the summer of 1764, Second Lieutenant Mirovich decided to elevate to the throne Ioann Antonovich, the son of Anna Leopoldovna and Anton Ulrich of Brunswick, who was kept in the Shlisselburg fortress. The plan failed - Ivan Antonovich, during an attempt to free him, was shot by one of the guard soldiers; Mirovich was executed by court verdict. In 1764, Prince Vyazemsky, sent to pacify the peasants assigned to the factories, was ordered to investigate the question of the benefits of free labor over hired labor. The same question was proposed to the newly established Economic Society (see Free Economic Society and Serfdom). First of all, the issue of the monastery peasants, which had become especially acute even under Elizabeth, had to be resolved. At the beginning of her reign, Elizabeth returned the estates to monasteries and churches, but in 1757 she, along with the dignitaries around her, came to the conviction of the need to transfer the management of church property to secular hands. Peter III ordered that Elizabeth's instructions be fulfilled and the management of church property be transferred to the board of economy. Inventories of monastery property were carried out, under Peter III, extremely roughly. When Catherine II ascended the throne, the bishops filed complaints with her and asked for the return of control of church property to them. Catherine, on the advice of Bestuzhev-Ryumin, satisfied their desire, abolished the board of economy, but did not abandon her intention, but only postponed its execution; She then ordered that the 1757 commission resume its studies. It was ordered to make new inventories of monastic and church property; but the clergy was also dissatisfied with the new inventories; The Rostov Metropolitan Arseny Matseevich especially rebelled against them. In his report to the synod, he expressed himself harshly, arbitrarily interpreting church historical facts, even distorting them and making comparisons offensive to Catherine. The Synod presented the case to the Empress, in the hope (as Solovyov thinks) that Catherine II this time will show her usual gentleness. The hope was not justified: Arseny's report caused such irritation in Catherine, which had not been noticed in her either before or since. She could not forgive Arseny for comparing her with Julian and Judas and the desire to make her out to be a violator of her word. Arseny was sentenced to exile to the Arkhangelsk diocese, to the Nikolaev Korelsky Monastery, and then, as a result of new accusations, to deprivation of the monastic dignity and lifelong imprisonment in Revel (see Arseny Matseevich). The following incident from the beginning of her reign is typical for Catherine II. The matter of allowing Jews to enter Russia was reported. Catherine said that to begin the reign with a decree on the free entry of Jews would be a bad way to calm minds; It is impossible to recognize entry as harmful. Then Senator Prince Odoevsky suggested looking at what Empress Elizabeth wrote in the margins of the same report. Catherine demanded a report and read: “I do not want selfish profit from the enemies of Christ.” Turning to the prosecutor general, she said: “I wish this case to be postponed.”

The increase in the number of serfs through huge distributions to the favorites and dignitaries of the populated estates, the establishment of serfdom in Little Russia, lies entirely dark spot in memory of Catherine II. One should not, however, lose sight of the fact that the underdevelopment of Russian society at that time was evident at every step. So, when Catherine II decided to abolish torture and proposed this measure to the Senate, senators expressed concern that if torture was abolished, no one, going to bed, would be sure whether he would get up alive in the morning. Therefore, Catherine, without publicly abolishing torture, sent out a secret order that in cases where torture was used, judges would base their actions on Chapter X of the Order, in which torture was condemned as a cruel and extremely stupid matter. At the beginning of the reign of Catherine II, an attempt was renewed to create an institution resembling the Supreme Privy Council or the Cabinet that replaced it, in a new form, under the name of the permanent council of the empress. The author of the project was Count Panin. Feldzeichmeister General Villebois wrote to the Empress: “I don’t know who the drafter of this project is, but it seems to me as if, under the guise of protecting the monarchy, he is subtly leaning more towards aristocratic rule.” Villebois was right; but Catherine II herself understood the oligarchic nature of the project. She signed it, but kept it under wraps and it was never made public. Thus Panin's idea of ​​a council of six permanent members remained just a dream; private advice Catherine II always consisted of changing members. Knowing how the transition of Peter III to the side of Prussia irritated public opinion, Catherine ordered the Russian generals to maintain neutrality and thereby contributed to ending the war (see Seven Years' War). The internal affairs of the state required special attention: what was most striking was the lack of justice. Catherine II expressed herself energetically on this matter: “extortion has increased to such an extent that there is hardly the smallest place in the government in which a court would be held without infecting this ulcer; if anyone is looking for a place, he pays; if anyone is defending himself from slander, he defends himself with money; Whether anyone slanderes anyone, he backs up all his cunning machinations with gifts.” Catherine was especially amazed when she learned that within the current Novgorod province they took money from peasants for swearing allegiance to her. This state of justice forced Catherine II to convene a commission in 1766 to publish the Code. Catherine II handed this commission an Order, which it was to be guided by when drawing up the Code. The mandate was drawn up based on the ideas of Montesquieu and Beccaria (see Mandate [ Big] and the Commission of 1766). Polish affairs, the first Turkish war that arose from them, and internal unrest suspended the legislative activity of Catherine II until 1775. Polish affairs caused the divisions and fall of Poland: according to the first partition of 1773, Russia received the current provinces of Mogilev, Vitebsk, part of Minsk, i.e. most of Belarus (see Poland). The first Turkish war began in 1768 and ended in peace in Kuchuk-Kaynarji, which was ratified in 1775. According to this peace, the Porte recognized the independence of the Crimean and Budzhak Tatars; ceded Azov, Kerch, Yenikale and Kinburn to Russia; opened free passage for Russian ships from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean; granted forgiveness to Christians who took part in the war; allowed Russia's petition in Moldovan cases. During the first Turkish war, a plague raged in Moscow, causing a plague riot; In eastern Russia, an even more dangerous rebellion broke out, known as the Pugachevshchina. In 1770, the plague from the army entered Little Russia; in the spring of 1771 it appeared in Moscow; the commander-in-chief (currently the governor-general) Count Saltykov left the city to the mercy of fate. Retired General Eropkin voluntarily took upon himself the difficult responsibility of maintaining order and easing the plague through preventive measures. The townsfolk did not follow his instructions and not only did not burn the clothes and linen of those who died of the plague, but they hid their very death and buried them in the outskirts. The plague intensified: in the early summer of 1771, 400 people died every day. The people crowded in horror at the Barbarian Gate, in front of the miraculous icon. The infection from crowding of people, of course, intensified. The then Moscow Archbishop Ambrose (q.v.), an enlightened man, ordered the icon to be removed. A rumor immediately spread that the bishop, together with the doctors, had conspired to kill the people. The ignorant and fanatical crowd, mad with fear, killed the worthy archpastor. Rumors spread that the rebels were preparing to set Moscow on fire and exterminate doctors and nobles. Eropkin, with several companies, managed, however, to restore calm. In the last days of September, Count Grigory Orlov, then the closest person to Catherine, arrived in Moscow: but at this time the plague was already weakening and stopped in October. This plague killed 130,000 people in Moscow alone.

The Pugachev rebellion was started by the Yaik Cossacks, dissatisfied with the changes in their Cossack life. In 1773, the Don Cossack Emelyan Pugachev (q.v.) took the name of Peter III and raised the banner of rebellion. Catherine II entrusted the pacification of the rebellion to Bibikov, who immediately understood the essence of the matter; It’s not Pugachev that’s important, he said, it’s the general displeasure that’s important. The Yaik Cossacks and the rebellious peasants were joined by the Bashkirs, Kalmyks, and Kyrgyz. Bibikov, giving orders from Kazan, moved detachments from all sides to more dangerous places; Prince Golitsyn liberated Orenburg, Mikhelson - Ufa, Mansurov - Yaitsky town. At the beginning of 1774, the rebellion began to subside, but Bibikov died of exhaustion, and the rebellion flared up again: Pugachev captured Kazan and moved to the right bank of the Volga. Bibikov's place was taken by Count P. Panin, but did not replace him. Mikhelson defeated Pugachev near Arzamas and blocked his path to Moscow. Pugachev rushed to the south, took Penza, Petrovsk, Saratov and hanged nobles everywhere. From Saratov he moved to Tsaritsyn, but was repulsed and at Cherny Yar was again defeated by Mikhelson. When Suvorov arrived to the army, the impostor barely held on and was soon betrayed by his accomplices. In January 1775, Pugachev was executed in Moscow (see Pugachevshchina). Since 1775, the legislative activity of Catherine II resumed, which, however, had not stopped before. Thus, in 1768, the commercial and noble banks were abolished and the so-called assignat or change bank was established (see Assignations). In 1775, the existence of the Zaporozhye Sich, which was already heading towards collapse, ceased to exist. In the same 1775, the transformation of provincial government began. An institution was published for the management of provinces, which was introduced for twenty whole years: in 1775 it began with the Tver province and ended in 1796 with the establishment of the Vilna province (see Governorate). Thus, the reform of provincial government, begun by Peter the Great, was brought out of the chaotic state by Catherine II and completed by her. In 1776, Catherine ordered the word in petitions slave replace with the word loyal. Towards the end of the first Turkish war, Potemkin, who strove for great things, became especially important. Together with his collaborator, Bezborodko, he compiled a project known as the Greek one. The grandeur of this project - by destroying the Ottoman Porte, restoring the Greek Empire, to the throne of which Konstantin Pavlovich would be installed - pleased E. An opponent of Potemkin's influence and plans, Count N. Panin, tutor of Tsarevich Paul and president of the College of Foreign Affairs, in order to distract Catherine II from the Greek project , presented her with a project of armed neutrality in 1780. Armed neutrality (q.v.) was intended to provide protection to the trade of neutral states during the war and was directed against England, which was unfavorable for Potemkin’s plans. Pursuing his broad and useless plan for Russia, Potemkin prepared an extremely useful and necessary thing for Russia - the annexation of Crimea. In Crimea, since the recognition of its independence, two parties were worried - Russian and Turkish. Their struggle gave rise to the occupation of Crimea and the Kuban region. The Manifesto of 1783 announced the annexation of Crimea and the Kuban region to Russia. The last Khan Shagin-Girey was sent to Voronezh; Crimea was renamed the Tauride province; Crimean raids stopped. It is believed that due to the raids of the Crimeans, the Great and Little Russia and part of Poland, from the 15th century. until 1788, it lost from 3 to 4 million of its population: captives were turned into slaves, captives filled harems or became slaves in the ranks of female servants. In Constantinople, the Mamelukes had Russian nurses and nannies. In the XVI, XVII and even in the XVIII centuries. Venice and France used shackled Russian slaves purchased in the markets of the Levant as galley laborers. Pious Louis XIV I tried only to ensure that these slaves did not remain schismatics. The annexation of Crimea put an end to the shameful trade in Russian slaves (see V. Lamansky in the Historical Bulletin for 1880: “The Power of the Turks in Europe”). Following this, Irakli II, the king of Georgia, recognized the protectorate of Russia. The year 1785 was marked by two important legislative acts: Charter granted to the nobility(see nobility) and City regulations(see City). The charter on public schools on August 15, 1786 was implemented only on a small scale. Projects to found universities in Pskov, Chernigov, Penza and Yekaterinoslav were postponed. In 1783, the Russian Academy was founded to study the native language. The founding of the institutions marked the beginning of women's education. Orphanages were established, smallpox vaccination was introduced, and the Pallas expedition was equipped to study the remote outskirts.

Potemkin's enemies interpreted, not understanding the importance of acquiring Crimea, that Crimea and Novorossiya were not worth the money spent on their establishment. Then Catherine II decided to explore the newly acquired region herself. Accompanied by the Austrian, English and French ambassadors, with a huge retinue, in 1787 she set off on a journey. The Archbishop of Mogilev, Georgy Konissky, met her in Mstislavl with a speech that was famous by her contemporaries as an example of eloquence. The whole character of the speech is determined by its beginning: “Let us leave it to the astronomers to prove that the Earth revolves around the Sun: our sun moves around us.” In Kanev, Stanislav Poniatovsky, King of Poland, met Catherine II; near Keidan - Emperor Joseph II. He and Catherine laid the first stone of the city of Yekaterinoslav, visited Kherson and inspected the Black Sea fleet that Potemkin had just created. During the journey, Joseph noticed the theatricality in the situation, saw how people were hastily herded into villages that were supposedly under construction; but in Kherson he saw the real deal - and gave justice to Potemkin.

The Second Turkish War under Catherine II was fought in alliance with Joseph II, from 1787 to 1791. In 1791, on December 29, peace was concluded in Iasi. For all the victories, Russia received only Ochakov and the steppe between the Bug and the Dnieper (see Turkish wars and the Peace of Jassy). At the same time, there was, with varying success, a war with Sweden, declared by Gustav III in 1789 (see Sweden). It ended on August 3, 1790 with the Peace of Verel (see), based on the status quo. During the 2nd Turkish War, a coup took place in Poland: on May 3, 1791, a new constitution was promulgated, which led to the second partition of Poland, in 1793, and then to the third, in 1795 (see Poland). Under the second section, Russia received the rest of the Minsk province, Volyn and Podolia, and under the 3rd - the Grodno Voivodeship and Courland. In 1796, in the last year of the reign of Catherine II, Count Valerian Zubov, appointed commander-in-chief in the campaign against Persia, conquered Derbent and Baku; His successes were stopped by the death of Catherine.

The last years of the reign of Catherine II were darkened, from 1790, by a reactionary direction. Then the French Revolution broke out, and the pan-European, Jesuit-oligarchic reaction entered into an alliance with our reaction at home. Her agent and instrument was Catherine’s last favorite, Prince Platon Zubov, together with his brother, Count Valerian. European reaction wanted to drag Russia into the struggle with revolutionary France - a struggle alien to the direct interests of Russia. Catherine II spoke kind words to the representatives of the reaction and did not give a single soldier. Then the undermining of the throne of Catherine II intensified, and accusations were renewed that she was illegally occupying the throne that belonged to Pavel Petrovich. There is reason to believe that in 1790 an attempt was being made to elevate Pavel Petrovich to the throne. This attempt was probably connected with the expulsion of Prince Frederick of Württemberg from St. Petersburg. The reaction at home then accused Catherine of allegedly being excessively free-thinking. The basis for the accusation was, among other things, permission to translate Voltaire and participation in the translation of Belisarius, Marmontel's story, which was found anti-religious, because it did not indicate the difference between Christian and pagan virtue. Catherine II grew old, there was almost no trace of her former courage and energy - and so, under such circumstances, in 1790 Radishchev’s book “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow” appeared, with a project for the liberation of the peasants, as if written out from the published articles of her Order. The unfortunate Radishchev was punished by exile to Siberia. Perhaps this cruelty was the result of the fear that the exclusion of articles on the emancipation of peasants from the Order would be considered hypocrisy on the part of Catherine. In 1792, Novikov, who had served so much in Russian education, was imprisoned in Shlisselburg. The secret motive for this measure was Novikov’s relationship with Pavel Petrovich. In 1793, Knyazhnin suffered cruelly for his tragedy "Vadim". In 1795, even Derzhavin was suspected of being in a revolutionary direction, for his transcription of Psalm 81, entitled “To Rulers and Judges.” Thus ended the educational reign of Catherine the Second, which raised the national spirit, this great man(Catherine le grand). Despite the reaction of recent years, the name of educational activity will remain with him in history. From this reign in Russia they began to realize the importance of humane ideas, they began to talk about the right of man to think for the benefit of his own kind [We almost did not touch on the weaknesses of Catherine the Second, recalling the words of Renan: “serious history should not attach too much of great importance morals of sovereigns, if these morals did not have much influence on the general course of affairs." Under Catherine, Zubov’s influence was harmful, but only because he was an instrument of a harmful party.].

Literature. The works of Kolotov, Sumarokov, Lefort are panegyrics. Of the new ones, Brickner's work is more satisfactory. Bilbasov's very important work is not finished; Only one volume was published in Russian, two in German. S. M. Solovyov, in the XXIX volume of his history of Russia, focused on peace in Kuchuk-Kainardzhi. The foreign works of Ruliere and Custer cannot be ignored only because of undeserved attention to them. Of the countless memoirs, Khrapovitsky's memoirs are especially important (the best edition is by N.P. Barsukova). See Waliszewski's newest work: "Le Roman d"une impératrice". Works on individual issues are indicated in the corresponding articles. The publications of the Imperial Historical Society are extremely important.

E. Belov.

Gifted with literary talent, receptive and sensitive to phenomena surrounding life Catherine II also took an active part in the literature of her time. The literary movement she excited was dedicated to the development of educational ideas of the 18th century. Thoughts on education, briefly outlined in one of the chapters of “Instruction,” were subsequently developed in detail by Catherine in allegorical tales: “About Tsarevich Chlor” (1781) and “About Tsarevich Fevey” (1782), and mainly in “Instructions to Prince N. Saltykov" given upon his appointment as tutor to the Grand Dukes Alexander and Konstantin Pavlovich (1784). Pedagogical ideas Catherine mainly borrowed ideas expressed in these writings from Montaigne and Locke: from the first she took a general view of the goals of education, and she used the second when developing particulars. Guided by Montaigne, Catherine II put the moral element in first place in education - the rooting in the soul of humanity, justice, respect for laws, and condescension towards people. At the same time, she demanded that the mental and physical aspects of education be properly developed. Personally raising her grandchildren up to the age of seven, she compiled a whole educational library. Catherine also wrote “Notes on Russian History” for the Grand Dukes. In purely fictional works, which include magazine articles and dramatic works, Catherine II is much more original than in works of a pedagogical and legislative nature. Pointing out actual contradictions to the ideals that existed in society, her comedies and satirical articles were supposed to significantly contribute to the development of public consciousness, making the importance and expediency of the reforms she was undertaking more clear.

The beginning of Catherine II's public literary activity dates back to 1769, when she became an active collaborator and inspirer of the satirical magazine "Everything and Everything" (see). The patronizing tone adopted by "Everything and Everything" in relation to other magazines, and the instability of its direction, soon armed almost all the magazines of that time against it; her main opponent was the brave and direct “Drone” of N. I. Novikov. The latter's harsh attacks on judges, governors and prosecutors greatly displeased "Everything"; It is impossible to say positively who conducted the polemics against “Drone” in this magazine, but it is reliably known that one of the articles directed against Novikov belonged to the empress herself. In the period from 1769 to 1783, when Catherine again acted as a journalist, she wrote five comedies, and between them her best plays: “About Time” and “Mrs. Vorchalkina’s Name Day.” The purely literary merits of Catherine's comedies are not high: they have little action, the intrigue is too simple, the denouement is monotonous. They are written in the spirit and model of French modern comedies, in which servants are more developed and intelligent than their masters. But at the same time, in Catherine’s comedies, purely Russian social vices are ridiculed and Russian types appear. Hypocrisy, superstition, bad education, the pursuit of fashion, blind imitation of the French - these are the themes that Catherine developed in her comedies. These topics were already outlined by our satirical magazines 1769 and, by the way, "All sorts of things"; but what was presented in magazines in the form of separate pictures, characteristics, sketches, in the comedies of Catherine II received a more integral and bright image. The types of the stingy and heartless prude Khanzhakhina, the superstitious gossip Vestnikova in the comedy "About Time", the petimeter Firlyufyushkov and the projector Nekopeikov in the comedy "Mrs. Vorchalkina's Name Day" are among the most successful in Russian comic literature of the last century. Variations of these types are repeated in other comedies of Catherine.

By 1783, Catherine’s active participation in the “Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word,” published at the Academy of Sciences, edited by Princess E. R. Dashkova, dates back. Here Catherine II placed a number of satirical articles entitled common name"Facts and Fables." The initial purpose of these articles was, apparently, a satirical depiction of the weaknesses and funny sides of the society contemporary to the empress, and the originals for such portraits were often taken by the empress from among those close to her. Soon, however, “Were and Fables” began to serve as a reflection of the magazine life of “Interlocutor”. Catherine II was the unofficial editor of this magazine; as can be seen from her correspondence with Dashkova, she read many of the articles sent for publication in the magazine while still in manuscript; some of these articles touched her to the quick: she entered into polemics with their authors, often making fun of them. For the reading public, Catherine’s participation in the magazine was no secret; Articles of letters were often sent to the address of the author of Fables and Fables, in which rather transparent hints were made. The Empress tried as much as possible to maintain composure and not give away her incognito identity; only once, enraged by Fonvizin’s “impudent and reprehensible” questions, she so clearly expressed her irritation in “Facts and Fables” that Fonvizin considered it necessary to rush with a letter of repentance. In addition to “Facts and Fables,” the empress placed in “Interlocutor” several small polemical and satirical articles, mostly ridiculing the pompous writings of random collaborators of “Interlocutor” - Lyuboslov and Count S.P. Rumyantsev. One of these articles (“The Society of the Unknowing Daily Note”), in which Princess Dashkova saw a parody of the meetings that had just been founded, in her opinion, Russian Academy, served as the reason for the termination of Catherine’s participation in the magazine. In subsequent years (1785-1790), Catherine wrote 13 plays, not counting dramatic proverbs in French, intended for the Hermitage theater.

The Masons have long attracted the attention of Catherine II. If you believe her words, she took the trouble to familiarize herself in detail with the vast Masonic literature, but did not find anything in Freemasonry other than “stupidity.” Stay in St. Petersburg. (in 1780) Cagliostro, whom she described as a scoundrel worthy of the gallows, armed her even more against the Freemasons. Receiving alarming news about the increasingly increasing influence of Moscow Masonic circles, seeing among her entourage many followers and defenders of the Masonic teaching, the empress decided to fight this “folly” with literary weapons, and within two years (1785-86) she wrote one the other, three comedies ("The Deceiver", "The Seduced" and "The Siberian Shaman"), in which Freemasonry was ridiculed. Only in the comedy "The Seduced" are there, however, life traits reminiscent of the Moscow Freemasons. "The Deceiver" is directed against Cagliostro. In “The Shaman of Siberia,” Catherine II, obviously unfamiliar with the essence of Masonic teaching, did not think to bring it on the same level with shamanic tricks. There is no doubt that Catherine’s satire did not have much effect: Freemasonry continued to develop, and in order to deal a decisive blow to it, the empress no longer resorted to meek methods of correction, as she called her satire, but to drastic and decisive administrative measures.

In all likelihood, Catherine’s acquaintance with Shakespeare, in French or German translations. She remade “The Godmothers of Windsor” for the Russian stage, but this rework turned out to be extremely weak and bears very little resemblance to the original Shakespeare. In imitation of his historical chronicles, she composed two plays from the life of the ancient Russian princes - Rurik and Oleg. The main significance of these “Historical Representations,” which are extremely weak in literary terms, lies in the political and moral ideas that Catherine puts into her mouth characters. Of course, these are not the ideas of Rurik or Oleg, but the thoughts of Catherine II herself. In comic operas, Catherine II did not pursue any serious goal: these were situational plays in which the main role was played by the musical and choreographic side. The empress took the plot for these operas, for the most part, from folk tales and epics, known to her from handwritten collections. Only “The Woe-Bogatyr Kosometovich,” despite its fairy-tale character, contains an element of modernity: this opera showed the Swedish king Gustav III, who at that time opened hostile actions against Russia, in a comic light, and was removed from the repertoire immediately after the conclusion of peace with Sweden. Catherine's French plays, the so-called "proverbs" - small one-act plays, the plots of which were, for the most part, episodes from modern life. They do not have any particular significance, repeating themes and types already introduced in other comedies of Catherine II. Catherine herself did not attach importance to her literary activity. “I look at my writings,” she wrote to Grimm, “as trifles. I love to do experiments in all kinds, but it seems to me that everything I wrote is rather mediocre, which is why, apart from entertainment, I did not attach any importance to it.”

Works of Catherine II published by A. Smirdin (St. Petersburg, 1849-50). Exclusively literary works of Catherine II were published twice in 1893, edited by V. F. Solntsev and A. I. Vvedensky. Selected articles and monographs: P. Pekarsky, “Materials for the history of the journal and literary activities of Catherine II” (St. Petersburg, 1863); Dobrolyubov, st. about the “Interlocutor of lovers of the Russian word” (X, 825); "Works of Derzhavin", ed. J. Grota (St. Petersburg, 1873, vol. VIII, pp. 310-339); M. Longinov, “Dramatic works of Catherine II” (M., 1857); G. Gennadi, “More on the dramatic writings of Catherine II” (in “Biblical Zap.”, 1858, No. 16); P. K. Shchebalsky, “Catherine II as a Writer” (Zarya, 1869-70); his, “Dramatic and morally descriptive works of Empress Catherine II” (in “Russian Bulletin”, 1871, vol. XVIII, nos. 5 and 6); N. S. Tikhonravov, " Literary trivia 1786" (in the scientific and literary collection, published by "Russian Vedomosti" - "Help to the Starving", M., 1892); E. S. Shumigorsky, "Essays from Russian history. I. Empress-publicist" (St. Petersburg, 1887); P. Bessonova, "On the influence folk art on the dramas of Empress Catherine and about the whole Russian songs inserted here" (in the magazine "Zarya", 1870); V. S. Lebedev, "Shakespeare in the alterations of Catherine II" (in the Russian Bulletin "(1878, No. 3); N. Lavrovsky, "O pedagogical significance works of Catherine the Great" (Kharkov, 1856); A. Brickner, "Comic opera of Catherine II "Woe-Bogatyr" ("J. M. N. Pr.", 1870, No. 12); A. Galakhov, “There were also Fables, the work of Catherine II” (“Notes of the Fatherland” 1856, No. 10).

V. Solntsev.

She was German by nationality. However, history recognizes this woman as one of the greatest Russian leaders, and deservedly so. The biography of Catherine 2 was very eventful: her life took many sharp turns and contained many bright, interesting and very important events for Russian history. It is not surprising that many books have been written and a large number of films have been made about the fate of this outstanding woman.

Princess Fike

At birth her name was Sophia Frederica Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst (1729-1796), she was the daughter of Prince Christian of Anhalt-Zerbst, who was in Prussian service. At home, the girl was called Fike (a kind of diminutive of Frederick), she was inquisitive, willing to study, but showed a penchant for boyish games.

A poor and not very noble girl was chosen as the bride of the heir to the Russian throne only for the reason that Empress Elizaveta Petrovna had once been the bride of her uncle. Peter Fedorovich, Elizabeth's nephew (the future Peter 3) and Sophia-Frederica were married in 1745. Before this, the bride converted to Orthodoxy and was baptized in the name of Ekaterina Alekseevna.

Peter was forced to marry Catherine by force, and he immediately disliked his wife. The marriage was extremely unsuccessful - the husband not only neglected his wife, but also clearly mocked and humiliated her. Empress Elizabeth immediately after her birth took away her son from Catherine, as a result of which the relationship between mother and son also did not work out. Of all her relatives, she only got along with her grandchildren, Alexander and Konstantin.

Probably, an unsuccessful marriage led Catherine 2 to a free lifestyle. She had lovers (almost openly) during her husband’s lifetime. Among them there were all kinds, but it is noteworthy that among Catherine’s favorites there were many truly outstanding people. Such a way of life among the monarchs of that time, deprived of the opportunity to choose a life partner according to inclination, was not something special.

Coup d'etat

After the death of Elizabeth (January 1762 according to the new style), Catherine rightly feared for her life - she only interfered with the new sovereign. But
Many influential nobles were also dissatisfied with Peter 3. They united around the empress, and on July 9 (June 28, old style) of the same year, a coup d'état took place.

Peter abdicated the throne, and soon died (the murder has not been proven, but more than likely, it simply had to be planned). Relying on the support of her supporters, Catherine was crowned, rather than becoming regent under her son Paul.

Catherine the Great

The period of Catherine's reign was then called the "golden age". This is not accurate, but the empress really did a lot for the country.

The territory of the state increased significantly - the lands of modern Southern and Central Ukraine, part of Poland, Finland, and Crimea were annexed. Russia won three wars with Turkey.

Catherine 2 reformed the management system: she carried out a provincial reform, changed the powers of the Senate, transferred church property to public administration. Big problem corruption remained, but during the time of Catherine II, dignitaries still worked more than took bribes. The empress herself sometimes appointed incapable people to high positions (out of personal sympathy or at the request of someone close to her), but this did not happen regularly.

Enthroned by the nobility, Catherine involuntarily became a hostage of this class. The nobility came first for her:

• she distributed more than 800 thousand state peasants in favor of the landowners;
• noble dignitaries received awards of tens of thousands of acres of land;
• The “Charter Granted to the Nobility” of 1785 endowed the nobles with a host of additional privileges and actually allowed them not to serve the state.

But at the same time, the empress did not forget other classes - in the same year the “Charter of Grant to the Cities” appeared.

Catherine 2 was known as an enlightened monarch. This is true with a stretch - its absolutism and serfdom do not quite correspond to the idea of ​​the Enlightenment. But she was studying literary activity, patronized publishers, D. Diderot was her librarian for some time, during her reign the Academy of Sciences and the Smolny Institute were created, she introduced smallpox vaccination in the country.

But the empress was not a kind mother. Any protest was suppressed mercilessly. Catherine harshly suppressed the uprising, liquidated the Zaporozhye Sich, and the publicist Radishchev for criticism Russian system quickly found himself behind bars.

Skilled personnel officer

The main thing is that Catherine 2 knew how to choose people. She was domineering, strong, authoritarian. But her closest aides always felt how much she considered their opinion. It is not surprising that Catherine’s era gave the country such outstanding figures as G. Orlov, G. Potemkin (Tavrichesky), A. Suvorov, E. Dashkova.

The Empress died of a hypertensive crisis in November 1796. Fate - the blow happened in the restroom (this is not uncommon for hypertensive patients), where the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was adapted as a toilet. Catherine was an active destroyer of this state...