Catherine II once said “Power without a nation’s confidence is nothing” (“Catherine the Great Quote”). Catherine II, or Catherine the Great, was one of Russia’s greatest leaders. Although she was German born, Catherine II looked forward to her chance at ruling Russia and changed the country for the better. She tried to create policies that were in the best interest of the Russian people and would help to westernize her country (“World”). Catherine the Great was responsible for expanding Russia and the implementation of political, education, and social reforms that changed the country (“World”). Catherine II fueled Russia with progressive and modern ideas that threw her country into the future. Catherine II made Russia more modern by expanding …show more content…
One of the most influential of her political reforms came about in 1767, called the Instruction (“Catherine, II”). The Instruction was a major reform of the government system in Russia, not only that but it was full of Enlightenment ideals (“World”). Catherine II borrowed ideas from many Enlightenment philosophers such as Montesquieu, Beccaria, and Adam Smith (“Catherine, II”). She worked on the Instruction for 2 years, but it was never put into effect as it called for a system of government that was too far ahead of its time (“Catherine the Great”) (“World”). Notwithstanding the years spent on the Instruction, Catherine II still managed to create reforms that brought Russia into a more modern age. In the Statute of 1775 on Provincial Government, she sought to eradicate rampant corruption in provincial governments. To do this, she created a system under which provinces were controlled by agents from the central government in St. Petersburg. This idea then spawned an additional law that was modern and democratic in spirit, it called for the help of villagers and townspeople in governing themselves through elected office
The speaker is Baron de Breteuil, a French diplomat from Moscow. The speaker is credible because even though he acknowledges how certain aspects of her reign will flourish and how her passion proves useful in Russian society, he does mention negative vices that will inflict havoc upon her sovereignty and ultimately lead to internal faults in her empire.
34. Catherine the Great of Russia did what? built a strong alliance with the nobility
Catherine read some philosophes’ works and exchanged many letters with Voltaire. She made a command to review Russia's’ laws in 1767 and based on the ideas of Montesquieu and Beccaria she had a few goals which sadly never were accomplished. Some
Eloquent, brilliant, unorthodox, poise, and loyal – all of these unique characteristics allowed Dashkova to gain the highest regard among the members of the elite society and more importantly, to earn the respect of Catherine the Great. Dashkova is a peculiar female character. She’s fully narcissistic, but at the same time, rejects her recognition and claims herself as unworthy of the credits Catherine II had given her. In her autobiography The Memoirs of Princess Dashkova, Dashkova justifies her role as a noble woman, her early-life contribution in helping Catherine rise to the throne, and the frugal life she bore as a widow and a mother of two. Dashkova voiced her significance in a society where
During the !7th and 18th centuries numerous revolutions arose due to strong political leaders and their desire to accomplish ambitious goals. Often, specific policies are enforced by governments in an attempt to reform society. Most changes during these centuries were based on political power and were inspired by other countries’ successes. Specifically, in Russia and France, two strong leaders came to power after a period of weakness for their country with desires of governmental and social change.
They are attributed with “westernizing” Russia and reformed the country using models used in Europe. Both Peter and Catherine the Great focused on St. Petersburg as Peter established it as the capital; whereas Catherine focused on expanding the beauty of the city. While these are incidents of where their rule benefitted Russia, there are also examples of where their rule hurt Russia. For instance, Peter worked at expanding the autocracy while enforcing the servitude on the peasants. The differences between these rulers was that Peter strove to add governmental features to Russia, such as growing the Russian army and adopting certain habits he had observed in Western countries. Catherine, however, focused on adding to the prestige of Russia by adding new buildings and incorporating art into St. Petersburg which added not structural changes, but was effective in making the city more beautiful.
Both Peter the Great and Catherine the Great were the former Emperors of Russia. They were the Russians ruler before the 17th century and also they were followers of Ivan IV. They used mysteries, dishonesty, etc for the foundation of their time, and they never thought that the Russia will have modernization. Mostly, the change came when Peter the Great and Catherine the Great came to power. Also, She expanded the territory of the Russian Empire and had improved as time pass by, and policy was following from the Westernization.
From 1856 onwards the aim of turning Russia from a once agrarian, illiterate and backwards country and into a political superpower was set. A multitude of developments began with Nicholas II being a catalyst of change for the Russian people. Writers of Marxist Russia such as Joan Hasler1 however believe that the Tsars abdication merely prevented revolution happening for a few years. The significance of his abdication caused demands for a new and improved governmental structure to be in place in order to get Russia back on its feet after the devastating defeat in world war one. New political developments took place after the abdication of the Tsar including a new improved Duma who quickly realised they had little trust and loyalty to the tsar and decided to take it upon themselves to improves Russia on their own. Nearing the end of the Romanov dynasty there were 3 new political groups aiming to rule Russia, the duma, the Bolsheviks and the soviets which alone gives us significant evidence that the Tsars reign and abdication created a significant turning point in the political development 1856-1964.
Empress Catherine the Great ruled Russia for approximately thirty years from 1762 to 1796 when she died. She was known throughout the world as an unusual ruler, having taken over the throne after the brutal death of her husband Peter the third. There she was made Empress of all Russia, this was unusual because instead of being made regent for her son they circumnavigated the rules and she was made Empress Regnant. During her time on the throne she made many radical and life changing decisions. She was a voracious reader and writer, often helping to translate others works into Russian. She herself was inspired by Voltaire, Diderot, and Montesquieu. All of which culminated in her greatest work “Great Instruction”, which was the beginning of basically all her future endeavors. Catherine the Great was an enlightened ruler who tried to bring about a new way of life in Russia, by allowing certain freedoms and educating the public.
In this essay, I will explore the reforms of peter the great through historical authors and determine whether Peter I of Russia was successful in evolving of the Tsardom of Russia into a contemporary European empire. On top of this I will be looking to see if his attempts at modernization in Russia had a lasting affect on Russian politics. In my analysis, I have gained understanding of the political climate of Russia during Peters youth, his military reforms, and his education reforms. Some contemporaries believe that the reign of Peter the Great was one of the great turning points in Russian history, and indeed of European history as well . Before Peter’s reign, Russia was a mostly forgotten state, that was largely looked upon as a barbaric
During Catherine’s reign she had many political victories. She won many battles on the war front but she was also quite good at political victories. Pugachev tried to
During the late seventeenth century Russia underwent drastic transformations in order to westernize their medieval states. The idea of westernization caused chaos within the Imperial Empire; people in power were mentally unstable and would travel outside of palace gates in order to get what they wanted, a determined and curious young boy came into power changing everything, and a young lady not of Russian blood became queen and finalized everything.
Monarch Essay Some monarchs left their countries in better condition than when they began their rule, while others left lasting damage. I chose to write about Peter the Great of Russia and Catherine the Great of Russia because I believe they used their power of absolutism to positively impact their country. I also chose to write about Ivan IV of Russia as the monarch that I believe abused his power of absolutism which left lasting damage to his country.
Catherine the Great was a German born empress of Russia in the 18th century. While she made much progress in her reign, she is remembered for her busy love life and the rumors made about her death. In her portrait, she is almost illuminated and is dressed as Minerva, the Roman goddess of war, art, and intellect. It could be assumed, based on these details, that she was an important figure in her time, an advocate for the arts and education, and had successful strategies in many battles. In history, she is recognized for her many lovers and the advantages they provided for her in overthrowing her husband, Peter III, and ruling Russia. She also won the nobles support in exchange for the freedom of the serfs, which led to uprisings around the same time the French Revolution was occurring. While Catherine’s portrait accurately shows her leadership skills, she is commonly known as the woman of scandals and manipulation. In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian’s portrait reveals his actions, which is much different from Catherine’s display of qualities.
Despite all the work Alexander II did toward reforming Russia, the “Era of Great Reforms” left one crucial aspect unaltered: the power of the emperor. The intentional neglect of this was what kept the reforms from realizing their true potential. This led to dissatisfaction, which encouraged repression, terror, and most importantly: revolution. The first was the Polish Rebellion, caused by the failure of Russian authorities to suppress Polish nationalism. Although the Poles failed, other minorities sprung up for their voice