Frederick and Catherine the Greats Squared This essay about “the Greats squared” or better known as Frederick and Catherine. I wondered why they were given the title of “Great”, so I began researching both of them. My objective with this essay is to show their greatest achievements and their worst blunders. Starting with Frederick the Great, he was born on January 24, 1712 in Berlin, Prussia. His father King Frederick Wilhelm I was a very strict no nonsense kind of guy. When he exhibited a flair for languages and music, his father sent him to military training. Frederick tried to escape to England at age 18 to get away from his father, however, he was caught, court-martialed, and had to watch his best friend be decapitated (Frederick …show more content…
Followed by the Enlightenment ideas/values that he put into use by rewriting laws and creating new governmental policies like the Hohenzollern policy that strengthened/modernized his country. Furthermore, he endorsed religious tolerance and promoted by merit not birthright which gave a person a chance to obtain better employment and or status (Kagan 539-540). Which brings me to one of his lesser known achievements, the musical score that he wrote and gave to Johann Sebastian Bach, who later used it (Frederick II, 2015). Frederick the Great has left a legacy for the leaders of today to emulate. One of his blunders would have to be he had used the power of the state to boost the economy but this in turn caused disproportionate taxes to fall upon the towns people and peasants instead of those who could afford to pay more (Kagan, 540). The worst blunder was he attacked Saxony too early and started the Seven Years War. This stalemate of a war ended in 1762 because Russia withdrew and Peter III was on the throne (Frederick II …show more content…
Eventually Peter III was killed, however it was never proven that she took part in it. In order to keep herself from being ousted from the throne, she returned land/property to the church while claiming she was following in Peter the Great’s footsteps (Catherine II, 2015). This could be where the “Great” in her name came to be. Like Frederick, she too believed in the Enlightenment ideals and looked to reform the Russian educational system, even writing some of the materials herself. In addition, she lobbied for governmental reforms, created a Legislative Commission, expanded Russia’s borders with the use of the military, as well as amassing a most impressive art collection (Maranzani,
Frederick was saved by the death of his most hated enemy “Tsarina Elizabeth” on jan 5, 1762 and the succession of this nephew, Peter iii. Frederick was known as his hero, he speedily ordered hostility from the
Peter the Great was born on June 9th, 1672, and died on February 28th, 1725. Peter was known as a harsh but good leader, he was the leader of Russia. He modernized Russia in the end. He forced his people into westernization and turned Russia into a major power. Peter made it so Russia made incredible progress in the development of its economy, education, culture, and foreign policy.”
During Peter the Great’s reign, Russia flourished. Peter accomplished many goals, making Russia one of the most powerful countries at the time. Peter the Great was a czar of Russia who ruled from 1682-1725. Before peter’s reign, Russia did not possess a stable economy as well as military. Russia was in a disorganized state.
When Frederick the Great faced a hardship, he bounced back from it, Specifically, the loss in 1759 to the Russian army at Kunersdorf, “temporarily reduced him to despair with thoughts of suicide” (“Frederick II”). Even so, he persevered and the many defeats that came from The Seven Years War ended with Frederick back on top with Silesia in his control (“Frederick the Great”). This resilience was evident even in
Peter the Great who was born to, Tsar Alexis and his second wife Natalya Naryshkina, on June 9, 1672, was the Tsar of Russia. Peter, along with his half-brother Ivan, were to rule Russia from 1682 to their death. Due to Ivans feeblemind and Peter’s young age, Ivan’s older sister Sophia, took charge of the throne as regent.
If one would review the past of Europe during the16th and 17th centuries, they would find that it was an age of Prosperity due to the absolute monarchs that ruled during that time. These centuries were filled with great leaders such as Peter the Great and Louis XIV, that demonstrated all the characteristics of an absolute monarch and benefited the greater good in the lands they ruled. Peter the Great was such a great example of this that he changed Russia in a land of insignificance to one of great power. With this he also created the Russian newspaper, great trade, the Table of Ranks, and St. Petersburg which was Russia's warm water port. People such as Peter that were willing to defy the roles of an absolute monarch and bring new concepts
One negative thing he did was raise taxes on the people of France which left many people in poverty because they didn’t have the money to afford things. Another absolutist ruler was Ivan the Terrible who became the ruler of Russia when he was three years old. He was the first Czar of Russia and ruled from 1533 till
Peter modernized the navy and army. He was the first to organize a regular russian army and was one of the firsts to find a navy. Peter had a standing army which led him to become an absolute ruler. After all these good things his main mistake was not providing a successor which led Russia into many problems after his death. The mistakes he made was usually a comparison to his achievements. Peter believed himself to be divine he believed in absolute principals.
Much like Tiberius, Peter the Great had an overall auspicious impact on Russia with St. Petersburg. During the late seventeenth century, he was a Russian czar both narcissistic and thirsty for power. Mostly because of his reforms, Peter is known to have a positive effect on Russia, though it is debatable. Throughout his reign and life, Peter continued struggling just to maintain power in Europe. His reign marks a dramatic shift in the development and goal of Russia.
Catherine the Great married Peter the third when Peter was overthrown and Catherine took over. In result she made Russia 50% bigger, take parts of Poland and also southern Russia.
Correspondingly, in Prussia, the next Hohenzollern was Frederick the Great, who applied enlightened absolutist ideas to the economy. Frederick took a more humane approach to policy, which would strengthen the state, and he also reconstructed agriculture and industry. Altogether, the monetary and financial systems these enlightened rulers employed were to make more money. More financial capabilities would result in a stronger state, due to the ability to accomplish more goals, and a better life for the rulers’
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.
A big weakness for Peter the Great was he ignored and abused the people of his country. Many of the changes were for the sake of increasing his own power. He ordered many
Peter established eight governorates and removed the Uyezds Peter had considerable distrust of the elitist of traditional Russia and reformed
She threw herself into Russian culture and soon became a great socialite. In addition, she made connections with the smartest and most influential leaders in Russia. Emperor Peter III and Catherine II came to power after the death of Empress Elizabeth. Unfortunately, Peter was unable to handle ruling the Russian Empire. He lacked common sense and alienated the Russian Court. Peter III further compounded his mistakes by withdrawing from the war with Prussia in 1762. According to most historians he was pro-Prussian and was mentally immature. This, coupled with the seizure of Church lands and disowning his son Paul, resulted in Catherine’s coup on June 28th, 1762 . Peter III was sent to prison where he died at the hands of his captives, Catherine’s lover Gregory Orlov and his family. Catherine took the throne as Empress after the conspiracy. Her reign saw the high point of Russian nobility.