Catherine the Great (1729-1796) ruled as empress of Russia from 1762 until her death. During her reign, Russia expanded greatly. Catherine was born a German princess and promoted European culture in Russia.
Catherine was born in Stettin, Prussia (now Szczecin, Poland) on May 2, 1729 (April 21 on the Russian calendar then in use). At the age of 16, she went to St. Petersburg, Russia, and married Peter, the weak and incompetent successor to the Russian throne. He became Emperor Peter III in 1762 but was deposed later that year by Catherine and her allies and was assassinated. Catherine succeeded Peter to the throne as Catherine II. She is considered a member of the Romanov line of Russian rulers.
Catherine was a gifted person, devoted to art, literature, science, and politics. Although she maintained extravagant surroundings, she herself lived simply and proved to be a conscientious ruler. Early in her reign, Catherine became interested in the liberal ideas of her time, called the Enlightenment because its great thinkers emphasized the use of reason. She built schools and hospitals, encouraged smallpox vaccination, promoted the education of women, and extended religious tolerance. Teachers, scientists, writers, artists, and actors from other countries moved to Russia.
But Catherine did little to grant basic civil rights to the majority of the Russian people. She tightened landowners’ control over the serfs, and she forcefully put down a peasant revolt. Except for raising the status of nobles and merchants, she carried out few social reforms.
Catherine’s achievements consisted mainly in modernizing the administration, though she did little to curb its corruption. She also extended the frontiers of Russia. She acquired most of Ukraine, Lithuania, and Poland through three partitions (divisions). Her successful wars on the Ottoman Empire gained the Crimea and lands along the Black Sea for Russia. She also conquered Siberian and central Asian peoples. Catherine died on Nov. 17, 1796 (November 6 on the Russian calendar then in use).
