|
Catherine II the Great 1729-1796
|
|
Image
Above
Portrait of
Catherine II
Oil on canvas,
late 1776 - early 1777, by Alexander Roslin
State Hermitage
Museum, St. Petersburg |
Catherine was originally
the German lady Sophie Friederike Auguste.
Sophie became
Catherine II, the Empress of Russia from 1762 until 1796.
She was an
enlightened despot and all in all a
pretty tough bone.
The
 American
Revolution was fought during her reign, from 1775-1783,
which gave cause to the
League of Armed Neutrality,
concluded in July 1780 and headed by Catherine.
Russia allied itself with Denmark and
Sweden against the British who stopped and searched as they
pleased all vessels in the
Baltic, in order to avoid
reinforcements that were on their way to American revolutionaries.
See also
Vergennes.
And maybe
Forms of Governments.
CATHERINE II THE GREAT
1729 - 1796
Catherine was appalled by her son
Pavel's (Paul's)
weakness and decided to skip him as heir altogether. Instead, she wanted Pavel's son
Alexander I to become her
successor.
This, however, didn't happen. After
Catherine's death, Pavel became Russia's
Czar Paul I.
Catherine II
© Château de Versailles
Here is
Catherine the
Great's timeline.
See also
Governments of Russia
And here is the map
RUSSIA IN EUROPE
Click map to enlarge
More History
|
