Catherine the Great
Best known as: Czarina of Russia
Occupation: Royalty
Also known as: Catherine II
Birth name: Sophia Augusta Frederica
Nationality: born Prussian, became Russian
Religion: Russian Orthodox
Born: May 2, 1729 in Szczecin, Poland
Died: November 17, 1796 in St. Petersburg, Russia
Reign: 1762-1796
Short biography:
Catherine was the daughter of a Prussian general and governor, and she married Peter of Holstein-Gottorp, the future Czar Peter III of Russia. Eager to learn Russian and educate herself about current events, she became Empress Consort in 1762 when her husband succeeded to the throne. Six months after becoming Emperor, Peter III was ousted in a coup d'etat and Catherine was proclaimed the ruler of Russia. A few days later, he was murdered; some say that Catherine may have ordered his death. As Czarina, Catherine added 200,000 square miles to Russia's territory, including Crimea, Belarus, Lithuania, Courland, and parts of the Ukraine. These conquests resulted from Russia winning a series of Russo-Turkish Wars from 1768 to 1792 and the Russo-Swedish War, which lasted from 1788 to 1790. Catherine made Russia into an international mediator of sorts, helping to mediate the War of the Bavarian succession and estbalishing the League of Armed Neutrality to protect neutral shipping during the American Revolution. She also took military action against Poland to suppress pro-democracy activists there, and then divided Poland between Prussia and Austria. Catherine was a patron of literature, art, education, and science, and the intellectual progress that took place during her reign was known as the Russian Enlightenment. Although Catherine opposed democracy and did little to help the serfs, she helped to modernize Russia and increase its power.
Husband: Czar Peter III
Parents: Christian August (Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst) and Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
