Although Sweden was able to defeat Russia on the water, however, a landing of … The critical event of Elizabeth’s later years was the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763). After initial setbacks, in 1709 these troops proved themselves effective when they won the decisive battle of the Great Northern War with Sweden. It knocked Denmark-Norway and the Polish-Lithuanian Empire out of the war. The Corps began to take children from a very young age and educate them until the age of 21, and the curriculum was broadened from the professional military curriculum to include the sciences, philosophy, ethics, history, and international law. Catherine the Great enthusiastically supported the ideals of the Enlightenment, thus earning the status of an enlightened despot, although her reforms benefited a small number of her subjects and did not change the oppressive system of Russian serfdom. During the first six years of the war, Elizabeth focused on diplomatic (both covert and overt) and military efforts that aimed to deprive Frederick the Great and Prussia of their position as a the major European ruler and power. Elizabeth remains one of the most popular Russian monarchs due to her strong opposition to Prussian policies and her decision not to execute a single person during her reign, an unprecedented one at the time. The diplomatic intrigue failed, largely due to the intervention o… Young Peter of Holstein-Gottorp lost his mother, Elizabeth’s sister Anna, at three months old and his father at the age of 11. He had a substantial force composed of Cossacks, Russian peasants, factory serfs, and non-Russians. As the daughter of Peter the Great, Elizabeth enjoyed much support from the Russian guards regiments. No. Catherine II of Russia reigned Russia from 1762 until her death in 1796. On July 17, eight days after the coup and just six months after his accession to the throne, Peter III died at the hands of Alexei Orlov. She reconstituted the senate as it had been under his reign, with the chiefs of the departments of state attending. Elizabeth regarded the 1756 alliance between Great Britain and Prussia as utterly subversive of the previous conventions between Great Britain and Russia and sided against Prussia over a personal dislike of Frederick the Great. The Empress also spent exorbitant sums of money on the grandiose baroque projects of her favorite architect, Bartolomeo Rastrelli. 250 years ago, Russia’s tsarina Catherine the Great signed a manifesto inviting foreigners to settle in her country. Catherine enlisted Voltaire to her cause,and corresponded with him for 15 years, from her accession to his death in 1778. Although the exemption from the obligatory service was welcomed by the Russian elites,  the overall reform did not convince them to support their emperor, who was generally considered as taking little interest in Russia and its matters. Soon the Swedish Empire was no more. The series stars Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult as the Empress Catherine II and Emperor Peter III of All Russia, respectively. She wrote comedies, fiction, and memoirs while cultivating the French encyclopedists, who later cemented her reputation in their writings. Born to the family of impoverished German aristocracy, Catherine the Great’s fate was decided when she was chosen He also did not take any interest in parenthood, but Empress Elizabeth,certainly did. She also became friends with Princess Ekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova, the sister of her husband’s mistress, who introduced her to several powerful political groups that opposed her husband. Empress Elizabeth arranged for Peter to marry his second cousin, Sophia Augusta Frederica (later Catherine the Great). But in a succession of conflicts with IKEA-like names such as the Torstenson War, Swedish forces performed well against the Danes, Norwegians, Dutch, Poles and Russians. 1.1. The Hermitage Museum, which now occupies the whole Winter Palace, began as Catherine’s personal collection. Catherine the Great expanded her land to help westernize Russia. As the war with Sweden continues to rage, Catherine and Aunt Elizabeth visit the military at the Russian front. Peter was believed to have taken a mistress (Elizabeth Vorontsova), while Catherine carried on liaisons with Sergei Saltykov, Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov, Alexander Vasilchikov, Grigory Potemkin, Stanisław August Poniatowski, Alexander Vasilchikov, and others. Catherine believed a “new kind of person” could be created by inculcating Russian children with European education. She was born the German Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst on May 2, 1729 to Prince Christian and Princess Johanna. Elizabeth regarded the 1756 alliance between Great Britain and Prussia as utterly subversive of the previous conventions between Great Britain and Russia and sided against Prussia over a personal dislike of Frederick the Great. The guards repaid her kindness when on the night of November 25, 1741, Elizabeth seized power with the help of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. As such, she believed that strengthening her authority had to occur by improving the lives of her subjects. Her religious policies largely aimed to control populations and religious institutions in the multi-religious empire. Detail Catherine the Great’s journey from German Princess to sole ruler of Russia. None succeeded. She abolished the cabinet council system used under Anna and reconstituted the senate as it had been under Peter the Great, with the chiefs of the departments of state attending. Peter III’s temperament became quite unbearable for those who resided in the palace. 1884 painting by Ivan Feodorov. This triumph was credited to the diplomatic ability of the new vice chancellor, Aleksey … During the reign of her cousin, Elizabeth was gathering support in the background but after the death of Empress Anna, the regency of Anna Leopoldovna (Empress Anna’s niece) for the infant Ivan VI was marked by high taxes and economic problems. Born Sophia Augusta Fredericka to Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, and Princess Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp in Stettin, Pomerania, her fate was decided after she was chosen to become wife of her second cousin, the prospective tsar Peter of Holstein-Gottorp (as Peter III). Russia was revitalized, growing larger and stronger than ever and becoming recognized as one of the great powers of Europe. In 1743, the Treaty of Åbo, by which Sweden ceded to Russia all of southern Finland east of the Kymmene River, was signed. - Catherine ran her own policies - same enemy as Peter: Sweden, also same ally: Poland - The Great: both added to territory and prestige - 2 Periods of conflict: each period preceded by important alliance and war … 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. So, Gustavus Adolphus had to devise a more flexible, mobile form of warfare. As Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, Peter planned war against Denmark to restore parts of Schleswig to his Duchy. Russo-Swedish War (1741–43) Also known as the Hats' Russian War. by brooks johnson 1. She often visited them, marking special events with the officers and acting as godmother to their children. Profile_portrait_of_Catherine_II_by_Fedor_Rokotov_1763_Tretyakov_gallery.jpg. But as in later conflicts, there was still the Russian colossus to contend with. Some of these men eventually became her trusted political or military advisors. THE GREAT is a satirical, comedic drama - based on the occasional historical fact - about the rise of Catherine the Great from outsider to the longest reigning female ruler in Russia's history. Shortly after the Moscow Foundling Home, Catherine established the Smolny Institute for Noble Girls to educate females. Unfortunate Empress that I am, I write on the susceptible skins of living beings. He represented the anti-Franco-Prussian portion of Elizabeth’s council and his object was to bring about an Anglo-Austro-Russian alliance. When the Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia for the second time in 1787, the Swedish king Gustav III. So why shouldn't it work again? Then came the Great Frost of 1709, the coldest winter that Europe had experienced in the previous 500 years, which of course turned Russia into a vast freezer that could sustain human life under the right conditions. She described him in extremely negative terms and this image of Peter has dominated in historical works, although some recent biographers painted a more positive picture of Peter’s character and rule. After Peter died in 1725, his wife succeeded him as the Empress of Russia but died only two years later. For one, her name wasn’t really Catherine—and she wasn’t really Russian. Within a few months of her accession in 1762, having heard the French government threatened to stop the publication of the famous French Encyclopédie on account of its irreligious spirit, Catherine proposed to Diderot that he should complete his great work in Russia under her protection. Historians debate Catherine’s technical status, some seeing her as a regent or as a usurper, tolerable only during the minority of her son, Grand Duke Paul. This triumph was credited to the diplomatic ability of the new vice chancellor, Aleksey Bestuzhev-Ryumin, the head of foreign affairs. The statute sought to efficiently govern Russia by increasing population and dividing the country into provinces and districts. During the Thirty Years War of 1618-48, Swedish forces advanced so far south that they almost captured Prague and Vienna deep in Central Europe. …Swedish war effort in the Russo-Swedish War of 1788–90. In one of her letters to Dennis Diderot, she referred to how she saw her responsibility as the empress: Catherine II of Russia visits Mikhail Lomonosov in 1764. A year before the Seven Years’ War formally ended, Elizabeth died. to become wife of her second cousin, the prospective tsar Peter III, whom she eventually overthrew to become the Empress of Russia in 1762. Bestuzhev reconciled the Empress with the courts of Vienna and London; enabled Russia to assert itself in Poland, Turkey, and Sweden; and isolated the King of Prussia by forcing him into hostile alliances. In the 18th century, the peasantry in Russia were no longer bound to the land, but tied to their owners, which made Russian serfdom more similar to slavery than any other system of forced labor that existed at the time in Europe. The Russo-Turkish War took four years, but Russia gained a large amount of land from Turkey and annexed Crimea. The deprivation to both the Russian people and the army caused by the ongoing Seven Years’ War were not permitted to hinder the progress. While she eliminated some ways for people to become serfs, culminating in a 1775 manifesto that prohibited a serf who had once been freed from becoming a serf again, she also restricted the freedoms of many peasants. The critical event of Elizabeth’s later years was the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763). 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