Catherine the Great

Catherine the great Peter the great was cable of to turn Russia in one of the greatest power. Russians ruled northeastern Europe due to his great work as a ruler. He ruled the Russian Empire from 1682 until the day of his death, February 8th 1725. After his death, no ruler could compare to his greatness, until 1762. Russia found a powerful ruler in the person of Catherine the Great. Catherine the Great, whose real name was Sophia Augusta Fredericka, was born on May 2 1729; daughter of Prince Christian August, ruler of the German Principality of Anhalt-Dornburg and Princess Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp. Her father was a devout German Lutheran. Her mother arranged for her to marry Peter of Holstein-Gottorp, her second cousin, who was the nephew of Elizabeth Empress of Russia in 1741 and grandson of Peter the Great. Elizabeth proclaimed him heir to the throne, which he accessed in 1762 on the death of the Empress, becoming Peter III of Russia. The interest of a Prussia-Russia alliance in order to weaken Austria’s influence on Russo-Austrian cooperation was strong, and for those same reasons the wedding between Catherine and Peter III was necessary. Catherine was a very smart young girl and learned the Russian language with eager. At the age of 15 she converted to Russian Orthodoxy against her father’s will. This is the moment when she adopted the name Catherine as her new name. On august 21st 1745, at age 16, she marries Peter of Holstein-Gottorp. Upon the death of Empress Elizabeth on the 5th of January 1962, her nephew accesses the throne to become Peter III, making Catherine tsarina of Russia. The tradition was that after the wedding, the newly weds would have to consummate their marriage. Unfortunately this was never possible for Catherine and Peter. Peter was immature and nervous around women. It was said that he could not properly function sexually due to the structure of his penis’ foreskin. Six month after accessing the throne on July 17th 1762,