Catherine The Great: An Enlightened Despots Of The 18th Century

If it wasn’t for the great despots of the 18th century, The Enlightenment would have never happened. The despots included such great thinkers as Fredrick the II, Peter the Great, Katherine the II, and Maria Therea. These great minds inspired others to think in a different way. People began to question religion, governments, and economic fairness. Without them we would not have had the scientific method that has lead to many of the inventions that we have today. They not only had a huge impact on Europe at the time, but the entire world as it is now.
Enlightened despotism was a form of government in the 18th century in which absolute monarchs pursued legal, social, and educational reforms inspired by the Enlightenment. They typically instituted administrative reform, religious
Peter III was childish and an alcoholic, he was a reckless ruler Peter and after he was murder a little while after Catherine was given the throne. Catherine the great was considered an enlightened despot because of her enlightened ideas and influence on Russia. She was the first Russian ruler that allowed absolute religious freedom. This was a big deal because this allowed russia to have Muslim allies and in turn take muslim territories to expand Russia’ She did a lot to expand russian territories, after she wanted to calm the Black Sea she had her gigantic armies to fight the Ottoman turks in two wars coming up victorious. She also embellished torture and capital punishment. Catherine was effected by the enlightenment in many ways. She really agreed with the French Enlightenment ideas. She lent money to many French writers. Catherine allowed woman to got to school for the first time ever.She also set up the first medical schools to make sure everyone in Russia was able to seek out and receive medical attention. She also greatened the laws and rules on the serfs. Catherine imprisoned critics that spoke about