Who Is Catherine The Great?

Catherine the Great was the Empress of Russia from 1762 until 1796. She was the longest ruling female monarch of Russia. Catherine, a German princess, was not expected to become Queen, let alone one of the most important and enlightened rulers in history because she had no legitimate claim to the throne. The first book that will be discussed is Catherine the Great: A Short History by Isabel de Madariaga, a professor emeritus of Slavic Studies at University of London (Madariaga). The second book discussed in this review essay will be Catherine the Great by Katharine Susan Anthony, a famous feminist biographer who studied at the University of Freiberg, University of Heidelberg, University of Chicago, and briefly taught at Wellesley College
Her name was changed from Sophie to Catherine when she converted from Lutheranism to Orthodox in order to marry Peter. Young Peter was not the immediate heir to the throne though, only becoming Emperor in 1761 (de Madariaga, 1). As emperor, Peter, now Peter III and his policies were so unpopular and irrational that there were several plots organized to have him overthrown (de Madariaga, 3). Catherine and Peter did not have a happy marriage; Peter threatened to divorce her many times, and it was well known that both he and Catherine had extramarital affairs (de Madariaga, 2-3). In fact, it was Catherine’s beau at the time, Grigory Orlov, who helped her stage the coup of her husband, so she could become Empress. Almost immediately after her accession, Catherine faced several coups because she had no legal claim to the throne (de Madariaga,
Catherine was an absolutist, and she did face opposition throughout her entire incumbency, but the opposition came mostly from loyalists to Peter III who disagreed with Catherine’s seizure of power, rather than the organization of her regime (de Madariaga, 211). By the time Catherine came to power, the “French model” of absolutism in which culture and social life surrounded the court was declining in popularity; nevertheless, that is the model around which Catherine designed her administration. Because of this structure, Catherine “revised the ranks and the rules” of the courts, subsidized public French and Russian theatres, operas, and ballets (de Madariaga, 91). Art was very important to Catherine; she appreciated theatre and ballet, but she wrote her personal memoirs and contributed articles to a satirical journal entitled All Sorts of Things (de Madariaga, 92). Catherine established The Russian Academy of the Language to further the study of linguistics. The Academy of the Language had its own periodicals, and Empress Catherine contributed to them frequently (de Madariaga, 99). Catherine the Great’s contributions to linguistics, literature, education, and the performing arts helped shape the