Monday, March 10, 2008
RANDOM EB POST
CATHERINE II (THE GREAT)-b 1729 in Stellin. by dethronement of husband Peter III and over her son, crowned in 1762, til death in 1796. father prince of anhalt-zerbst, in upper saxony. mother pendantic peevish kraut. empress elizabeth selected nephew peter, duke of holstein gottrop to be her successor, had asked a sister of frederick of prussia to be the wife of peter, but aware of the extraordinary manners then aat the russia court, fred shrank from the proposal and suggested the princess of anhalt-zerbst. this proposal accepted. the princess originally named sophia augusta, taken to russia by her mother in 1744. after some religios instruction , got the name catherine and admitted to greek church and in 1745, married peter at 16, he 17.
marriage unhappy and ill-assorted. cath grew up to be handsome, strong minded and ambitious. peter, apparently bordering idiocy. he was silly, wayward, and extravagant. spent time w/ kennel of dogs. executed martial law on the rats he used to train like dogs and angry when cath laughed at it. p a drinker and made sure cath knew of his love affairs w/ ladies of the court. (georgieish) at first she tried to make him behave, but her childhood gave her strength to live acutely and adroitly on the court. learned the russian language and russian history, manners, and instructions and willed herself russian. also studied french literature in her youth. volraire and other philosophies of the 18th c her favorite authors and considered herself a deciple and corresponded w/some in 'after-life'(?). since death of peter the great in 1725, the crown had been the plaything of mainly german intrigues. how P+G youngest daughter gained the crown in 1741, but cath dealt w/the court deftly and gradually aquired influence over elizabeth, who admired her beauty and cleverness, but became at the court's licentiousness, she too had love affair and paternity of her children a matter of doubt.(paul in 1753) and she continued til the beginning of 1762 when elizabeth died, and thrust peter, now forced to leave his dogs and rats and lead 1 of the largest empires. he tried, but like georgie, he fucked up(but he was nicer), born lutheran, he offended the church, pro-prussia and made uniforms prussian looking, forgetting 7 years war. and finally cath, by making her decorate his mistress, countess waronzoff, with the order of St. Cath, protected herself, was more adored. the powerfull Orloffs and grey O her lover. with the Os, princess Dashkoff, count p???(paul's tutor) and others, planned to overthrow peter. 7/9/1762, cath woke in the palace of peterhof by alexis orloff, w/ injunction to act immediately; having been betrayed. she set out for the capital and finding gregory orloff on the spot, appealed to guards, who were induced to raise the standard of revolt. in church, the priests anoint he regent in the name of her son, while outside orloffs proclaim her the new queen. after went thru the streets where she was welcomed. meanwhile, peter, clueless, was drilling his favorite german guards at oranieu baum. on going to peterhoff, he found cath gone and suspected the truth. urged to fight, but he wimped out and abdicated the next day, expecting to retire to holstein, but he was compelled to ropscha, where on the 17th, the orloffs after failing to poisin him, strangled him WITH THEIR OWN HANDS IN THE MOST REVOLTING MANNER.(the EB is quite appalled!). cath didn't know about that. some conspiracies followed.
her son paul, whom she disliked and neglected, was placed under strict surveillance til the end of her reign.once secure, began to attend to foreign interests, zealously following russian traditions. enlarged the empire, made peace with prussia, installed former lover poniatowski leader of poland. upset turks who rushed to declare war and lost. defeated the tartars. ormica?, kuban, taman annexed into russia. cath wanted to fulfill french dream ands remove the turks and bring back the byzantines. more turkish defeat. interfered in french revolution. more power grabbed in poland.
domestically acted on the freench teachings, while laws didn't budge, in administration, justice, education, industry, commerce, real improvements made. she did suffer from untrustworthy public servants and her own personality, bribery and corruption in her court, systematic immorality. french called her the semirannis of the north. kimcatrall from sex in the city.
POTEMKIN!
1725-1791 was a favrite of hers. after the sexw/ him was no longer her desire, he pimped new laws for her, getting power for himself and she ws generous w/ her playmates-20,000,000.
french revolution halted any reform. died of apoplexy in 1796
