Women on the throne.. Catherine the Great, the most famous ruler of Russia

Despite the difficult historical stage and the great challenges inside and outside the country, Catherine II was able to lead Russia to become one of the world's great powers, and force the major European countries to submit to Russia with its economic and military development, which placed Catherine II's name among the greatest Russian rulers ever, so she became known as (Catherine the Great), in addition to being one of the most famous and powerful rulers in history.Birth and upbringing

Sophie Frederica was born on May 2, 1729 in Steigen, Prussia, Germany, to Christian August, a military commander in the Prussian army. King Frederick I granted him the governorship of Steigen, due to his military efforts in the Wars of the Spanish Succession.

Her mother, Hanna Holstein, was of Danish origin and was related to a number of ruling families in Russia, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.Sophie was born into a family that seemed like a noble family, but it was not rich enough to allow her to live like the rest of the nobles, but her mother was striving to establish relationships with members of the ruling families, nobles, wealthy and influential people, which enabled Sophie to rise socially later.

The customs at that time were that the nobles and wealthy people in Germany would bring French governesses for their children, and thus Sophie learned a range of different sciences at the hands of the French governesses, such as geography, history, English, French and Italian languages, in addition to music, dancing and the basics of dealing in high society. In addition, the little girl loved to play in the streets with the boys, and she acted very spontaneously, which bothered her parents a lot, as her mother was planning for her to become the wife of one of the princes or at least one of the nobles.The Road to the Throne of Russia

Sophie's mother sought to exploit all her knowledge and made every effort to put her daughter on the path to power, which finally succeeded after Empress Elizabeth, Empress of Russia at the time, accepted Princess Sophie's marriage to her nephew (Peter III), who later became Emperor of Russia. Despite the bad relationship between the Empress and Princess Sophie's mother, she continued with the marriage procedures, and was very impressed by the girl who arrived in Russia in 1744.

With her intelligence, Sophie was able to win the love of everyone in the imperial palace, and her popularity increased among the Russian people in a short period of time; Due to her commitment to Russian customs, traditions and laws at that time, she also began to learn the Russian language, in addition to reading about Eastern Orthodox teachings, and made a great effort to integrate quickly, to the point that she abandoned the Protestant faith and quickly converted to the Orthodox faith, which angered her father a lot, as he was a devout Lutheran, but the matter had a great impact on the other side.

The imperial palace and the Orthodox Church in Russia were overjoyed with Princess Sophie, and she was given a new name, Katerina, and then the engagement procedures between Catherine and the Crown Prince of Russia were completed in the capital, St. Petersburg, in August 1745, when she was sixteen years old, while her husband was seventeen years old.In January 1762, Peter III became Emperor of Russia, and Catherine became Empress of the country as his wife. However, the Emperor was eccentric, and his relationship with the military leaders and politicians was bad, especially when he concluded the Treaty of Petersburg with the Prussian army, in addition to returning all lands and gains to Prussia, which angered the military officers and politicians. He took some rash actions, such as confiscating the private property of the Russian Church, which made the clergy join the ranks of anger towards Peter III, accusing him of ignorance and treason. Then everyone began to weave a scenario of a coup against the Emperor of Russia, in which Catherine participated, because she hated her husband, and had been preparing for this coup for a long time. Indeed, no more than six months had passed since Peter III's rule, when Catherine succeeded in overthrowing him and forcing him to sign the document of abdication. Then he was killed in mysterious circumstances a week later, and Catherine ascended the throne of Russia on September 22, 1762. She called herself Catherine II and made her son the crown prince. She was the first to wear the jeweled imperial crown, which she commissioned from a French manufacturer, and which became the hallmark of Russian emperors after Catherine II.Catherine II, Empress of Russia

Although Empress Catherine began her reign by paying bribes, money and gifts to people who stood with her in the coup, and promised them positions and gains, she carried out a series of reforms in several areas, such as education, administrative organization and the judiciary, in addition to her tendency to expand the borders of the Russian Empire by annexing the surrounding lands in Poland and the Black Sea, in addition to building new cities that reached more than 150 cities that were built during the reign of Empress Catherine II.

Russia became much stronger during the reign of Catherine II than it was, and although the general form of the country remained the same in its reliance on agriculture, it also added to industrial activity, as it established iron factories, in addition to industrial facilities that spread throughout the Russian Empire to produce and manufacture raw materials and export them to Europe.

Although Catherine II was enlightened and familiar with the ideas of Western Enlightenment philosophers, she did not apply most of these ideas during her reign. Catherine II relied on the serfdom system in running the country, which allowed the nobles and feudal lords to exploit the peasants and workers who worked in this serfdom, which prompted many historians to criticize Catherine II's policy and its lack of consideration for human rights and principles of equality, and described it as a dedication to the principles of serfdom in favor of the wealthy and noble class.History bears witness to Catherine II taking a series of strong measures, such as establishing the first state bank through which she was able to issue the first paper currency, in addition to a series of measures she took to protect trade and industry in the country that helped increase exports, in addition to banning the import of a number of luxury goods, such as fine wine and toys, as well as measures to determine the prices of basic commodities, prevent monopoly and unify the standards of buying and selling, and force merchants, sellers and producers to improve products through strict supervision and legal procedures.

Catherine II introduced a large group of modern agricultural methods that helped maximize Russian agricultural production despite Russia suffering from famine at the beginning of Catherine's reign, which the Empress faced with strong measures, banning the export of wheat, and establishing the (Free Economic Society) to help farmers, guide them and improve their conditions.

Catherine II was very interested in changing the education system in Russia by creating new educational programs by scientists from Germany, France and Britain, in addition to a new educational system for females, as she wanted to integrate Russia into Europe. She also established an orphanage in Moscow, which was concerned with gathering homeless, poor and foundling children; in order to raise them and educate them on modern educational theories. Then she established the Nobles' School, which was dedicated to educating girls from the sons of the nobility.

The school's scope of work then expanded to include the bourgeoisie, and teaching languages, philosophy and history, in addition to military education, as she first began by establishing something like a military school that taught children all sciences in addition to military and legal sciences.

Catherine II also paid great attention to the nobility, and granted them many rights, as they were the pillar of her rule, and their loyalty was the source of her strength; she granted them exemption from military service and from all types of corporal punishment in the event of any mistake, in addition to the rights to establish organizations and companies, own mineral wealth, and prevent the confiscation of their lands. Then the matter extended to the major merchants, giving them many rights and privileges, such as exemption from paying taxes, and the freedom to join the army or not.The peasants and the poor were the class that suffered greatly during the reign of Catherine II. The serf peasants were the ones who cultivated the land, and the country's economy was based on their shoulders, but they were like slaves; they were bought and sold to work on the lands of the feudal lords, and they could not leave feudalism, and they had no right to justice or education. Despite Catherine II's attempts to improve the conditions of the serf peasants, the situation worsened, which made historians say that Catherine II was a contradictory ruler who claimed enlightenment and liberalism, but practiced injustice and slavery.The Secret Life of Empress Catherine the Great

On the level of married life, Catherine hated her husband from the first moment, but she sought to be in the imperial palace, which prompted her to endure and complete the marriage, even after the marriage, the relationship between them was bad, as she lived on the other side of the palace, while he practiced his life with his concubines, then the memoirs of the servants and soldiers in the palace came out with many secrets about Catherine, who later became Empress Catherine II.

Catherine spent her time reading, horse riding and dancing; As a result of the lack of a strong relationship between her and her husband Peter III; Which led to her entering into a number of private relationships with nobles, leaders and officers, until she had a relationship with the King of Poland.

Meanwhile, Catherine miscarried twice, and in the third pregnancy she gave birth to her son Paul, who was taken from her; Based on the instructions of the Great Empress Elizabeth at the time and her husband's aunt who sought to raise the child in the imperial way, and allowed Catherine to see her child at different times; To maintain the blood relationship, Catherine then gave birth to her daughter Hannah, who died four months later, but many news and rumors said that Peter III was sterile and could not have children, so Catherine was accused of being pregnant by other men. This bad relationship between Catherine and her husband, who later became the Emperor of Russia, led to the expansion of her circle of relations with British officials, until she began to receive money from Britain in exchange for revealing important secrets and information from the Russian court. Historical information and evidence indicate that Catherine II received large sums of money from Britain to bribe the royal guard before the coup against Peter III in exchange for establishing an alliance with Britain after that.Death of Catherine the Great

Empress Catherine II, Russia's most famous ruler, died on November 6, 1796, after 34 years ruling an empire that expanded during her reign and became one of the great powers. She received dozens of decorations, and monuments and statues were erected to her throughout Russia. Her reign and life were later covered in dozens of novels, books and films.