Answer

Catherine the Great

Backstory

Catherine the She overthrew her husband to become the empress in 1796. After overthrowing her husband, she became a Russian empress between 1792 and 1796, which was a longer period of reigning ever recorded by any female within the history of Russia. During her reign, she led her nation into complete involvement in Europe’s cultural and political life, carrying on the task commenced by Peter the Great. Catherine II together with her ministers rearranged the Russian Empire’s law and administration and enlarged the Russian territory to include Crimea, as well as much of Poland. Currently, many Russians consider Catherine a source of pride

Basic Information

Catherine the Great, whose original name was Sophie Friederike Auguste, was also known as Catherine II, She was a Russian born in Germany in 1729 to a father, who was an obscure prince of Germany known as Christian August von Anhalt-Zerbst (Simmons, 2016). At the age of 14, Catherine II was betrothed at age 14 to Karl Ulrich, who was Holstein-Gottorp’s duke and Peter the Great’s grandson, as well as heir to Russia’s throne (Simmons, 2016). In 1744, Catherine II arrived in Russia and obtained the title of the Grand Duchess Catherine Alekseyevna (Simmons, 2016). She was then married in the following years in 1745, but her marriage became a complete failure. She proceeded to be the empress of Russia in 1792 and died in 1796 (Simmons, 2016).

Achievements

Catherine II had many accomplished during her reign as the Russian empress. She greatly expanded the Russian territory southward and westward to occupy an area of over 200,000 square miles (Massie, 2012). She  also managed to accomplish the ancient dream of Russian rulers of accessing the Bosporus Strain, which connected the Black Sea to the Aegean. According to Simon (2009), Catherine II is also credited for promoting healthcare an education in Russia. Moreover, Catherine the great managed to reorganize about 29 provinces under her reform plan for administration (Massie, 2012;Grey, 2016).

In addition, she contributed to Russian empire’s infrastructural and economic growth by building novel towns, expanding and renovating old towns, expanding trade, and developing communication. She also recorded many military victories and her court was famous for brilliance.

Challenges/Major Events

Catherine the great experienced several challenges both personal and non-personal during her reign as the empress. At one point, she reportedly became deaf and was forced to receive a signal to help her in applauding at ballets, operas, and concerts. Moreover, her private life was not exemplary and she was notable for having young lovers up to the moment of her sudden death from Stroke when she was aged 67 (Simmons, 2016; Grey, 2016). In some situations, she was wasteful of the Empire’s resources as she granted her young lovers expensive gifts including titles and land, as well as servants. Catherine the great also experienced difficulties loving her son Paul, who was the legitimate heir and whose throne she had occupied (Grey, 2016). It is also vital to note that the radical ideas championed by the revolutionaries during the French Revolution greatly threatened her throne. In addition, reign of Catherine II was challenged by numerous uprisings that threatened her position as the empress (Simmons, 2016).