History Essay Sample about Catherine The Great

What I Knew, and What I want to know

Catherine the Great was a German Princess who was married off to a Russian Emperor at sixteen years old, and had a very unhappy marriage to Peter the Terrible. She is known for creating a coup and overthrowing her husband, gaining control of Russia, with the help of Count Grigory Orlov who is one of her many lovers. She is also believed to have been a part of her husband's assassination. She also had a son who was named Paul the first, who was thought to be her husbands’, or of another lover by the name of Sergei Saltykov, and she also had an illegitimate child with her other lover, Count Grigory Orlov. Her son Paul would eventually be assassinated during a coup himself at the age of forty seven. She was Russia’s longest ruling female leader, and helped to Westernize Russia while challenging the social norms of her time. Catherine would pass away from a stroke at the age of sixty seven. I want to know if Catherine the Great is considered one of the best rulers Russia has had. I want to learn more about the Russian leaders, especially the ones that came before her. I want to compare the achievements and downfalls of the previous Russian leaders to see if she can be considered one of the greatest.

My Search Process

I started by Googling the achievements of Catherine the Great. I chose an Edu website because they are considered reliable, and I started looking for articles and websites for other Russian leaders, starting with Peter the Great, which I found a government article for. I had a bit of a hard time finding other leaders, so I looked up Catherine's husband, Peter the Terrible, and while looking for articles on him, which there isn’t a lot, found a ruler named Ivan the Terrible.

What I have learned

Starting with Ivan the Terrible, I have learned that he was a very great ruler until he got a fatal illness in which he essentially went crazy. At the beginning of his reign he presented a new form of government to Russia, instituted a council of nobles, revamped the law code, and constructed a standing army for Russia. Ivan also opened the Arkhangelsk to English merchants, and implemented laws restricting peasants, which eventually led to serfdom. 

However in 1553 Ivan came down with the fatal illness, as he seemed close to death, he demanded the boyars, a class of rich landowners who served the prince, to swear an oath to boyars to swear an oath of allegiance to his eldest son, which when they refused, eventually led to their either their executions or their exile. In his later years he’d launch a victorious war which would lead to the not so victorious Livonian War. Ivan’s mental state quickly deteriorated causing him to eventually, accidentally, kill his eldest son during an argument.

Peter the Great, who is best known for his extensive reforms which helped establish Russia as a great nation. He created a strong Navy, while westernizing his army, and recruited several experts in science to educate his people about technological advancements. He instituted the first Russian Newspaper, and developed commerce, as well as instituted the Julian calendar and modernized the Russian alphabet. He also got rid of Russia’s primitive government, and appointed a senate to regulate all branches' administration. He gained a considerable amount of territory and through several wars with Turkey, gained access to the Black Sea. All these changes and wars caused extremely high taxes, which led to his citizens to revolt. The revolts were very quickly squashed.

Peter the third, Peter, who was considered Peter the terrible, had one of the shortest rules of just six months. His reforms caused him to be disliked by his subjects, and to have many coups against him. He allowed religious freedoms, gave the state more power than the Church, and outlawed the killing of serfs. He abolished the secret police, and instituted the first bank in Russia, and released the gentry from military service. After six months of ruling, he was overthrown by his own wife, Catherine the Great.

Catherine the Great, after overthrowing her husband, would start to westernize Russia. She’d continue Peter the Great’s reforms on the Russian state, and took on a wide range of political reforms as well. She launched a successful war against the Ottoman Empire which broadened Russian borders, and also founded academies, journals, and libraries. She imported many great works in literature, art, and print from western Europe, and furthered the education system, and law codes making Russia into a majoro world empire. She challenged the social norms of her time, setting a precedent for women in powerful positions.