Yekaterina II Alekseyevna (Russian: екатерин1072II алексевн) It is also the only female czar known as the Great in Russian history.
Catherine II is the daughter of Wang Zian Harte-Chalbst (German: Die Prinz von Anhalt und Zahlbürst) and a descendant of Tver, the Grand Duke of the Russian Ryurik Dynasty. 1744 was chosen by Russian queen Elizabeth Petrovsky as the fiancee of Peter III, heir to the throne. 1745, she married Peter and converted to the Orthodox Church, and changed her name to yekaterina. When I first arrived in Russia, I studied Russian hard. Later, it gradually gained some military support. Because Peter III had another lover, yekaterina's status as queen was threatened to be abolished, so he led the praetorian guard to launch a coup in 1762 and ascended the throne. 1796 1 1 month, ended a glorious life due to a stroke.
In Russian history, Queen Catherine is as famous as Peter the Great. The queen of Russia, originally the daughter of a German duke, married Russian emperor Peter III Fedorovici in 1745. 1762 On June 28th, Catherine II deposed Peter III and ascended the throne in a palace coup. She fought Turkey twice, participated in the partition of Poland three times, incorporated the Crimean Khanate into Russia, and opened the sea to the Black Sea. She established an unprecedented Russian empire in human history. Her political achievements are outstanding, and a series of dizzying love stories have become a topic that historians from generation to generation talk about.
When yekaterina and her mother's carriage galloped on the post road in the eastern European plain, she might be full of expectations for the future. Being familiar with the court struggle since childhood, she is obviously psychologically prepared for the complicated court life she will face in the future. After arriving in Moscow, yekaterina was quickly appointed as the spouse of the Crown Prince, but the next 18 years was not easy for her. Queen Yelisavita was hot and cold to her, which made her more miserable. Her husband, Peter III Fei Dolovics, is a weak, weak-willed and eccentric man. Spoil your mistress and often humiliate yekaterina. During this period, yekaterina claimed to be "never without books, never without pain, but never happy", accumulated knowledge in books, and secretly organized a small group, and the young officers of the Guards Corps headed by her lover Gregory orlov became an iron fist to support her. Yekaterina was pregnant and gave birth to a boy and a girl.
After Peter III came to power, a series of jaw-dropping actions finally drove him to the wall. He ordered the Russian army, which had a good situation and was in sight of victory in the Seven-Year War, to stop fighting, withdraw from the occupied Prussian land and sign a peace treaty with King Frederick II of Prussia, because he was an admirer of Frederick II. He is also prepared to "personally lead some troops and obey the command of Frederick II". At home, he hoped that Russians would convert to Lutheranism, declare the Orthodox Church a heretic and confiscate its property. In this way, people will naturally change their minds. With the help of orlov brothers and Cossack leader Razumovski, yekaterina staged a coup. He succeeded in seizing the throne and imprisoned Peter III. On July 1762, Peter III died mysteriously (poisoning was also said to be strangulation, and yekaterina claimed that he died of indigestion). After 18 years of humiliation, yekaterina finally waited for this day and became the master of the largest empire in the world. 1796165438+1October17 Yekaterina II died suddenly in Huangcun (now Pushkin).
In the history of the Russian empire, only two emperors have won the title of "Great": one is the founder of the empire, Peter I, and the other is Catherine II. Catherine II was in power for nearly 35 years, and Russia in the second half of the 8th century was the stage of her historical activities. During the yekaterina era, Russia stepped into the ranks of world powers and was called "European Gendarmerie" because of its active intervention in European affairs. Russia's strength in the19th century largely benefited from the foundation laid by the yekaterina era. Later generations included yekaterina's son Paul I and grandson Alexander I, and the following six emperors, namely Alexander II, Nicholas I, Alexander III and finally Tsar Nicholas II, were unparalleled in governing the country.
Yekaterina, formerly known as Sophia Auguste, grew up in an aristocratic family that was not rich-his father was a general in the Prussian army, and later he was made a duke, and the fief was the principality of Anhalt-Zerbust, which was only an unknown small principality in Germany at that time. Sophia was cheerful and lively since she was a child, even a little naughty, courageous and often in trouble. Sophia's father served in the army, was conscientious and didn't care much about her family, so she grew up under the control of her mother. However, her mother is mean and critical, impatient and difficult to get along with others. She lives in Paris all the year round, so Sophia is not restricted by her parents since she was a child, so even the princess of the Principality will go to the street to find children of the same age to play with when no one cares about her.
If it weren't for an accident at the age of 13, Sophia's fate might be no different from that of a noble lady of the same age. 1742, her distant cousin, the grandson of Peter the Great of Russia, Prince Karl Peter ulrich of Horgostein, was selected by his menstruation, and Queen Elizabeth of Russia became the heir to the Russian throne. Prince Horgos Stein's worth has doubled, and many school-age princesses in the German Principality dream of giving it to Duke Karl Peter anhalt, and it is no exception. And because of her father's relationship, Princess Sophia's marriage plan with the future heir to the Russian throne was supported by King Frederick of Prussia.
Under Frederick's arrangement, in the winter of 1742, the Duchess of anhalt took Sophia to Berlin to meet Frederick II. Frederick was very satisfied with Princess Sophia and thought that she could be the wife of the Russian Crown Prince. So he asked the best painter in France to draw a portrait of Princess Sophia, and then sent it to St. Petersburg for Queen Elizabeth to have a look.
The Duke of anhalt's family waited for a whole year. During this year, various marriage schemes were repeatedly studied in the Russian court in St. Petersburg, and the final choice fell on Princess Sophia August of Anhalt Principality. 1744 65438+ 10, the emissary of St. Petersburg brought a personal letter from Queen Elizabeth and invited the Duchess of anhalt and Princess Sophia to visit the Russian Federation. At the same time, I also brought a check for 10,000 rubles as an expense for the Duke and Mother. Although the purpose of the invitation was not stated in the letter, Duke anhalt and his family knew what it meant-Queen Elizabeth chose Sophia as the wife of the future crown prince.
The Duchess of anhalt and Princess Sophia set out in the cold winter of January. They were bumpy all the way, and even stayed at ordinary farmers' homes several times along the way. Their diet is often rough and cold, and their mother and daughter are almost sick. When the motorcade entered Russia, the conditions immediately improved greatly, and the Duchess and her daughter were well received throughout Russia. On February 9, Princess Sofia arrived in Moscow.
Queen Elizabeth II of Catherine warmly treated the Duchess of anhalt and her daughter, Crown Prince Peter, a distant cousin who was baptized by the Orthodox Church at that time and had a Russian name, and was also polite to Princess Sophia. Soon Peter confessed to Princess Sophia that in view of their estranged relationship, Peter naturally had trust in Sophia, but he had no feelings for Sophia. He has a soft spot for Queen Elizabeth's maid, and marrying Princess Sophia is just carrying out the will of Queen Elizabeth.
Sophia was surprised by Peter's frankness: on the one hand, she was surprised by Peter's frankness, on the other hand, she felt that Peter's imagination of many things was too naive. Sophia soon understood that the most important condition for her to gain a foothold in Russia is to become a Russian. To this end, she asked Queen Elizabeth to find the best teacher for her to learn Russian and Orthodox etiquette. Princess Sofia studies Russian hard. Even in the dead of night, all the attendants around her fell asleep, while Sophia was still studying hard with her book in her arms. Although it was winter, it was very hot in the room, so Sophia walked around the room barefoot. But winter in Moscow is much colder than that in Germany. She finally got pneumonia and fell ill. Sophia was in a state of high fever for more than ten days in a row and was unconscious. Everyone thinks that she is dying and has already started to arrange the funeral. At the last moment of her life, the Duchess of anhalt specially invited a Lutheran priest to pray for her, but Princess Sophia asked for a priest and a teacher to teach her Orthodox etiquette. This matter soon spread, and the Russian court's affection for Princess Sophia doubled. A month later, Sophia miraculously recovered, so the marriage between Princess Sophia and Crown Prince Peter was settled.
1744 On June 28th, Princess Sophia converted to the Orthodox Church and changed her name to yekaterina Aleksevna. Baptism is yekaterina's first public activity in Russia. She answered questions in Russian, spoke appropriately and enunciated clearly, and won the favor of the court again. The next day, Crown Prince Peter got engaged to yekaterina. On August 2 1 745, the Russian court held a grand wedding for them.
The day after marriage is a gray time for Catherine. Her husband, Peter, doesn't love her at all and finds another lover. After five years of marriage, I have actually separated and have no children. Yekaterina spent all day in the secluded place of the deep palace and had to study to get rid of loneliness. At first, she began to read novels aimlessly. Later, she happened to read Voltaire's works and became interested in political and philosophical books. Yekaterina found ten thick national history books of Bender and insisted on reading one book every eight days. I have read through four volumes of the history of philosophy and a large number of Russian books. After a period of time, yekaterina's depth of knowledge enabled her to understand Montesquieu's incomprehensible book The Spirit of Law.
Although yekaterina doesn't have a dazzling and beautiful appearance, she is young, well-spoken and charming, which naturally makes people like her. Soon she had a lover of her own. Many researchers in yekaterina believe that her first love was a hero in the Seven Years' War, and Chernyshev was the adjutant of Crown Prince Peter at that time. But this relationship didn't last long. After that, Sergei Saltikoff, who was recognized as a handsome man by the court, became yekaterina's lover. At that time, it was rumored that Queen Elizabeth liked Saltykov very much, but Saltykov chose the latter between Queen Elizabeth and Princess yekaterina. Queen Elizabeth made a show of anger. Saltikoff had no choice but to hide in the country. When Saltikoff returned to St. Petersburg again, Queen Elizabeth was busy with state affairs and had forgotten about it.
After five years of marriage, Peter and yekaterina are still childless. In other words, the Russian empire is still in a state of no successor, and Queen Elizabeth is greatly annoyed. The queen called the female bodyguard of the Crown Prince's court and said that yekaterina liked riding horses, which led to infertility. This is the bodyguard's fault. Female guards know that riding a horse is not necessarily related to not being pregnant. The princess likes riding horses, and no one can forbid it. Moreover, it is well known that both the Crown Prince and the Princess have their own lovers, so they have to politely argue that there is a "reason" for being pregnant and having children, but there is no "reason" between the Crown Prince and yekaterina so far, and there is nothing she can do. Queen Elizabeth said angrily, what's the use of asking you? Can't find out the "reason", the empire has no heir, which is dereliction of duty! The maid had to obey Queen Elizabeth's orders and privately remind yekaterina that she would give birth to an imperial heir for Queen Elizabeth no matter what, otherwise her position would be lost. Yekaterina suddenly woke up and finally gave birth to a boy named Paul at 1754.
After yekaterina gave birth to his grandson Paul, his mother was not as expensive as her son. On the contrary, the situation is even more difficult. Yekaterina later wrote in his diary that after Paul was born, all the people, the court headed by Queen Elizabeth, revolved around Paul. When the baby was born, she was taken to Queen Elizabeth's palace. yekaterina lay alone in the maternity bed for more than three hours, and no one took care of her. Finally, when she woke up, she had to reluctantly walk back to her bedroom alone. In short, her attitude towards yekaterina is like that of an abandoned machine that has finished its task.
In the first year after giving birth, yekaterina fell ill and hardly participated in court activities. Until one time she attended a dance, a young earl named poniatowski caught her attention. Compared with former lover Saltykov, poniatowski is young, educated and well-spoken, influenced by Parisian upper class all the year round, while poniatowski fell in love with yekaterina at first sight, and they soon became lovers. In St. Petersburg, poniatowski lived in the home of Count Lev naryshkin, while naryshkin was a good friend of yekaterina. Every night, yekaterina put on men's clothes, secretly left the bedroom, went to naryshkin's house, and dated Bogna Tosky. Then sneak back to your bedroom before dawn. Soon the romance between them spread, and Crown Prince Peter knew it, but he didn't love yekaterina, so he didn't care.
One night, poniatowski sneaked into yekaterina's bedroom in Baum, Auranen, but was caught by Peter's guards and put in front of Peter. Peter knew exactly who poniatowski was, but poniatowski's silence angered Peter, so Peter accused poniatowski of plotting to assassinate him on the pretext that he had weapons. Yekaterina's solution: Peter's lover, the daughter of Duke Vorinzov, came to comfort him, and finally whispered in Vorenkova's ear: You can make us all happy, but it's just a little effort. Vorenkova got the message and rushed to the room of Crown Prince Peter to persuade Peter to let him go in front of poniatowski. Peter, who is acting strangely, actually smiled and said loudly, there is one person missing here! Then he broke into yekaterina's bedroom, pulled yekaterina out of bed in his pajamas, dragged him into his room, pointed to poniatowski and said, Are you satisfied this time? When four people meet, everyone is very happy and dramatic.
From then on, Bo Gernert Kovsky went to Baum's bedroom in Auranen to find yekaterina every night. Sometimes the four of them had dinner together, and then Peter and Vorenkova went back to their bedrooms. poniatowski stayed in yekaterina, and they lived happily ever after.
1758, yekaterina became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter named Anna. Peter told people publicly: I don't know how yekaterina got pregnant, and I don't know who this daughter is. Peter's attitude towards yekaterina is getting more and more arrogant. Yekaterina wrote in her diary that after repeated consideration, she only saw three ways out: first, to continue to be Peter's wife, and finally to live and die with Peter; Secondly, he resigned himself, was arrested by Peter or deposed and sent to a monastery. The third is to take the initiative to take control of your own destiny. But at that time, her imagination of the future was still vague and she didn't know what to do. Besides, Queen Elizabeth is still alive, and no one can make a move. Yekaterina began to seek support, first of all, the support of Prime Minister Betuzev. As a mature and experienced politician, Betuzev immediately made clear his action goal: after the death of Queen Elizabeth, yekaterina must ascend to the throne, or Peter will take power, and no one will have a good result. Yekaterina still vaguely can't imagine what means can be taken to ascend to the throne, even don't know whether it is necessary. She was basically pushed away during this time.
Before long, Bittsev was denounced by shuvalov and Vorinzov, two etiquette loyal to Elizabeth. The results of torture showed that yekaterina tried to use Besturev to achieve her goal. She kept secret correspondence with Marshal Aplak Xin, and Marshal Aplak Xin fell out of favor and was imprisoned. This greatly angered Queen Elizabeth, and as a result, Betuzev was exiled, poniatowski was forced to stay away from St. Petersburg, and Chernyshev and Saltikoff also went abroad. 1759, Anna, a daughter born just a few months ago, died, and yekaterina's mother, the Duchess of anhalt, also died in Paris. The relationship between yekaterina and Crown Prince Peter turned into open hostility.
In the spring of this year, the adjutant of the King of Prussia captured in the Battle of Saandorf was escorted to St. Petersburg, and one of the escorting officers was Gregory orlov. Orlov's family has three brothers, all of whom are in the army. Orlov himself has little culture, but he is burly and handsome. And no matter riding a horse, playing cards, drinking, dancing and fighting, he is a good cook, so orlov is highly respected by the upper-class women in St. Petersburg, and all this will naturally not escape yekaterina's eyes. When she gave orlov a hint, orlov began to pursue yekaterina eagerly and often made crazy moves to show her love to yekaterina.
During this period, yekaterina has been pondering a question: Queen Elizabeth will die soon. What will happen when Peter succeeds to the throne? 176 1 year 65438+February 25th, Queen Elizabeth died, and Peter succeeded to the throne, known as Peter III in history. 1762 In April, yekaterina gave birth to a boy whose father was orlov. A few months after the baby was born, Peter flew into a rage and ordered the arrest of yekaterina. But Peter's adjutant hesitated, and finally everyone persuaded Peter to temporarily change the order to arrest yekaterina. Later, at the state banquet to celebrate the signing of the peace treaty with Prussia, Peter used foul language in front of many domestic and foreign guests and publicly insulted yekaterina. Their relationship is incompatible. At the same time, the orlov brothers stepped up their series of activities in the Guards, secretly formed a group of officers with hundreds of people, and prepared to instigate a coup to overthrow Peter III and support yekaterina's accession to the throne. By the end of June 1762, the situation was extremely critical. A security officer involved in the coup was arrested and the coup plot was exposed. Yekaterina and orlov brothers, with the support of Queen Elizabeth's favorite Razumovski, Duke Volkonski and imperial teacher Pan Ning, staged a coup in advance and overthrew Peter III. In the coup, a young cavalry officer named potemkin became more active and prominent, which attracted the attention of yekaterina. After the success of the coup, yekaterina rewarded all those who participated in the coup, and personally changed the rank of cavalry second lieutenant originally proposed by potemkin on the invitation to captain. Since then, yekaterina has paid special attention to potemkin.
Potemkin had been leading troops at the front until 12 years later, potemkin received a personal letter from yekaterina, telling him to return to St. Petersburg. Potemkin immediately made a report without thinking, left the station and went to St. Petersburg to see yekaterina. From then on, potemkin became the most famous and powerful lover in yekaterina. Potemkin almost became yekaterina's right-hand man, and almost all the major military affairs came from yekaterina and Bojiangjin. Until his death, Potemkin was the second person in the Russian Empire, and he was always loyal to yekaterina. Later, it was rumored that Catherine II secretly married potemkin in the church, following the example of Queen Elizabeth and Razumovski. But so far there is no literature to prove this history.
Yekaterina had many lovers in his life. According to the statistics of bulger Neve, a scholar who studied yekaterina's life, yekaterina has 23 lovers, the most famous of which are Saltykov, poniatowski (later Polish king), orlov (later Earl), vasil Chikov (cavalry general), BoJiangjin (last duke), Zorridge (baron), Lanshkoy (baron) and Zubov (duke). Apart from potemkin, other fans have never had a great influence on Russian political, military, economic and cultural development. Yekaterina's eldest son is Paul (many people suspect that he is the child of yekaterina and Saltykov), his second son Alexei Bobrinski (born with orlov), his eldest daughter Anna (probably born with poniatowski) died at an early age, and his second daughter Elizabeth potemkin (born with Bo Jiangjin).
From 1792, yekaterina became ill and his health deteriorated sharply. Potemkin's death was a great blow to her, and the third partition of Poland and the war against Turkey consumed her a lot of energy. 1796 September, yekaterina was ill and bedridden. 165438+1In the early morning of October 6, Catherine II died of illness, and his eldest son, Paul, succeeded to the throne, and was called Paul I in history.