Welcome to my notebook!
Here I will update my notebook in two ways: my raw notes and summary notes. This way I will learn how to summarise my notes concisely and clearly. It's really because I'm required to, but let's pretend ;)
NotesGeneral notes:
- Life before Russia - Was originally called Princess Sophie - Devoted herself to Russian Orthodox - Renamed as Yekaterina II - German princess called by Empress Elizabeth to Russia to marry Peter and produce heirs for the Empress - Kept Ivan/rightful king alive; visited him. He warned her to speak politely - To find out who would try to help him escape - Felt sorry for him - Had Grigory Orlov as a lover - Bought a museum - Continuing act of encouraging interest in the arts - Publicising action of Enlightenment - Inoculated against smallpox using herself as an example first - Proving benefit of science - 1884: Potemkin moved into palace as Catherine’s lover - Rebellion - Poketov? Pretended to be Peter III - Potemkin led Russian army against rebellion - Interested in civilian reforms - Possible secret marriage - Diminish power as autocratic ruler - Ottoman Empire and Russia signed a peace treaty - Relinquished two ports and parts of Crimea |
Summary NotesCatherine the Great, or Catherine II, was born a German princess named Sophie. She was invited to Russia by Empress Elizabeth, who intended to make her marry Peter III, and produce an heir.
Princess Sophie, when she stayed in Russia, was originally not a very powerful presence within court and politics. She did embrace living in Russia by converting to Russian Orthodoxy(?) and adopting a Russian name - Ekaterina; Catherine. She also made connections with various people due to her intelligence and social adeptness. The most prominent of these connections were the Orlov brothers, who had significant power in the Russian army. Grigory Orlov, who Catherine did have as a lover, as well as his brother, assisted her in a coupe d'etat against her husband, Peter III, which helped Catherine raise to the throne as autocratic ruler of Russia. Catherine, during her reign, had a strong interest in civilian interests. She had various reforms and there was a particular incident when, to prove the benefit of science, she risked losing her life by using herself in a demonstration to fellow courtiers for an inoculation against smallpox. The centre of Catherine's reign was the concept of Enlightenment. Catherine herself, was a politician of high intelligence who had great interest in logic and reason applied to obtain further knowledge and for better good of society. She did this through encouraging great appreciation of literature and the arts. To do this, she built many schools to provide education and bought an entire museum to be displayed in Russia. Through continual correspondence, she discussed issues and suggested solutions with the most 'revered'(?) philosophers, Voltaire and Diderot. Diderot did personally visit Catherine, to discuss these matters further, though it may have been not with the sole intention to encourage Enlightenment. Letters and correspondence has played a major role in learning about Catherine the Great's life. Although she herself destroyed the letters she received from her correspondents, many of the letters received from her were kept and preserved well enough for historians to piece together her relationships with various people. Another way that we know so much about Catherine the Great is from her own memoirs. She wrote several autobiographies as well, and from these, historians could see how she felt and thought during various events, in addition to her reasons behind her actions. It should be pointed out, though, that she wrote these memoirs most likely with the intention that they would be read. Therefore, it is very possible that she wrote in tones that would improve the impression that the readers would have of her, which should make one wary of showering her character in glorious light. On the other hand, although she may have had a strong tie with Enlightenment, there are various speculations about her character that are not entirely praiseworthy. After the coup d'etat, Peter III suspiciously died of a haemorrhage, which the Russian court deciphered as murder. Catherine was also said to maintain the order that Ivan (an heir locked away by Empress Elizabeth for the security of power) would be immediately killed, should there be any attempt to help him escape - which eventually did happen, and resulted, not surprisingly, in Ivan's death. There are other rumours that I won't go into, because I can't be bothered to. And yes, I did avoid Grigory Potemkin entirely. Blame the overly romantic and dramatic filmmakers in Hollywood. |