What was the epoch of Catherine 2? Historical portrait

On a frosty winter morning on 12 February 1744, passing the border gate of the city of Riga, a carriage with two women entered the territory of the Russian Empire. One of them was the wife of the powerful German prince Anhalt-Zerbstsky - Johann Elizabeth. Next to her was her fifteen-year-old daughter, Sophia Augusta Frederika Anhalt-Zerbstskaya - the future Russian empress and autocrat Catherine 2, who earned her deeds as the Great. One of the most striking pages of Russian history is associated with the name of this woman.

Russia, inherited

The era of the reign of Catherine II began with the palace coup June 28, 1762, as a result of which even yesterday the modest and inconspicuous German princess, who received the name of Catherine in Orthodoxy, took the place of her extremely unpopular spouse, Emperor Peter III.

As Catherine II testified in her memoirs, Russia, which she inherited from the former Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, needed radical reforms of the whole way of life. The army did not pay salaries, as the treasury was extremely exhausted. The lack of proper organization of the state economy led to the decline of trade, since its main branches were monopolized.

Serious problems were observed in the military and naval departments. Corruption among government officials, which assumed ever larger dimensions with every passing year, was especially acute. Bribery swept the organs of justice, and the laws were effective only when it was beneficial to rich and influential people.

Outstanding figures of the Catherine's epoch

As a statesman of the highest rank, Catherine II possessed a very valuable quality - the ability to catch all sensible thought, and then realize it for her own purposes. People who were part of her closest circle, the Empress picked out on the basis of their business qualities, not being afraid of talented and bright personalities. Thanks to this era of the reign of Catherine II is marked by the emergence of a whole galaxy of outstanding statesmen, military leaders, writers, musicians and artists. It was the conditions created during this period that helped to fully reveal their abilities.

Such figures of the Catherine II epoch as the commanders AV Suvorov and P. Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky, writers D. Fonvizin and A. Radishchev, historian N. Karamzin and the poet-predecessor A.S. Pushkin-G. entered forever. Derzhavin. Next to them should be mentioned those who stood at the origins of Russian musical culture: composer, teacher and conductor D. Bortnyansky, outstanding violinist Ivan Khandoshkin, and the founder of the Russian national opera V. Pashkevich.

Program of Action

The history of Catherine's epoch 2 was formed on the basis of tasks, the circle of which the empress outlined for herself as follows:

1. It should make every effort to educate the nation, which she fell to rule.
2. In order to regulate the state life, it is necessary to inspire respect for the existing laws to society.
3. To maintain internal order in the state, it is important to create a police force that meets all the necessary requirements.
4. It is necessary to promote the flourishing of the country's economy and abundance in it.
5. It is necessary to increase the fighting efficiency of the army in every possible way, and thus raise the authority of Russia in the face of other states.

Beginning of the planned plans

The whole epoch of Catherine II became the period of the embodiment of these destinies. Already the following year, after coming to power, the Empress implemented a Senate reform, which, in many ways, increased the effectiveness of public administration. As a result of the changes made to the work of this body of government, the Senate, divided into 6 separate departments, and lost the functions of governing the state apparatus, became the highest judicial and administrative institution.

Secularization of church lands

It is known that in the epoch of the reign of Catherine II Russia became the arena of a large-scale action to seize (secularize) and transfer to the state fund of church lands. The need for such actions, which met a very mixed response in society, was caused by the desire to fill the state budget deficit with all the forces.

As a result of the measures taken, about 500 monasteries were abolished, which allowed the transfer of 1 million serfs to state ownership. Due to this, the treasury began to receive significant funds. In a short time the government paid off the debt to the army and managed to weaken the general economic crisis. One of the consequences of this process was also a significant weakening of the influence of the church on the life of a secular society.

Attempt of legal reform

The era of Catherine II was also marked by an attempt to raise the device of Russia's domestic life to a higher level. The Empress believed that most injustices in the state can be overcome by legal means, having worked out a set of laws that meet the interests of all strata of society. He was to replace the obsolete Catherine's Code of the Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, adopted in 1649.

To implement the plan, in 1767, the Commission was formed, consisting of 572 deputies representing the nobility, the merchant class and the Cossacks. The Empress herself was involved in her work. After carefully studying the works of Western thinkers, she compiled a document, entitled "The Empress Catherine's Decree," consisting of 20 chapters, divided into 526 articles.

It stressed the need for the estate of the state and the creation in it of conditions that ensure a strong autocratic power. In addition, many issues were considered, both legal and purely moral. Unfortunately, these her works did not bring the expected result. After working for two years, the Commission was unable to develop the necessary code of laws, since all its members stood guard only for their narrow-class interests and privileges.

Reform of the territorial division of the state

It is worth mentioning another important undertaking undertaken by Catherine 2. The era of absolutism in all countries without exception was characterized by a rigid centralized power. For her more effective provision in Russia, the Empress undertook a new administrative division of the state in 1775.

Henceforth, the whole territory of the country consisted of 50 provinces, 300-400 thousand inhabitants in each, which, in turn, were divided into counties with a population of 20 to 30 thousand people. This contributed not only to exercising control over the lives of all, even the most remote areas of the country, but also to a more accurate account of the souls, that is, persons subject to taxation.

Expansion of the nobility's privileges

The era of Catherine II was a very favorable period for the Russian nobility. In 1785, a document developed by the Empress was issued and was given the title of "Granted Letter to the Nobility". On the basis of this set of privileges, formalized in the form of a law, members of the upper class were sharply separated from the rest of the country's population.

They were guaranteed exemption from payment of taxes and compulsory civil service, as was the case since the time of Peter the Great. Criminal and civil cases were to be considered only by a special noble court, and corporal punishment was forbidden to them. According to the Empress, this was to contribute to the eradication among the nobility of slave psychology and the education of a sense of dignity in them.

Empress - educator of the people

Russia in the era of Catherine II made a big step forward in the way of public education. As a result of the next state reform, the secondary education system was implemented. Within its framework, a whole series of closed educational institutions began to operate throughout Russia, among which were educational homes, noble and urban schools, as well as institutes of noble maidens. In addition, the uncensored two-year county and four-year city schools have become widespread in the province. As a result of developing a methodology for teaching different disciplines, unified training plans were introduced.

The epoch of enlightenment of Catherine 2 is also memorable by the creation of the system of women's education. It was initiated by the opening in St. Petersburg in 1764 of the Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens and the creation of an Educational Society for them. Henceforth young noblewomen were required not only to own several foreign languages, but also to study a number of academic disciplines.

During the reign of Catherine 2, the Russian Academy of Sciences, having risen to an unprecedented height, took the leading place in Europe. On its basis, a physical cabinet and an observatory, a botanical garden and a kunstkammer, an anatomical theater and a vast library were created. Thus, the culture of the Catherine era 2 has created a solid foundation for the further development of scientific thought in Russia.

Good deeds of the Empress

Under Catherine II, rightfully deserving the title of the Great, there was progress in all areas of life. The population of the country has significantly increased, which is an undeniable testimony to the improvement of the lives of its citizens. As a result, hundreds of new cities and villages appeared. An unprecedented impulse in their development was given to industry and agriculture, as a result of which Russia for the first time began to export grain. All this gave a significant increase in revenues, which allowed the treasury to increase 4-fold.

With the name of the Empress, two important events of Russian history are connected, such as the appearance of paper money and the start of vaccination against smallpox, and Catherine, in order to set an example for others, the first allowed herself to be vaccinated. Since then, the prevention of this terrible disease, which claimed thousands of lives, began to be carried out regularly.

Expansion of the territory of Russia

The merits of Catherine the Great and the expansion of the borders of the country are indisputable. During the years of her reign, wars were waged twice with the Ottoman Empire (1768-1774 and 1787-1791). As a result of the victories won, Russia was able to secure access to the Black Sea and include in its territory territories that received the name of Little Russia. These included the Crimea, the Northern Black Sea Coast, as well as the Kuban Territory. In 1783, Russia accepted Georgia under its citizenship.

The era of Catherine II was also marked by events connected with the partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. As a result of active military operations that took place in 1772, 1793 and 1795, Russia again included the lands that had been seized from it by former Polish-Lithuanian invaders. These include Western Byelorussia, Volhynia, Lithuania and Kurland.

Strengthening serfdom

At the same time, it should be noted that the reign of Catherine II was marked by such a negative phenomenon as an even greater enslavement of the peasants. Despite the fact that, being an enlightened and thinking person at the European level, the empress understood all the perniciousness of serfdom, and even worked on a project to abolish it, she was forced to submit to the centuries-old tradition.

Even in the early days of his reign, Catherine issued a decree demanding that the peasants complete and unquestioning obedience to the landlords. With her, the practice of distributing land with the peasants living on them in the ownership of favorites, and also as a reward for honors in the civil service, took on an even greater scope.

At the same time, the very form of exploitation of the peasants became tougher. It is known, in particular, that for those of them who paid the owner of the obrok (these were mostly residents of the northern regions of Russia, where farming is ineffective), the levied amount has doubled. At the same time, the situation of the peasants, obliged to work on corvee in the landed estates, worsened. If before their work was limited to three days a week, now this rule was canceled, and everything depended on the tyranny of the owner.

The reaction to such oppression was insurrection, which periodically broke out in various parts of the country, the largest of which was the peasant war led by Emelian Pugachev, which swept the Urals and the Volga region during the period 1773-1775.

Epilogue

After completing her thirty-four-year period of government, the Empress passed away on November 17, 1796. However, this did not end in Russia the era of palace coups. Catherine II left behind the heir to the throne - her son Paul, crowned on April 16, 1797 and killed by conspirators in 4 years.