Catherine The Great

Sophia Frederika-Augusta, later known as Catherine, was born on May 2, 1729 in the

Baltic seaport town of Stettin, then part of German Pomerania. She was born into the Anhalt-

Zerbst family, one of the poorest and most obscure of all the German princely families. Her

father, Christian Augusta, did not become the reigning prince of Zerbst until Catherine was

thirteen years old. In 1743, at the age of fifteen, Catherine's mother, Johanna, found her a

husband. She was to marry Grand Duke Peter III of Holstein, he was sixteen. When Catherine

met her husband she thought that he was weak, egotistical, unbalanced, ineffective and entirely

Lutheran and German in his attitude. Catherine decided to convert to Russian Orthodoxy after a

year of instruction and education from the Russian court.

She was married in 1745 and became Grand Duchess Catherine of Russia. Catherine's

life as a Grand Duchess from 1745 to 1762 was very difficult. Their marriage was never on

good terms. Catherine thought that she would have to make her own way and find her place

within the Russian court. She learned how to speak Russian to convince the court of her good

will. She studied rituals of Orthodoxy and was careful to show respect for her new religion.

Catherine occupied herself reading everything she could find. She particularly enjoyed the

works of Plato and Voltaire. Her interest in intellectual things caused even greater distance

between Peter and herself.

Many years passed and there was still no heir to the throne. The Empress Elizabeth of

Russia, Peter III's aunt, was irritated because she wanted to secure a powerful dynasty and

couldn't accomplish this without the presence of a male heir. She thought it was Catherine's

fault because she wasn't attracted to her husband. However, it was Peter that was not able to

produce a male son, so Elizabeth permitted an affair between Catherine and a Russian military

officer named Serge Saltykov.

Catherine finally gave birth to a son, whom the Empress named Paul, on September 20,

1754. Peter accepted him as his own. Immediately after Paul's birth Elizabeth took him to her

apartments and raised him as her own. This caused Peter and Catherine's relationship to drift

further apart.

On Christmas day 1761, the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna died and the reign of Tsar Peter

III had begun. Catherine mourned the Empress sincerely. Peter apparently was glad, and at the

funeral made a complete fool of himself. He mocked Elizabeth's life, saying that he was glad

she died, and made loud, rude noises while the priests were speaking. Peter was very vocal

about his love of Prussian customs, and Prussian relations with Russia were not going well.

Peter's first official action was to end hostile relations between Prussia and his Russia. He

formed an alliance with Prussia that became the beginning of Russia's detriment. Peter

impressed with the Prussian military adopted many of their customs into the Russian military.

The Russian army, largely due to Peter's adopted changes, suffered great losses during the Seven

Year's War. The army started to turn against Peter and all classes of the Russian people began

to hate him.

Catherine heard rumors that Peter intended to dispose of her and make, his mistress,

Elizabeth Vorontsova his wife. He planned to lock Catherine away because she annoyed him.

He was envious that the Russian people cared for her more than they did for him. With all that

Peter had done to alienate the Army, Catherine felt she was in great danger and began to plot the

overthrow of the new Tsar. Friends of Catherine's and her present lover told her of their plan for

a coup d'etat against Peter. Catherine went to the Ismailovsky regiment looking for their

support saying "I have come to you for protection. The Emperor has given orders to arrest me,

and I fear he intends to kill me." The soldiers believed her and gave her their support. The

Ismailovsky's were hers, and from that moment on so was Russia. Catherine in the protection of

the Ismailovsky Army, made their way to the Cathedral of Kazan where they found the church

filled with clergy awaiting Catherine's inauguration. On June 28, 1762 she took the oath as

Empress and Sole Autocrat.

Peter, unwilling to fight, signed the act of abdication. By order of the Empress, Peter was

taken to a nearby estate in the village of Ropsha and placed under surveillance.