While this would surely dilute her ancestral roots, Sophia was willing to do all she could to earn favour with the Empress and Grand Duke. Massie did extensive research on this book. It is easy to sensationalize these facts of Catherine's life and use them to condemn her. This book gives a detailed account of her life before Russia and after she is brought to St Petersburg. Unlike her husband, the German-born Catherine took care to demonstrate her dedication to Russia and the Russian Orthodox an independent branch of the Christian faith faith.
She played a huge role in European history. As for that superfluous title that follows my new name, it was prematurely bestowed on me by the Legislative Commission that I convened to give Russia a more enlightened legal code more on this later. In reality, she had no desire to be subordinated to her own child; her ambition was to occupy the throne herself. This is a beautiful and very readable biography of one of the most fascinating and influential women in history. In 1744, she married Grand Duke Peter of Holstein , heir to the Russian throne. Friends warned that she might not enjoy her status for long since Peter was planning to divorce her, and she was advised to flee. I was greatly impressed by this.
Catherine was also concerned with expanding the country's educational system. Where Peter the Great was to make Russia one of the great European powers, Catherine managed to introduce the Enlightenment ideals, where she emphasized human intelligence as power, and set out to create a culture based on reading, pondering and criticism. Europe was still teetering between a number of alliances, which could turn a single fallen domino into a full-blown war. She was not a Romanov by birth and had no connection to the throne by blood. One of the war's heroes, Gregory Potemkin, became a trusted adviser and lover of Catherine's.
Whether you as a reader are interested in famous rulers, Russian history, powerful women, or just a role model that shows to always try for better I think you would enjoy this book. Sophia was off to meet her future betrothed with the fewest of garments imaginable. As I entered this biography, I could not have told you much about Catherine or what she did for Russia. Not even rounding up can I. This book is an enjoyable read for anyone who loves history.
While Massie offers the reader numerous My ongoing exploration of biographies has pushed into yet another realm; women of power. Some of the remaining parts of her plan were carried out after her death. Massie's effective arguments and thorough research are a treat for the curious reader, even if little is known about this woman before beginning the journey. She therefore purposefully became a patron of literature, science, the arts, and education - not only because she believed these fields to be important in and of themselves, but because she understood that success here would contribute to Russia's reputation as a center of civilization. She knew that a number of influential persons considered her a usurper, or someone who seized another's power illegally.
But whenever I wanted to needle my son, I always said that Sergei Saltykov was his father. Born on May 2, 1729, in the German city of Stettin Szczecin, Poland today , into the family of Prince Christian August of Anhalt-Zerbst, Catherine was christened Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst a daughter of a minor German prince in Prussian service. When Elizabeth died, Peter ascended to the Throne, though he was little known and even less liked by the people. She had no intention of sitting in a nunnery. She was also a very talented writer who produced several pieces of fiction, comedies and memoirs. He presents history from all angles-- you get to see Catherine through her own memoirs and the writings of others around her throughout her life. She was a great lover of the arts, of modern medicine, and philosophy.
Or maybe you don't have to pay close attention. It is power that she seeks. Smart and ambitious, she was sympathetic to the European Enlightenment, so she expanded the Westernization of Russia. Haslip's Catherine is a charming, initially well-intended autocrat whose personal concerns continually influenced policy and political appointments. In here, it focused too much about her lovers, which left me feeling like I barely knew a thing about her politics. However, what had began as a bloodless coup soon turned deadly.
A negative aspect was the expansion of serfdom, a condition of bondage akin to slavery, into the Ukraine, a region in which it was previously unknown. This caused some awkwardness later when we went to war against Prussia in my reign --- but that was still far in the future. He enjoys reading about new research and is always looking for a new historical tale. Anyway, I soon fell pregnant, resulting in Paul, the long-awaited Romanov heir. Petersburg was turned into one of the world's most dazzling capitals. Still, I'll forgive it because it's one of the most succinct and elegantly written accounts of the Revolution and Terror that I've ever read.
She expanded the Russian Empire, improved administration, and energetically pursued the policy of Westernization the process of changing to western ideas and traditions. The revolt was a major landmark in Catherine's reign. She improved hospitals and revised a code of laws. However, the betrothal and subsequent marriage was not a happy one, and due to the eccentric behaviour of Paul I she was quickly able to seize the throne in 1762. They were well-received, but the journey had taken its toll and Sophia was ill for quite some time. Like many others, Catherine had great hopes about what the Commission might accomplish, but unfortunately, the delegates devoted most of their time to the exposition of their own grievances, rather than to their assigned task. The marriage took place on August 21, 1745, with the bride a new convert to Orthodox Christianity now bearing the name Ekaterina, or Catherine.