What Was One Way Catherine the Great Continued to Improve on Peter the Greataâ„¢s Success
| Born | 2nd of May, 1729 |
| Died | 17th of November, 1796 |
| Famous Quote | "It is better to inspire a reform than to enforce it." |
| Known For | Growing size of Russia, funding the arts and reforming government, making Russia one of the leading European nations. |
| Region Of World | Europe/Asia |
Few women in history have had the impact that Catherine II or Catherine the Great has had. Over a small reign of just 30 years she managed to propel Russia into modernity.
In order to do this Catherine had to change several things. The 3 largest ways Catherine the Great changed Russian society are the following.
- Drastically expanding the size of Russia
- Funding the arts and reforming the government
- Increasing diplomatic power
These 3 changes that Catherine instituted upon becoming the Empress of Russia changed Russia forever. To this day she is a symbol of national pride for Russia and her effects live on to today.
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Without further ado, here are the 3 ways Catherine The Great Changed Russian Society.
Drastically Expanding The Size of Russia
Russia in the 18th century was a time of many great people. Not only was Catherine a shrewd politician and leader but she was fortunate to have several amazing generals and admirals at her disposal.
This was because Peter the Great early 50 years before had adopted European military traditions. Out of this arose several prominent commanders under Catherine such as Alexander Suvorov and Pyotr Rumyantsev.
Due to this military expertise and training Catherine was able to significantly increase the size of the Russian Empire. In 1772 Russia defeated the Ottoman Empire to claim the Crimean Peninsula. Further, she continued the trend of pushing east across Siberia to eventually colonize Alaska in North America.
Because of this rapid expansion Catherine has forever changed Russian society. One of the main reasons Russia is such a large nation today is because of Catherine the Great stretching the limits of the Empire across north Asia.
Funding The Arts And Reforming The Government
Domestically Catherine would focus upon funding two major goals. First, was creating an easy to manage empire. Second, Catherine The Great would fund and rapidly expand the Russian arts.
Reforming the Government
With this rapidly growing empire Catherine would have to institute streamlined bureaucracy to administer it.
Over the later period of her reign Catherine would reform how each province across Russia was administered. She streamlined the tax collection process along with instituting local governorates.
Further, she ordered the creation of several new cities such as Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Odessa, and Sevastopol.
This new structure of government along with new cities would streamline the government process and modernize it to something more European.
Funding The Arts
One of the easiest ways to form a Russian identity was to forge one using art.
During the reign of Catherine The Great, Russia as a nation created a new identity through the arts. The world's largest museum by gallery space was started by Catherine The Great housing her personal collection.
Catherine was known for employing the greatest artistic minds across Europe to inspire this new Russian art. One of her closest correspondents was the highly influential Voltaire who inspired Catherine to house art from all over Europe.
Besides Voltaire, Catherine employed the services of Diderot, d'Alembert, Arthur Young, and Jacques Necker. All of which were the leading scholars and artists in their field.
Further, Catherine was an avid reader. She only read three types of books; romance and comedy, educational, and philosophical. Due to this Catherine received inspiration from all over Europe regarding the ideas of courtship, science, and leadership.
Because of this Russia took the most popular and prominent artistic elements of Europe and combined them together with Russian tradition. Out of this stemmed a new Russian identity and culture that to this day impacts the society of Russia.
Increasing Diplomatic Power
Catherine strove to prove that Russia was an equal to the other European nations of the time. However she would not risk prolonged military conflict in the west while she was expanding her empire in the east.
As a result she heavily invested time into becoming a diplomatic magnet that could weigh in on disputes. She refused to take port cities and station armies in western countries for fear of military conflict.
However she did weigh into several international military conflicts in effort to both assert Russian influence and gain favor with other monarchs.
Her first attempt at increasing Russian diplomatic influence was weighing in on the 1778 War of Bavarian Succession where she acted as a mediator between Prussia and Austria.
Catherine's second diplomatic mission was to create the League of Armed Neutrality which aimed at preventing Britain from checking and seizing shipments in the Atlantic and North Sea during the Revolutionary War.
Because of Catherine The Great's efforts to push Russian influence across Europe she set up Russia to become a world power over the coming centuries.
Today much of Russian nationalism comes from Catherine's diplomatic missions. Due to this she is widely considered one of the most influential women in Russian history and her actions have changed Russian society forever.
Conclusion
There you have it. An entire article that goes over the 3 major ways Catherine The Great changed Russian society.
Today people know Catherine for her popular portrayals on television. However the real Catherine The Great was a great leader that managed to both modernize her country while also expanding it.
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Sincerely,
Nick
Source: https://thehistoryace.com/catherine-the-great-3-ways-she-changed-russian-society/
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