What was the epoch of Catherine 2? Historical portrait

Frosty winter morning on February 12, 1744, bypassingthe border gate of the city of Riga, a carriage with two women entered the territory of the Russian Empire. One of them was the spouse of the sovereign German prince of Anhalt-Zerbst - Johann Elizabeth. Next to her was her fifteen-year-old daughter, Sophia Augusta Frederick Anhalt-Zerbst, the future Russian empress and autocrat Catherine the Great, who deserved the title Great by her deeds. One of the brightest pages of national history is connected with the name of this woman.

Inherited Russia

The era of the reign of Catherine 2 began with a palacecoup on June 28, 1762, as a result of which the modest and inconspicuous German princess, who received the name Catherine in Orthodoxy, took the place of her extremely unpopular spouse of Emperor Peter III yesterday.

As Catherine testified in her memoirs2, Russia, inherited from the former Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, needed radical reforms of the whole way of life. The army did not pay salaries, because the treasury was extremely depleted. The lack of proper organization of the state economy led to a decline in trade, since its main branches were monopolized.

Serious problems were observed in the military andmarine departments. Corruption among government officials, which has taken on an ever increasing scale, has made itself felt with particular urgency. Bribery encompassed the judiciary, and the laws acted only in cases where it was beneficial to the rich and powerful.

Outstanding figures of the Catherine era

As a statesman of the highest rank,Catherine 2 had a very valuable quality - the ability to catch any sensible thought, and then implement it for their own purposes. The empress chose the people who were in her closest circle on the basis of their business skills, without fear of talented and bright personalities. Due to this, the reign of Catherine 2 was marked by the appearance of a whole galaxy of prominent statesmen, military leaders, writers, musicians and artists. It was the conditions created during this period that helped to fully reveal their abilities.

Such figures forever entered the history of Russiathe epoch of Catherine 2, as commanders A. V. Suvorov and P. Rumyantsev-Zadunaysky, writers D. Fonvizin and A. Radishchev, historian N. Karamzin and poet-predecessor A. S. Pushkin - G. Derzhavin. Next to them should be mentioned those who stood at the origins of Russian musical culture - this is the composer, teacher and conductor D. Bortnyansky, the eminent violinist Ivan Khandoshkin, as well as the founder of the Russian national opera V. Pashkevich.

Action program

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

1. Every effort should be made to enlighten the nation, which she fell to manage.
2. To streamline the state life, it is necessary to instill in society a respect for the existing laws.
3. To maintain internal order in the state, it is important to create a police 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 in every way the combat capability of the army, and thus to raise the authority of Russia in the face of other states.

The beginning of the implementation of the plans

The whole epoch of Catherine 2 was the period of incarnation inthe life of these predestinations. The very next year after coming to power, the empress carried out the senate reform, which made it possible in many respects to increase the efficiency of state administration. As a result of changes made to the work of this authority, the Senate, divided into 6 separate departments, and having lost the functions of managing the state apparatus, became the highest judicial and administrative institution.

Secularization of church lands

It is known that Russia during the reign of Catherine2 became the scene of a large-scale action on the seizure (secularization) and transfer of church lands to the state fund. The need for such actions, which met with a very ambiguous response in society, was caused by the desire to make up for the state budget deficit.

As a result of the measures taken, it was abolished.about 500 monasteries, which made it possible to transfer 1 million serf souls to state ownership. Due to this, significant funds began to flow into the treasury. In a short time, the government paid off the debt to the army and managed to ease 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 secular society.

Attempt to legal reform

The time of Catherine 2 was also marked by an attemptto raise to a higher level the device of the internal life of Russia. The Empress believed that the majority of injustices in the state can be overcome legally by developing a set of laws that meet the interests of all sectors of society. He was to replace the outdated Cathedral Code of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, adopted in 1649.

To implement the plan in 1767 wasThe Legislative Commission was established, consisting of 572 deputies representing the nobility, merchants and Cossacks. The empress herself joined her work. Having carefully studied the works of Western thinkers, she drew up a document called “The Order of Empress Catherine”, consisting of 20 chapters divided into 526 articles.

It emphasized the need for estatethe structure of the state and the creation of conditions in it 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 work out the necessary set 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,which Catherine II undertook. The era of absolutism in all countries of the world, without exception, was characterized by a rigid centralized power. In order to provide it more effectively in Russia, the empress undertook in 1775 a new administrative division of the state.

From now on, the entire territory of the country consisted of 50provinces, 300-400 thousand inhabitants in each, which, in turn, were divided into counties with a population of 20-30 thousand people. This contributed not only to the control of the life of all, even the most remote areas of the country, but also to a more accurate accounting of tax-paying souls, that is, persons subject to taxation.

Expansion of noble privileges

The era of Catherine 2 was very favorableperiod for the Russian nobles. In 1785 saw the light of a document developed by the empress and received the title "Letters of gratitude to the nobility." Based on this code of privileges, arranged in the form of a law, representatives of the upper class were sharply separated from the rest of the population of the country.

They were guaranteed exemption from paying taxes.and compulsory public service, as it was instituted since the time of Peter the Great. Criminal and civil cases were to be considered only by a special court of the nobility, and corporal punishment was prohibited against them. According to the empress, this should have contributed to the eradication of servile psychology among the nobles and the cultivation of self-esteem in them.

Empress - the educator of the people

Russia in the era of Catherine 2 made a big stepforward on the path of national enlightenment. As a result of the next state reform, the secondary education system was implemented. Within its framework, a whole number of closed educational institutions began to operate throughout Russia, among which were educational houses, noble and urban schools, and also institutions of noble maidens. In addition, stateless two-year district and four-year urban schools have become widespread in the provinces. As a result of the development of teaching methods for various disciplines, uniform training plans were introduced.

The epoch of the enlightenment of Catherine 2 is also memorablethe creation of a female education system. It began with the opening of the Smolny Institute of noble maidens in St. Petersburg in 1764 and the creation of an Educational Society for them. From now on, young noblewomen were obliged not only to speak several foreign languages, but also to study a whole range of academic disciplines.

During the reign of Catherine 2 RussianAcademy of Sciences, rising to unprecedented heights, took a leading place in Europe. At its base were created a physical office and an observatory, a botanical garden and a kunstkamera, an anatomical theater and an extensive library. Thus, the culture of the epoch of Catherine 2 created a solid base for the further development of scientific thought in Russia.

The good deeds of the Empress

Under Catherine 2, who deserved the titleGreat, progress was observed in all areas of life. Significantly increased the population of the country, which is an indisputable evidence of improving the lives of its citizens. As a result, hundreds of new cities and villages appeared. Industry and agriculture received unprecedented impetus in their development, as a result of which Russia first began to export bread. All this gave a significant increase in income, which allowed to increase the treasury by 4 times.

The name of the Empress are connected and such two importantthe events of Russian history, like the appearance of paper money and the start of a smallpox vaccination, and Catherine, in order to set an example for others, was the first to allow herself to be vaccinated. Since then, the prevention of this terrible disease, which claimed thousands of lives, has been carried out regularly.

Expansion of the territory of Russia

Undeniable merits of Catherine the Great and inexpanding the borders of the country. During the years of her rule, 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 territories called Little Russia. These included the Crimea, the Northern Black Sea region, and the Kuban area. In 1783, Russia adopted Georgia under its citizenship.

The era of Catherine 2 was also marked by eventsassociated with the section of the Commonwealth. As a result of the active hostilities that took place in 1772, 1793 and 1795, the lands that had been torn from the Polish-Lithuanian invaders in former times were re-incorporated into Russia. These include Western Belarus, Volyn, Lithuania and Courland.

Strengthening of serfdom

At the same time, it should be noted that the periodThe reign of Catherine 2 was also marked by such a negative phenomenon as the 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 the project of its abolition, she was forced to submit to the established tradition.

More in the first days of his reign Catherineissued a decree demanding from the peasants complete and unquestioning obedience to the landowners. Under her, the practice of distributing land along with the peasants living on them became the property of the favorites, and also as a reward for distinctions in the public service, took on an even greater scale.

At the same time, the form itself has tightened.exploitation of peasants. It is known, in particular, that for those of them who paid rent to the owner (they were mostly residents of the northern regions of Russia, where farming is ineffective), the amount charged doubled. At the same time, the situation of the peasants, who were obliged to work on the serfdom on landowner land, deteriorated. If before their work was limited to three days a week, now this rule has been abolished, and everything depended on the arbitrariness of the owner.

The reaction to such oppression were uprisings,periodically flared up in different parts of the country, the largest of which was the peasant war led by Yemelyan Pugachev, which swept the Urals and the Volga region in the period 1773–1775.

Epilogue

Completing its thirty four year periodreign, the Empress died on November 17, 1796. However, this did not end the era of palace coups in Russia. Catherine 2 left behind herself the heir to the throne - her son Pavel, crowned on April 16, 1797 and killed by conspirators after 4 years.