Catherine the Great was one of the most influential rulers of the Russian Empire. She became one of Russia's greatest political leaders thanks to her ability to remember specific details and ideas. In the 18th century, she pursued the dream of her husband Peter the Great: to westernize Russia. Catherine played a key role in improving the lives of Russian serfs, education and strengthening the Russian government. Catherine the Great was essential to Russia in westernizing it and encouraging the modernization of agriculture and industry. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Her birth name was Sophie Frederick Augusta. She was born in Prussia, now Poland, and was the daughter of the German Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst (Raeff 1). Empress Elizabeth invited Sophie to visit St. Petersburg, Russia (Kuhlman 2). Elizabeth knew that Sophia was unmarried and wanted a member of her family to remain ruler of Russia. Sophie was related to the Prussian king Frederick the Great (Kuhlman 1). Catherine married at age fifteen to Peter, the nephew and heir of Empress Elizabeth. The marriage of Peter and Catherine did not last long because after a while Catherine became unfaithful to her husband. His marriage was not one of love and it did not affect his political and intellectual interests (Tyle 1). After Elizabeth's death, Peter hatched a plan to get rid of his so-called wife (Kuhlman 1). They both found lovers outside of marriage. Catherine and her lover Orlov hatched a plan to remove Peter from the throne (Kuhlman 2). Catherine knew Peter would make a bad king. Catherine declared that Peter III “intended to completely destroy us and deprive us of life” (Murphy 1). On July 9, Catherine gathered 40,000 soldiers loyal to her. She marched them to St. Petersburg, the capital, and declared herself empress (Brown 1). Forcing Peter to hand over all his power to her, Catherine was crowned empress on September 22, 1762 (Murphy 1). As Catherine became empress, she wanted to show her devotion to Russia and the Russian Orthodox people. Showing his loyalty would earn him a place on the throne and win over the Russian people (Tyle 2). Changing his name from Prussian to Russian was the first step in showing loyalty to Russia. Her name was Sophia, but she decided to use the name with which she had been baptized in the Russian Church. That name was Catherine (Andrews 102). When Catherine came to power, she wanted to westernize Russia, but she did not want to do it the way her husband wanted. Catherine the Great encouraged individual initiative in the pursuit of self-interest (Raeff 1). Catherine wanted to improve Russia's reputation. She encouraged trade with other nations. She also attempted to increase trade in parts of Russia (Kuhlman 2). During her reign, Catherine firmly believed in absolute power as a political necessity. In Russia, the absolute rule of the monarchy has even been called the greatest theoretician and practitioner of the legal monarchy (Lentin 5). Russia needed to move from Peter to Catherine and from a weak country to a powerful nation and become a European political player (Murphy 2). However, Catherine understood that Russia needed a period of peace so that it could concentrate on domestic affairs. The period of peace could only be achieved through a prudent foreign policy. Catherine entrusted this policy to Count Nikita Panin (from Madariaga 3). Catherine devoted herself to the westernization of Russia. During hisIn his first years as head of the court, courtiers attempted to block his attempt to draw up a new constitution (Kuhlman 1). She was expected to change the minds of the most sophisticated members of Russian society. She used her wit and “iron will” to show what the Russian population was made of and what they could do about it (Andrews 27). Reading in her free time, she often read the works of Voltaire and Montesquieu, learning Russian conditions herself (Felder 3). Catherine loved books so much that she became a bookworm, bibliophile and writer. She believed that a printed book carried power. She wanted the production of books and the translation of foreign works into Russian to educate the minds of her people and spread the Enlightenment (Lentin 3). She established the free economy policy to encourage modernization. The goal was to promote trade and develop lesser-known regions by inviting foreign settlers. It creates new towns (Raeff 1). The arts and sciences hold Catherine’s attention (Kuhlman 3). During the Enlightenment, learning became an important part of European civilization. Now that Russia had theater, arts, and music, it strove to attract more visitors and foreigners to one of the most dazzling cities in Europe, St. Petersburg (Kuhlman 3). Catherine cared deeply about the education system. She worked to improve it and opened more primary and secondary schools in Russia to give children every opportunity to learn (Tyle 3). She believed that women could help her move out of the Middle Ages and bring in other great and powerful stages of developed European cultures (Felder 161). When founding new cities, a university and an academy were under his leadership, including Moscow University and the Academy of Sciences. The University and Academy have become one of the most important cultural centers in Europe. They became internationally renowned institutions attracting foreign settlers (Raeff 1). Her love for literature and the arts encouraged her to promote Russia's social and political issues. She later became a passionate advocate who helped make Russia stronger (Murphy 3). Second, Catherine wanted to improve the Russian legal system. His ideas are inspired by the Enlightenment period. She changed the legal system to “The Instruction”. (The new legal system that Catherine created to replace the old one.) The Russian legal system was based on an old, ineffective code of laws (Tyle 2). In June 1767, the Legislative Commission was created to revise and update old Russian laws. Catherine had high hopes that it would work. Unfortunately, the Legislative Commission made little progress, and due to the Commission's failure, Catherine was banned from meetings in 1768 (Tyle 2). The imperial guards supported Catherine, but behind her back they believed that a Roman dynasty should rule Russia instead of a German princess (Murphy 1). Third, Catherine embarked on the westernization of Russia, modernizing its ideas and traditions, to expand the Russian empire. Like other rulers, Catherine fought to expand the empire's borders during her 35-year reign. Catherine added 200,000 square miles to Russia (Brown 1). The Russian Empire developed during the two victorious wars against Turkey (Russo-Turkish wars of 1768-1774 and 1787-1792). For helping Ukraine wage the war, Russia received the northern part of the Black Sea as a reward. After Ukraine opened up to colonization, some countries became..