Throughout history, Russia has been viewed as a regressive cluster of barely civilized people on the verge of barbarism. In the eighteenth century, ideas of science and secularism grasped hold of Europe, and Russian Czars, realizing how behind Muscovite culture was, sought out this knowledge, attempting to imbed it into Russian society. Catherine II was one of these Czars. She listened to both the ideas of the philosophers and the problems of her people and strove to enlighten Russia by codifying the laws, establishing an elected government, funding hospitals, and forming a functioning school board.
Her attempts, however, were met with only partial success. Her reforms received much criticism, especially from the serfs, and Catherine was forced to realize, through the Pugachev Rebellion in 1773, that enlightening all of Russia was an impossibility. Catherine IIs greatest glory was seen in her foreign policies, as she solved two fundamental problems for Russia by winning victories over Turkey and Poland. As well, she established a League of Armed Neutrality and spoke out against the French Revolution.
Catherines reign created both prosperity and poverty for Russia. In order to decide whether she was truly reat, one must evaluate her accomplishments upon the foundation of Russian ideals. At the end of the seventeenth century, Russia was a country in transition. The death of Czar Alexis in 1676 marked a change in Russian society, a movement from traditional Muscovite culture toward new, educated concepts. Reforms in the 1650s divided and weakened the Russian Orthodox Church, and a few bold individuals began to adopt a semi-westernized lifestyle.
By western standards, however, Russia still seem backward, and at best, “a fringe nation of Europe… without benefit of middle class, universities, academies, or secular ulture” (Oblensky and Stone 144). The rebellion of the musketeers, or streltsy, in 1682 exposed a web of destructive feuds, religious superstition and xenophobia within Russia. Peter I took the throne in 1682 and reigned until 1725, with themes of war, love of foreigners, and love of the sea marking his rule.
He and his army defeated Sweden at Poltava in 1709, he founded a navy at St. Petersburg, and he expanded the policy of hiring foreigners. Peter wrought numerous changes, attempting to impose order on the Russian society, but, along with these reforms, he forged a gap between the upper Russian classes and the easant population. After his death, Russia was turned over to several meager Czars: Peters wife, Catherine I, a self-indulged illiterate, from 1725-27; Peter, his 12 year old grandson, from 1727-30; his niece Anna, a woman with no political interests from 1730-40; and Ivan VI, an infant from, 1740-41 (Oblensky and Stone 145).
In 1741, Peters daughter, Elizabeth was raised to the throne, overthrowing Ivan VI. Lavish baroque palaces, an increase in western culture, and the taking of Berlin from Prussia in the Seven Years War characterized her reign. Again, Russia seemed to be establishing itself as a powerful society. However, Elizabeths successor, Peter III, undid much of what she had accomplished, as he returned Russias gains from the Seven Years War to his hero Frederick the Great (Oblensky and Stone 145).
Within six months of his succession, Peter was overthrown by a Guards coup in favour of his German wife, Catherine II. Catherine was thirty-three years old when she ascended the Russian throne. She had survived a loveless marriage, in which “ambition alone sustained her” (Gooch 6). Ignored by her husband, Peter III, she dedicated her time to learning the Russian language, studying the writings of the philosophes, nd adapting cleverly to her new environmentskills which constitute important aspects of her reign.
Schooled by these teachings, she favoured religious tolerance, justice tempered with mercy (Gooch 91), education for women, civil rights determined within the bounds of class and estate, and the classical style in art and architecture. A women quite out of the ordinary, Catherine possessed”high intelligence, a natural ability to administer and govern, a remarkable practical sense, energy to spare, and an iron will” (Riasanovsky 256).
Along with her determination went courage and optimism, self-control, skill in iscussion and propaganda, and a clever handling of men and circumstances to best serve her ends. Yet, together with her virtues, Catherine had certain weaknesses: her determination easily became ruthlessness, just as her ambition became vanity (Gooch 96). “Even Catherine IIs admirers sometimes noticed that she lacked something, call it charity, mercy, or human sympathy” (Riasanovsky 256).
Indisputably, however, for the first time since Peter the Great, Russia had acquired a sovereign who worked day and night, paying personal attention to all kinds of matters, great and small. Catherine began her reign with numerous nlightened, ambitious ideas, based on her readings of the philosophes. She took the first step toward liberalism by forming the Legislative Commission in which elections were introduced, codifying the Russian laws, creating a uniform school system and establishing a branch of public hospitals.
Upon her inauguration to the throne, Catherine had asked God to help her observe the law of the Orthodox Church, strengthen and defend the beloved fatherland, preserve justice, eradicate evil, all lies and impositions, and finally, to set up state institutions, by means of which the government would work within set limits and ach department would have a defined sphere of action so that general good order would be maintained. For these purposes, she investigated every case that had come to her attention in order to discover the shortcomings that existed in Russia and how to best relieve them (Dukes 51).
In the first year of her reign, she noticed the general confusion and the inadequacy existing in the arrangement and the application of imperial laws. Peter the Great attempted twice to codify Russias laws, first in 1700 and again in 1714, with similar attempts made by his successors, particularly Elizabeth. None, however, were successful. For two ears Catherine prepared her Instructions, or Nakaza set of principles which reflected her opinions on the political and legal structure desirable for Russia (Hosking 95).
Although Catherine had no intention of granting her subjects a constitution, and although her propaganda greatly exaggerated the radical nature of her intentions, the Nakaz was a strikingly liberal document (Riasanovsky 258). To discover the needs and wants of the Russian people, Catherine formed a Law Code Commission in 1767. The members were elected in local gatherings of the relevant estates: the nobility, the townsfolk, the state peasants, the Cossacks, he odnodvortsydescendants of the militarized peasants who had staffed the frontier linesand the non-Russians. (Hosking 98).
Deputies were sent to Moscow from all districts and towns, each with their own nakaz, or cahier, in which the requests and statements of grievance originating from their electors were drafted. However, the representatives were “insensitive to the broad vision of creative statesmanship laid before them by their monarch” (Dukes 100) and efforts were directed only at obtaining what they could within the existing system rather than recommending fundamental reforms. Catherine was uick to realize that the members were unaware of the needs of society as a whole and that they were unable to exercise self-restraint for the general good (Dukes 101).
Conveniently, she dismissed the Commission in 1768 when Russia went to war against Turkey. Nevertheless, the drafts written by the electives were not wasted, as the materials were employed in a “Description of the Russian Empire and its International Administration and Legal Enactments,” published in 1783. This proclamation was the closest thing that Russia had to a law code for the next 50 years (Hosking 100). It denounced capital punishment and orture, it argued for crime prevention and, in general, “was abreast of advanced Western thought for criminology” (Riasanovsky 259).
Catherine decided that, before positing common interests, which did not exist, she should put more backbone into fragmented Russia by creating institutions which would enable citizens to work together at least within their own estates and orders; Catherine adopted the task of laying the foundation for a civilized Russian society. Catherines first contribution toward forming an enlightened nation was to create a system of hospitals. Although medical science had yet to reach a espected position, Russia lacked, as did many other countries, a method of administering the small amounts of medical knowledge it did possess.
In attempts to alleviate this, Catherine funded the Town Hospital at St. Petersburg, the St. Petersburg House for Lunatics, and the Foundling Hospital; as well, she popularized vaccinations. The Empress donated money to fund the Town Hospital at St. Petersburg, where poor were admitted without payment (Kochan 26). Upon admittance, they were shaved, bathed, and put in tidy dress. The hospital consisted of 300 well spread beds with curtains and a professor of electricity ho was permanently employed to relieve diseases.
Likewise, the St. Petersburg House for Lunatics was constructed, which became renowned for its gentle treatment. Unlike other mental hospitals, it did not use chains to subdue raving patients, but instead used thongs, and, it only used gentle remedies, such as a strict diet, for mental disorders (Kochan 26). Finally, Catherine built the Foundling Hospital on the banks of the Muskva. This hospital broke new ground, for it was one of the first establishments of its kind. Through it, Catherine intended to discourage infanticide.
A branch was set up in St. Petersburg in 1770, which acted as both a lie-in-hospital, admitting all pregnant women without pay, and a school, teaching girls sewing and boys the arts. The function of the Foundling Home has been described as “the transformation of private indiscretion into national benefit” (Kochan 27) since all children were accepted without chargethe mother just had to state the name of the child and whether it had been baptized. Furthermore, it was through Catherine that vaccinations became widespread. Smallpox took the lives of many Russians, and permanently disfigured its survivors.
