When was Catherine the Great born and where did she grow up?
Catherine the Great was born on the 2nd of May 1729 inside the Ducal Castle in Stettin. Her father held the rank of Prussian general while governing that city.
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Catherine the Great was born on the 2nd of May 1729 inside the Ducal Castle in Stettin. Her father held the rank of Prussian general while governing that city.
Catherine the Great left the palace on the 9th of July 1762 to join the Izmailovsky Regiment after her husband Peter III arrested a co-conspirator. She delivered a speech asking soldiers to protect her before marching to the Semenovsky Barracks where clergy ordained her as sole occupant of the Russian throne.
Catherine the Great annexed Crimea directly in 1783 and gained control over Georgia after King Erekle II signed the Treaty of Georgievsk in 1783. New cities like Odessa Nikolayev Yekaterinoslav and Kherson rose from the ground along the southern coast following victories against the Ottoman Empire.
A census taken between 1754 and 1762 showed Catherine the Great owned 500,000 serfs while 2.8 million more belonged to the Russian state. Landowners held absolute power over these people who were bound to the land they tilled.
Catherine the Great ordered construction of the Hermitage in 1770 to house her expanding collection of paintings and books. By 1790 it contained 38,000 books 10,000 gems and 10,000 drawings.