As a ten year old boy in 1696, Peter the Great started ruling the Tsardom of Russia and in later years the Russian Empire. He became married to a woman whose name was Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst, later known as Catherine the Great of Russia. Peter the Great had fourteen children, all of which were not from Catherine, but some from a former wife he had in earlier years. Peter the great reigned from 1696-1725. He died in 1725 from a disease known as gangrene; dead tissue caused by an infection or lack of blood flow. Catherine the great was placed on the throne as a result in 1762. Catherine …show more content…
Catherine the Great was very intelligent and ambitious. Catherine was known to have cheated on Peter with multiple other men, and rumors have it that none of the children are his. Peter still had a country to save, after they had fallen into the seven years’ war against Prussia. Through all the drama that Catherine had caused him he still manage to pull Russia out of the war. A few years later Peter had a disease known as gangrene and he was not ready to give up his power to his wife. Yet the army was supportive and welcoming to Catherine as she gained the power to rule in 1762. She had a successful thirty-four year reign. Catherine the Great helped westernize Russia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The enlightenment period was important to her and she assembled a group of delegates (Lentin, 1996). She extended the Russian empire westward and southward, as she added territories. Catherine the Great did far more during her thirty four year reign than her husband's twenty five year reign. Most of Peter's reforms were repealed after he …show more content…
Catherine the great was great because of her ruling techniques and ability to pull Russia out of a bad situations. Without Catherine the Great Russia wouldn't be what it is today. Russia today has become the world's largest nation. Russia borders the Asian and European countries and the Pacific and Arctic oceans. Catherine faced many problems during her reign and she was threatened many times. In 1773 an armed group rebelled against the socioeconomic of Russia's lowest class, the surfs. She also destroyed the Ottoman Empire (Brover-Lubovsky, 2013). She was faced with a challenge but faced it well. Still, there are people who believe that Catherine was just given the throne because of her husband's death, and didn't have to work for it, but Catherine was faced with another obstacle, Elizabeth, and she had to fight for the throne. She was crowned sole ruler after she gained support of the