This paper examines Catherine the Great's reign through the lens of Enlightenment ideology, arguing that her European background and correspondence with thinkers like Voltaire fundamentally shaped Russia's political and cultural trajectory. The paper analyzes the Charter to the Nobility, the 1767 Instruction to the Legislative Commission, and the annexation of Crimea as evidence of Catherine's drive to Europeanize Russia. It also considers how her identity as a woman and a foreigner influenced her rule, her relationships with figures such as Potemkin, and the longer-term consequences of her reforms — including the eventual reversal under Paul I and the groundwork laid for revolutionary upheaval.
If in an absolute monarchy the nation's course "depends on the disposition and character of the Sovereign," as Sir James Harris observed during Catherine's rule, then Harris's remarks are borne out by comparing the course of Russia's evolution under Catherine to the character of the woman they called Catherine the Great (Madariaga 203). Under Catherine, Russia became an even more liberalized nation than it had been under her "great" predecessor, Peter. This liberalization came about primarily through Catherine's contact with and implementation of Enlightenment ideals, a result of her extensive correspondence with men like Voltaire — the influential Enlightenment-era philosopher whose sharp wit made him an antagonist to even the most heralded traditions.
Men like Voltaire went a long way in shaping Catherine's outlook, which is evident at the very outset of her 1767 Instruction to the Legislative Commission: her first point being that Russia "is an European State" (Catherine, "Instruction"). The assertion that Russia should be viewed within the context of Europe — rather than as an autonomous and diverse body whose other boundary stretched all the way across Asia — illustrated the new identity Catherine wished to cultivate. This vision built on the beginning work of Peter, whom she acknowledged as having initiated this Europeanization in the Instruction itself. Her goal, therefore, was to lead Russia toward Enlightenment through European values, both Christian and Enlightenment-derived — which were, more or less, at variance with one another — and by doing so, position Russia as a leader among European nations.
The Charter to the Nobility, for instance, was born out of Catherine's broad overhaul of the legislative and administrative structures of Russia. The Charter, like Catherine herself, was pro-aristocratic and granted the nobility a number of rights regarding person, property, and corporate standing — which in turn transformed the Russian nobility so that it now more than ever before "resembled the west European nobility" (Madariaga 123). Catherine herself possessed the very distinctions of European nobility that she wished Russia's aristocrats to attain: she was full of "grace and dignity," "charm," and learning (Madariaga 205). She had attained a level of sophistication that only a noble class buttressed by superior education, leisure, and discipline could achieve. Nonetheless, her ideas were less traditional than modern, shaped as they were by the Enlightenment ideology then much in vogue.
"Potemkin persuades Catherine to annex Crimea for security"
"Gender and foreign origin shape Catherine's rule and succession"
"Paul reverses reforms; Enlightenment seeds Russian Revolution"
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