July 1763

Catherine II of Russia issues her second manifesto - Her first manifesto inviting foreigners to settle in Russia (1762) brought few results. Large numbers of German peasants accepted this invitation which spelled out the conditions under which they could immigrate and granted special rights and privileges.

Catherine II (1729-1796)
Empress of Russia (1762-1796)

Born on April 29, 1729, in Stettin, a city in what is now Poland, into the family of Prince Christian August of Anhalt-Zerbst, Catherine was christened Sophia Augusta Frederica. When she was 15, she was invited by Empress Elizabeth to come to Russia and be the bride of the heir to the throne, Peter.

Catherine was highly-intelligent, strong-willed and beautiful, everything her husband Peter was not. As Empress Elizabeth neared death, Catherine became less concerned with her husband and more concerned with gaining the crown.

She took as her lover a young army officer, Gregory Orlov. Orlov and his four officer brothers commanded considerable support with the army and gained Catherine the support of the Imperial Guard.

With the support of The Guard, she overthrew her husband shortly after he took the throne and the Orlov brother, then murdered Peter III. Catherine was crowned Empress on September 22, 1762.

Her reign was one of the most prosperous periods in Russian history. She instituted internal politcal reforms and occupied vast territories on Russia's southern borders. As a student of the Enlightenment, she hoped her greatest achievement would be the emancipation of serfs, but the importance of the nobility to Russia and her reign never allowed her the opportunity to do so.

Catherine II died on November 6, 1796, and was buried in the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg.