'PETERSON DESIR
PROF: SMITH-PETER
CLASS: HST- 275 Catherine the Great was and remains one of the most important figures in Russian history.
During her thirty-four-year reign Russia has greatly prospered not only materially , but more importantly intellectually, which played a vital role in the modernization or the westernization of Russia a couple centuries later. Evidently, analyzing her long reign through the prism of what is considered as democracy today, one could depict its very faults and blemishes. However, we should view her reign as it was then , but not as it should have been nowadays. Whether somebody coined it as an enlightened absolutism, the real truth remained : Catherine the Great has brought Enlightenment to Russia, the
European Enlightenment.
What was it, Enlightenment?- It was a philosophical movement that greatly fostered rational thinking, the use of science over traditions and superstitions, and also promoted freedom ,security and equality before law for all people. Catherine was thrilled by such great ideas. She devoted herself to reading and established a great line of correspondence with the true leaders of the movement such as Voltaire,
Diderot, Bossuet,etc..In her letters, she overtly expressed her intention of becoming an adept of the movement. She started in creating schools and reforming the educational system. She Turned to
Voltaire for advice. As an Enlightenment's follower, she was deeply interested in classical plays. Thus, she started to educate some motivated some young women in the country. " The young ladies, I must confess surpass our expectation: they are making astonish progress and everyone agrees they are growing up as delightful as they are full of social accomplishments. Their morals withal are irreproachable, without , however having the rigid austerity of recluses. For two winters, now, we have started to make comedies and tragedies, and they acquit themselves better than the professionals here.
I admit, however, that they are only a very few that are suitable for them; their superiors would rather avoid their performing, any which might arouse the passion too soon. They say there is too much love in most French plays, and even the classic writers have often suffered from this national taste of threat.
Bad or insipid plays would spoil our taste." What should do ?" she asked Voltaire. ( Sources- Bisha, pg
166) So education played a vital role during Catherine's reign. " There was a study rise in literacy rates among noble women, reaching estimated 90% by the end of the century."( Evtuhov, pg 299). An academy for Russian language was also founded back then and first scholarly Russian dictionary as produced also. As a writer Catherine instilled the ideas of play-right in many Russian minds so at the end of his reigns , the country started to produce some notable poets, novelists, etc. , such as Ana
Burnina, who was Russia's first professional women writer, Catherine Dashkova, and Nikolai Karamzin, all were educated through the Enlighten philosophy. The " Great Instruction" which is a statement of general principle that Catherine published in 1707 proved once again that Catherine was again enlightened leader. Catherine accepted the philosophy of Montesquieu which consisted of the separation of the three main branches of power the legislative, the executive, and the judicial.

As an enlightment, leader Catherine was more tolerant towards her subjects, for tolerance was one of the main principles of the enlightment philosophy. So as Evtuhov points out that " capital punishment was only for criminals who threatened the states while cruel punishment and torture during investigation were condemned. Other sections of the "Instruction" drew on modern European writing, on social welfare trade and prosperity. The document contains many concepts that were radical for
Russia; for example, that a person were innocent until proven guilty. " ( Evtuhov, pg 272) So Catherin's goals were to make Russian more modernized and Westernized. Freedom of press was a bit more established during Catherine's era. In the beginning of 1772, the young ladies, that were trained in
French plays began to master both tragedies and comedies . In a letter she wrote to Voltaire in April in
1772, she expressed her full satisfaction about them. She wrote , '' Our young ladies perform both tragedy and comedy, last year they put on Zaire and the new year Semira, a Russain tragedy, indeed the best tragedy, of the Monsieur Sumarokov, of whom who have heard... These young ladies are all charming as all who sees them agrees. We educate them with a view to making them the delight of their future families; we want them to be neither prudes or coquettes, but agreeable young ladies capable of raising their own children and running their own homes.''( Bisha, pb 168)

Many historians argued that she was not a true enlightened leader . They believed that she used the
Enlightenment process as a facade to satisfy her own egocentric ambitions and to project a better self- image to the international world. As Henderson and Simon point it out in the article '' Catherine the
Great -Enlightened empress ? the 19th-century Russian liberal historians , such as Alexander Hersen, accused the Empress of seeking merely power, not progress or in improvement in social welfare . They claimed that Catherine's professions of enlightenment were a mere sham . Soviet historians labeled her a hypocrite, proclaiming liberal and enlightened ideals on the one hand but practicing oppressive despotism on the other. Her reign was viewed as a defense of the ruling class's and an oppression of the peasantry concealed by a profession of concern for progress and enlightenment . (pg14-19) Catherine never viewed herself as a despot ; she believed at that time Russia needed an autocratic ruler in order to establish order and safety throughout a such vast nation. Voltaire as an enlightened leader believed also in autocratic government.
An enlightened leader supposes to create a better condition of life for his or her people, promotes freedom , liberty and equality of life. Many critics argued that Catherine did not do anything for the betterment of the peasantry. Despite her good intentions Catherine could not do so much for the peasants due to the pressure being put forth by the nobility, the same nobility that appointed her power , a nobility that must be pleased in every sense of the term. However, Catherine was deeply concerned about the treatment of the serfs . According to Henderson and Simon '' throughout her reign she eroded the methods by which people could be enserfed . In 1767 it was forbidden for foster parents to enserf illegitimate children. Catherine is known to have investigated and bought out landowners who were reported to ill-treat their serfs...and the number of legally free state peasants increased.''

Catherine was not a perfect leader; no one is. Her long reign had many flaws as well as many successes.
In certain situations , such as improving the life of the peasantry, she could have done better; but we understand many hardships she had faced. However, she had brought enlightenment to Russia , an enlightenment that well suited the country at that particular time; and had she the power to rule once again Russia she probably would have been of the most democratic leader one would ever encounter on this earth.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Robin Bisha, Jehanne M Gheith, Christine Holden, William G Wagner. Russian Women, 1698-1917:
Experience & Expression. Indiana University Press, 2002.
Evtuhov, Goldfrank, Hughes & Stites. A History of Russia: Peoples, Legends, Events , Forces. Houghton
Mifflin Company, 2004.
Henderson, Simon. Catherine the Great-Enlightened Empress? History Review; Mar 2005, Issue 51, pg
14-19.