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How Did Catherine The Great Influence The French Revolution

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Empress Catherine the Great ruled Russia for approximately thirty years from 1762 to 1796 when she died. She was known throughout the world as an unusual ruler, having taken over the throne after the brutal death of her husband Peter the third. There she was made Empress of all Russia, this was unusual because instead of being made regent for her son they circumnavigated the rules and she was made Empress Regnant. During her time on the throne she made many radical and life changing decisions. She was a voracious reader and writer, often helping to translate others works into Russian. She herself was inspired by Voltaire, Diderot, and Montesquieu. All of which culminated in her greatest work “Great Instruction”, which was the beginning of basically all her future endeavors. Catherine the Great was an enlightened ruler who tried to bring about a new way of life in Russia, by allowing certain freedoms and educating the public. Catherine the Great was able to gain the loyalty of …show more content…

After it’s publication in 1667 it was read aloud in public every month from cover to cover, thus they were subjected to a flood of unheard of ideas from their Empress. 6 Some of the more radical statements within the Instruction were her comparing Russia to European power. 7 Meaning that she was comparing Russia in all ways to that of other European countries, such as Britain, France, and Spain. Catherine tried to make this true by making what she thought of as “Enlightened” reforms. One of which was to say that “the innocent ought not to be tortured; and in the eye of the law every person is innocent whose crime is not yet proved”.6 Those were just two of a number of statements made within the Great Instruction, which made way for a whole new slew of ideas and

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