The Enlightened Empress

The Way to the Throne

Travelling through the snowstorms of the severe winter of 1744, a sleigh covered with sables and trimmed with silver lace brought Princess Sophia Augusta Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbst - the future wife of the heir to the Russian throne - to Moscow where she was introduced to the Russian Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.

Commenting later, in the early 1760s, the secretary of the French ambassador to Russia de Rulier said of Catherine: "She had a pleasant and noble figure, walked in a proud manner, had charming façial features and posture, and a commanding gaze: all this in her foretold a great character. Pride was the distinctive feature of her face. Her particularly agreeable and kind manners revealed to a keen observer her desire to be admired, and her charming speech clearly demonstrated her dangerous intentions."

During the seventeen years she spent at the court of Elizabeth Petrovna, the Princess, who after adoption of the Orthodoxy got the name of Yekaterina Alexeyevna, learnt to keep herself under control and to orientate herself in the subtleties of politics. Though Catherine sincerely wanted to be admired by her husband, the Grand Duke, by the Empress and by the people, her pride, intellect and self-esteem made it impossible for her to silently suffer the supervision of the spies appointed by the Empress to look after her and the Empress's constant cavils, as well the odd behaviour of her unfaithful husband Peter III, who rudely humiliated her before the courtiers.

"Think about yourself, madame!" this outstanding personality told herself, administering advice which followed from her upbringing and long awareness that she had to take responsibility for her own fate. Catherine won the respect of the most powerful noblemen of the land. She acquired friends who were ready to follow her without hesitation. Knowing that the Guards would support her, she made up her mind to remove from power her husband, who showed scorn for everything Russian and thus aroused hostility in almost everybody. On 28 June 1762, the Orlov brothers brought Catherine from Peterhof to the capital. The Guards met her with a loud "Vivat!" An exultant public thronged the streets of St Petersburg. The Senate, the Synod and high officials readily swore their loyalty to Catherine. The 34-year-long reign of Catherine the Great began.

Portrait of the Grand Duchess Yekaterina Alexeyevna
Georg Christophr Grooth
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Catherine II on a Balcony of the Winter Palace on 28 June 1762, the Day of the Coup d'Etat
Unknown artist of the late 18th - early 19th century
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