Ph.D. MSTU by Bauvan  Davletshina N.V.

Women in politics, business, art, culture. In many countries it became quite a regular, day to day phenomenon of our current
life. More and more often we encounter a woman diplomat or premier. Even in countries, where the role and importance of women was traditionally limited by religious rules or by historically formed prejudices, the representatives of the beautiful gender are trying to overcome these stereotypes and take up a dignified position in diverse spheres of life.

Russia, while constituting a most complex, sometime a strange interleaving of Eastern and Western tendencies and traditions, is constantly supplying the world with examples of quite a complex, controversial, sometime logically unexplainable relation to one or other occurrence. A widely accepted in the West saying about the unpredictability of Russian politics, touches also upon the so called female problem. However this is only one side of the matter. On the other hand, even a cursory look at this question in historical perspective is enough to state that the given phenomenon possesses most deep historical roots.

It is because of this that I think it is necessary to propose a series of articles, in some of which I would show the most outstanding female characters, which considerably influenced not only Russian history, but also world history, in others I would follow in historical perspective the growth and particularity of the social psychology of the Russian woman, and finally, I would give an idea about the politics of treating women in different historical periods of Russia. This creates a possibility to understand much more profoundly those processes and events, occurring in contemporary Russia, to present the particularities of the so called "Russian mentality", which was formed under the pressure of absolute monarchy, dictatorial regimes and totalitarianism. In addition to that, it will allow to analyze the relationship and interinfluence of personal, national (Even now, after the dispersion of the USSR, there are over 90 nationalities in Russia) and social psychlogy, demographic processes, specific attitude to most important democratic values, for instance, and as a result will help Americans to better understand the national, social, and economic specifics of Russia. This series of articles should be started, in my opinion, with a very distinct example, which exerted a considerable influence not only on the history of Russia, but on the whole world - the rule of empress Ekaterina II.

The role and importance of this woman in the history of Russia is quite considerable, even if not clear cut for a variety of reasons. We have here historical, national, and purely personal reasons, which rendered her rule to be quite controversial. Nevertheless, the years of her rule constitute a definite stage in the development of the country, a fact recognized both by those who positively appreciate this period, as well as by those who hold a disagreeing view. Within the framework of this article I'll try to follow, on one hand, some, in my opinion, most important characteristics of this inordinary (exceptional) woman; on the other hand, analyze the most important steps undertaken by her as a Russian empress. It is such an approach which will permit not only to better understand the situation in Russia, the place taken up by Russia in the European history of the XVIII-th century, but also to appreciate the role and importance of a personal factor in the destiny of a country, as well as to understand particular problems of social psychology, peculiar to Russia.

Thus, Ekaterina II (Sofia-Augusta) seemed to be closing a definitely fortuitous period, so in character with practically the whole XVIII-th century in the history of Russia. I am talking about the fact that many persons on the Russian throne, even those taking it up lawfully during that period, were not distinguished by a particular brightness and importance. This "last fortuity" was different practically according to all parameters from its predecessors. It is because of this that Ekaterina II is often considered to stand in the same class with Peter (I) the Great. However, it does not mean at all, that her 34-year rule (1762 - 1796), as well as the rule of Peter I can and should be positively appreciated.

Uniting in her person two undistinguished noble families of North-West Germany, Sofia-Augusta grew up as any other girl of a similar family, being distinguished perhaps, by the liveliness and vivacity of her mind. It was of much more importance that from that part of Europe came out in the XVIII-th century "little princes and pricesses", destined to play quite a considerable role in large European countries. Fortuitiously, the family of Sofia-Augusta had some family relationship connections with the Russian ruling family, thus turning the attention to itself during the period, when it was necessary to find a bride for the heir to the Russian throne. It is the low importance of the given family which played its positive role, since they were looking for a bride which would be sufficiently obedient, and submissive to her husband, something one could hardly expect from a bride representing a notable dynasty.

In her later notes Ekaterina II confessed, that being a 15 year old girl, and it was at this age that she became the bride of the heir to the Russian throne, she was more fascinated by the Russian crown than by the groom. Notwithstanding this, and maybe to some degree because of this, the nuptials occurred in August 1745, followed by 10 days of exorbitant festivities.

The young German girl found herself in the midst of court life, with its intrigues, gossip, flirtation, where everyday people met people who sometime strongly hated each other. Essentially not knowing the language, having a weak idea about Russian customs and habits, without having support from any side, feeling a complete indifference from her husband (according to some sources he was intellectually and morally defective), she very soon understood, that a difficult life is ahead of her and she supported herself with an ambitious dream about the Russian crown. On one hand she had to suffer the excesses of her husband, who continued to be the eternal adolescent, on the other hand, according to different sources, she had to suffer the tyranny from the side of Elisaveta, who did not allow her to take a walk without asking permission, to have ink and pens, even to move furniture withing her room. Literally every word she uttered was overheard and passed on to Elisaveta, in a form convenient to the informing person. She could correspond with her family only through the foreign ministry. There is even evidence that in the name of the empress Sofia Augusta (when she converted to the Russian orthodox church she was given the name of Eketerina Alexeevna) was forbidden to lament for too long a time the death of her father, since he was not a king, and therefore it was not a great loss. In the future Ekaterina often recollected that there was not even a day that she was not yelled at. However she had a goal - the Russian crown and she tried very hard to blend into the atmosphere, into the society in which she was destined to live, she sincerely strived to "become a Russian, to be loved by Russians". Therefore she put before herself a rule to be liked by people, disregarding nothing, and quite soon, notwithstanding her youth, she did blend into the society, in which she found herself by her destiny. Having noted, that in the court everybody liked gifts from servants to high nobility, she started heavily spending funds, sinking heavily into debt by that times' standards (over half a million rubles), which she could pay off in installments only after ascending the throne.

No matter how hard Ekaterina tried to assimilate the Russian court habits, she acutely felt the alienation of those surrounnding her, nevertheless. The excesses of the empress and the husband angered and insulted her, her self esteem suffered, however out of pride she did not show her suffering and never complained about humiliation. Platitudinous environment, senseless discussions, which she heard around her every day turned her in the direction of thoughtful and attentive reading. She confesses that during 18 years of boredom and loneliness (period of her marriage) she had enough time to read many books.

The Russian court treated Ekaterina mercilessly. Even the birth of the great prince Pavel, nine years after the marriage (1754) did not change this attitude. The great Russian historian V.O.Kluchevski stresses in his writings, that she was treated as a person who has completed what she was ordered to do and who was not needed afterwards. The newly born was taken away from his mother as state property and was shown to her only after forty days.

She is trying very hard to strengthen her shaky situation, she gradually attains sympathy in the society, against the background of the court and government ignorance she stands out with her knowledge. She gradually achieves the situation where she is regarded as an interesting and quite smart young person. Many people of the court were trying to find an occasion to be of service to the great princess.

Many historical sources attest to the fact, that she was quite a good psychologist, she patiently and attentively listened to even any nonsense, noted and stressed her attention on the best traits (often hardly noticeable) of the people surrounding her; she had the gift of suggestion, by not commanding but suggesting her wishes.

Ekaterina dedicated much of her time to write all kinds of notes, starting with instructive tales for children and romantic plays and she even composed the biography of St.Sergiy Radonezhski. Her writings take up 12 large volumes, quite important as an historical source, even if they often imitate Voltaire or Montesqueu.

Following the demise of the empress Elisaveta in 1761, Ekaterina's husband took over the throne under the name of Peter III. During the two years of his rule all he succeded in doing was to arouse contempt to himself from practically all levels of Russian society. According to the testimony of the French ambassador in St.Petersburg during that period, Mr.Breteille, "the empress is loved and respected by all to the same degree, as Peter is hated and despised". As a result of a military revolution in 1763, governing of Russia passes into the hands of Ekaterina.

Taking up the government, Ekaterina attempts to act in the Russian national spirit, using sensibly liberal methods. During her 34 years of rule she succeeded primarily due to her external politics to gain the sympathy of the people.

During her reign the most important external political problems, on the agenda, were solved. In particular, for instance, the treaty of 1774 opened the possibilities of free sailing of Russian ships in the Black Sea, increasing the turnaround of the Russian Black Sea trade by a factor of 500. One should not however notice here only economic results and benefits. Russia in the personality of Ekaterina pursued and strived, first and foremost, political benefits, and in the mind of Ekaterina there were even thoughts of going for Constantinople.

It should be noted, that Ekaterina entered the Western world not only with a bold step, but with a quite haughty declaration about herself to the other European countries. As a result after causing Russia to quarrel with practically all major European countries, she conducted six wars and was preparing for a seventh. She made a great name for herself in Europe in the world of that time, but this is only one side of the matter. On the other hand, it will not be a great exaggeration to say, that it is from that period on in the conscience of the ruling elites in Russia, arouse and became gradually strengthened the tendency to hegemonism. One of the notable Russian diplomats of that time directly stated, that no gun in Europe would dare to open fire without Russia's permission.

However sometimes, Ekaterina came out in external politics as a good far-sighted diplomat and politician. As a proof of this, one could recall an interesting, but generally unknown fact, that at the beginning of the American war for independence, the English king George III asked Ekaterina, for a good payment, to place under English command a Russian military corps. He was refused. With this, Ekaterina stressed that she does not find it possible to trade the blood of her people. This had a more known continuation - when France and Spain entered the American war, Russia (also joined by Danmark, Austria, and Portugal) reacted to this in 1780 by declaring an "armed neutrality".

As to her internal policy, she encountered here multiple obstacles, with great complications. This was first and foremost connected with the fact, that in that period, in many Russian institutions there was more disorder than order. It is sufficient to bring up just a few examples.

Resolutions of the Senate were carried out only after a third order. Many laws, without which it is impossible to imagine a day to day life of a government, were simply absent. Many problems were resolved by bribery.

The Senate used to appoint governors without having a list of Russian cities (there is a notion, that it was Ekaterina who personally gave the Senate an atlas of Russia). That is, in other words, Russia was acting under the arbitrariness of persons, and not by laws and by government institutions.

Ekaterina started her rule by establishing a list of income and expenses of the Russian Empire. Her first decrees even lowered the tax burden and thus were instrumental to an extent, in quieting the people, and thereby creating a trust in Ekaterina's government.

It should be particularly stressed, that she strived to conduct purely personal politics, without even allowing a thought about having any kind of consultory institutions lawfully formed in Russia. It is because of this that the power in the period of her rule was not only unlimited, but it did not have any lawful status. Most likely, it will be difficult to understand to Americans, who live in a country, during whose whole history one can observe a strict rule of law. It is however the absense of a clear judicial basis which is one of the particularities not only of Russian history, but of contemporary Russia as well.

How then does Ekaterina act? With her active participation, a so called "Nakaz" (command, order) is prepared, which discusses governing in Russia, government institutions, the status of people living in the country, crimes and punishments, nobility and middle class, status of serfdom, and codification of laws. This "Nakaz" was written under a great influence of French enlighteners, and this is why it included quite important, but unheard of till then in Russia ideas, such as for instanse:

• equality of the citizens - equality before the law;
• reticence from committing a crime should be based first of all by natural shame and not by a government whip;
• religious tolerance is allowed (up to a point though);
• torture, often used by the Russian court of law, is condemned.

There was a thought, for instanse, that in order to prevent crime, one should cause enlightenment to be spread among the people.

However the "Nakaz" is not the law - it is only a tactical political act. Ekaterina during her whole 34 year reign never gave up on any aspect of autocracy. The years of her rule constitute a classical example of absolutism. The paradox in this situation was that for a society lacking and missing the feeling of lawfulness, even a successful monarch personality may become something like a guarantee of law for some period of time.

Why were such relations predominant in Russia? The most important reason for this was that unlike Western Europe, nobility was not ruling the Moscow state, it was only a tool of the ruler. Only at the end of Ekaterina's rule has nobility partially attained the right for local government. And even if the limitations of these concessions were quite obvious, they constituted quite an important step forward, since for the first time in the history of Russia there occurred a strengthening of the status of nobility and merchants in a lawful manner.

There was a different situation with the peasants. Peasant were more and more becoming dependent. This situation was enhanced by the judicial acts of Ekaterina. Anything that was not clearly taken care by the law, was decided in favor of the land owners. Essentially during this period, peasants became regarded as a property of the land owners. This is why some historians of Russia consider Ekaterina guilty of instituting serfdom.

I do not attempt to discuss this problem more profoundly in this article. I think it is much more important to stress that negative influence, exerted by serfdom on the social and moral sides of the Russian people. With this, some of these opinions (positions) turned out to be so persistent, that in the end, in new modified forms, they turn up to the present time. I mean first of all the view that the political order in Russia is based on injustice; laws do not have to be adhered to; not all are equal before the law etc.

Thus, judging by the above, it is very difficult to appreciate the role and importance of this extraordinary personality in the history of Russia.

On one hand, it should be noted, that out of 50 Russian districts (governships), into which Russia was divided, 11 were annexed, conquered during Ekaterina's rule. With this, the population of Russia grew by almost 15 million people. However, it is quite difficult to say unequivocally whether it was good or bad for Russia. On the other hand, the total sum of state taxes was practically quadrupled. However this attests not only to an increase in the quantity of taxpayers, but also in a rise in taxes and other payments. Ekaterina conducted a secularization (transfer) of church and monastery land to be under the management of the "economic collegium", including a population of over one million peasants.

An important step for the Russian economy were the manifests of 1762 and 1763 which called foreigners to come to live in Russia promising them defense by the law, freedom of faith and tax benefits. It is during this time period that great areas of Russia were populated, for instanse, by colonists from Germany. (It should be stressed, that during the communist regime many of these people suffered from repressions).

The time of Ekaterina's reign was the time of awakening of scientific, literary, and phylosophic interests in Russian society, the time of birth of the Russian intelligentsia. During her rule scientific work in the area of Russian history was started. On one hand, historical sources were collected and published, on the other hand, the general thread of historical development of Russia was discussed and evaluated. The academy of sciences starts to publish Russian old historical chronicles. It is during this period that a great quantity of most famous European, mostly French, literature is published (during the whole 18th century 9500 books were published, 85% of which were published during Ekaterina's rule).

For the first time, for the organization of medical help, a medical collegium is established, whose task was to deal with the preparation of physicians, very much needed by Russia. During her rule special schools were established, including military cadet corps. The first public library opened its activities in St.Petersburg.

As to social relations, during the period of Ekaterina's rule the national and social strife was sharply strengthened. Day after day the capabilities (possibilities) of the ruling class to manage society were decreased. This was connected, first and foremost, with thoughtless copying of French culture, which alienated this class from Russian reality. Unfortunately, at the same time, some of the best elements of European cultures did not permeate into Russia's life. A purely external imitation was preponderant. This phenomenon of Russian reality was brilliantly characterized by V.O.Kluchevski, who noted, that in the West a Russian nobleman is regarded as a dressed up Tatar, while in Russia he was regarded as a Frenchman incidentally born in Russia. Notwithstanding this contradiction, it should be noted, that the importance of this generation of nobility consists first of all of the fact, that even if they were unable to utilize the best ideas of European enlightenment, they nevertheless kept them and passed them on to the next generation of Russian intelligentsia.

Characterizing Ekaterina as a politician one can not help but note, that she possessed a very important trait for a politician - she could select her own personnel environment, she could draw to herself much needed and quite capable co-workers. There exists a great quantity of quite controversial information about Ekaterina's environment. Historians and publicists continue to this day the discussion about Ekaterina's favorites. It is however an unquestionable fact, that only those of her multiple favorites, played a significant role in the state life, who were suitable for this purpose. Others had a place only in the internal chambers of the empress. It is because of this that we most often find among her consultants and co-workers quite talented persons, such as prince Viasemski, the known Russian poet G.R.Derzhavin, the brilliant military leader count P.A.Rumiantzev, great diplomats N.I.Panin and A.A.Bezborodko, count G.A.Potiomkin and others.

Thus, with all the controversiality and ambiguity of the political activity of the empress, it should be noted nevertheless, that her every step on the political arena was a definite event for the country. It is impossible to evaluate uniquely negatively or positively this or other act of the empress, however her actions did not go unnoticed, and this alone proves the inordinarity of Ekaterina. This is even more significant because for the whole history of Tsarist Russia one encounters more often colorless, completely undistinguished leaders. On this background, Ekaterina indeed stands out as quite an original woman, as a brilliant politician. She is rightfully placed in the same category as the Prussian king Friedrich II and the Austrian emperor Josef II - as the most brilliant representatives of so called "enlightened absolutism".