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Catherine the Great did a ton for Russia, even ushering in a golden age. Yet post-CtG it seems as if most of the leaders instead of continually capitalizing on everything she managed to accomplish just greatly squandered it, ultimately leaving Russia greatly behind the times and ultimately leading to the Soviet Union who had to sacrifice millions of its own people just to play catch up with other countries.
Catherine knew what had to be done and worked hard to accomplish it and helped Russia big time. Yet for some reason most leaders after then were all "hurp a durp" and just really stupid about how they handled everything.
Catherine the Great did a ton for Russia, even ushering in a golden age. Yet post-CtG it seems as if most of the leaders instead of continually capitalizing on everything she managed to accomplish just greatly squandered it, ultimately leaving Russia greatly behind the times and ultimately leading to the Soviet Union who had to sacrifice millions of its own people just to play catch up with other countries.
Catherine knew what had to be done and worked hard to accomplish it and helped Russia big time. Yet for some reason most leaders after then were all "hurp a durp" and just really stupid about how they handled everything.
Her son the heir didn't help, wasn't one of the first things he did was to make sure a female never sat on the throne again?
Her educational reforms had minimal impact. They resulted in enrolling something like 66,000 students, which was a paltry number compared to the total population. The children of serfs were excluded. Basically just another Potemkin village created largely for show.
One of the most sad things about countries governed by absolute monarchies based upon primogeniture is that they get as leader whoever's number it up; regardless of how well suited (or not).
One of the most sad things about countries governed by absolute monarchies based upon primogeniture is that they get as leader whoever's number it up; regardless of how well suited (or not).
And they substituted absolute monarchies for dictatorships. Hard to believe that the Russians look back with nostalgia at Stalin. Today, Russia is less a country and more of a criminal enterprise. Great people, terrible leadership.
That being said; yes her heir Paul I was, well "difficult".
Yes, but WHAT were they????
Her educational reforms had minimal impact. Her legal reforms came to nought. Her military victories over the Ottomans, who hadn't improved their military since the 1500s, were nothing to brag about. The partition of Poland, as in the 20th century, was a simple rape. She put down a series of peasant rebellions - what were they rebelling over, starvation? Like Putin, she annexed Crimea.
And they substituted absolute monarchies for dictatorships. Hard to believe that the Russians look back with nostalgia at Stalin. Today, Russia is less a country and more of a criminal enterprise. Great people, terrible leadership.
Sums it up. So sad. Heartbreaking, when you think of the unrealized potential.
Cath the Great would have accomplished a lot more, if she hadn't abandoned the reform effort halfway through. The French Revolution scared her. After that, IMO the wheels were set in motion for dictatorships. The writing was on the wall.
Sums it up. So sad. Heartbreaking, when you think of the unrealized potential.
Cath the Great would have accomplished a lot more, if she hadn't abandoned the reform effort halfway through. The French Revolution scared her. After that, IMO the wheels were set in motion for dictatorships. The writing was on the wall.
It also didn't help that she was paranoid of her son, thinking that he would dethrone her, so she excluded him from governing roles, and didn't raise him to be a proper ruler. This abandonment made her son resent her and when she finally kicked the bucket one of the first things he did was repeal almost everything she accomplished out of spite for his mother.
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