We’ve come to the end of the long and bumpy road that is the life of Catherine II, Empress of Russia. AKA: Catherine the Great. Poor little princess Sophie did well for herself, huh?
In this episode we cover a lot more of Catherine’s policies. Her groundbreaking policies that she just had to push through herself, sinc that half-ass attempt at diplomacy from episode three was kind of a cluster-fuck. Not only did she see educational and medical reforms in her time, but she also spread Russia’s landholding in all four direction.
Okay, do we talk about her love life? Yes, of course. We love that hot-goss. But y’all there’s so much more than just sex in this story (though there is some sex. Come on, we’re human). This story has war (again), family intrigue (#poorbabyPaul, but also Fuck Paul, let’s murder Paul?), an epic road trip, poor choices in diversity and yes… we discuss the horse rumor.
Was Catherine the Great perfect? Of course not. She’s vain, contradictory and hardheaded. But did her legacy change the course of Russia, putting them on the track to become a force to be reckoned with? Absolutely.
Some great reading/viewing materials:
- Catherine the Great, Portrait of a Woman (Massie) This book is fascinating and we’ve had to leave out some really interesting stories.
- Extra Credits is just a fun web show with a great series on CtG. In fact if you have a short attention span, but love history (and cartoons!) this whole YouTube channel is for you.
- Biographics has another great video on her, too (all their videos are great, actually)
- And Wikipedia to fill in the gaps.
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