Essay About Grand Duke Peter Iii Of Holstein And Empress Elizabeth

Catherine The Great
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Sophia Frederika-Augusta, later known as Catherine, was born on May 2, 1729 in the
Baltic seaport town of Stettin, then part of German Pomerania. She was born into the Anhalt-
Zerbst family, one of the poorest and most obscure of all the German princely families. Her
father, Christian Augusta, did not become the reigning prince of Zerbst until Catherine was
thirteen years old. In 1743, at the age of fifteen, Catherines mother, Johanna, found her a
husband. She was to marry Grand Duke Peter III of Holstein, he was sixteen. When Catherine
met her husband she thought that he was weak, egotistical, unbalanced, ineffective and entirely
Lutheran and German in his attitude. Catherine decided to convert to Russian Orthodoxy after a
year of instruction and education from the Russian court.
She was married in 1745 and became Grand Duchess Catherine of Russia. Catherines
life as a Grand Duchess from 1745 to 1762 was very difficult. Their marriage was never on
good terms. Catherine thought that she would have to make her own way and find her place
within the Russian court. She learned how to speak Russian to convince the court of her good
will. She studied rituals of Orthodoxy and was careful to show respect for her new religion.
Catherine occupied herself reading everything she could find. She particularly enjoyed the
works of Plato and Voltaire. Her interest in intellectual things caused even greater distance
between Peter and herself.
Many years passed and there was still no heir to the throne. The Empress Elizabeth of
Russia, Peter IIIs aunt, was irritated because she wanted to secure a powerful dynasty and
couldnt accomplish this without the presence of a male heir. She thought it was Catherines
fault because she wasnt attracted to her husband. However, it was Peter that was not able to
produce a male son, so Elizabeth permitted an affair between Catherine and a Russian military
officer named Serge Saltykov.
Catherine finally gave birth to a son, whom the Empress named Paul, on September 20,
1754. Peter accepted him as his own. Immediately after Pauls birth Elizabeth took him to her
apartments and raised him as her own. This caused Peter and Catherines relationship to drift
further apart.
On Christmas day 1761, the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna died and the reign of Tsar Peter
III had begun. Catherine mourned the Empress sincerely. Peter apparently was glad, and at the
funeral made a complete fool of himself. He mocked Elizabeths life, saying that he was glad
she died, and made loud, rude noises while the priests were speaking. Peter was very vocal
about his love of Prussian customs, and Prussian relations with Russia were not going well.
Peters first official action was to end hostile relations between Prussia and his Russia. He
formed an alliance with Prussia that became the beginning of Russias detriment. Peter
impressed with the Prussian military adopted many of their customs into the Russian military.
The Russian army, largely due to Peters adopted changes, suffered great losses during the Seven
Years War. The army started to turn against Peter and all classes of the Russian people began
to hate him.
Catherine heard rumors that Peter intended to dispose of her and make, his mistress,
Elizabeth Vorontsova his wife. He planned to lock Catherine away because she annoyed him.
He was envious that the Russian people cared for her more than they did for him. With all that
Peter had done to alienate the Army, Catherine felt she was in great danger and began to plot the
overthrow of the new Tsar. Friends of Catherines and her present lover told her of their plan for
a coup detat against Peter. Catherine went to the Ismailovsky regiment looking for their
support saying “I have come to you for protection. The Emperor has given orders to arrest me,
and I fear he intends to kill me.” The soldiers believed her and gave her their support. The
Ismailovskys were hers, and from that moment on so was Russia. Catherine in the protection of
the Ismailovsky Army, made their way to the Cathedral of Kazan where they found the church
filled with clergy awaiting Catherines inauguration. On June 28, 1762 she took the oath as
Empress and Sole Autocrat.
Peter, unwilling to fight, signed the act of abdication. By order of the Empress, Peter was
taken to a nearby estate in the village of Ropsha and placed under surveillance.