Throughout her reign as empress Catherine's strong spirit helps her to cope with all the troubles that arise. Catherine was greatly criticized by Elizabeth for not being able to bear children. The empress said, " that it was because of her that her marriage had not yet been consummated." (Troyat 57). But what Elizabeth didn't know was that the fault was Peter's who did not consummate the marriage or have the operation, which he needed to reverse his problem. Yet throughout the criticism Catherine kept a stiff upper lip and did not say anything. T

During Catherine's reign she had many political victories. She won many battles on the war front but she was also quite good at political victories. Pugachev tried to overthrow the monarchy but Catherine's army crushed them " Romanov troops crushed the revolt in 1774 and Catherine strengthened the oppressive serf laws". (Ransel 28). She was a smart political power who knew just when to strike. Catherine "joined Frederick and Joseph II to divide one-third of the Polish kingdom between them." (Erickson 312). She did this at a time when England had troubles in North America, Spain could not do anything, and France was just getting over the death of Louis XV. These countries were to busy dealing with their own problems to even notice. Catherine knew from the very beginning of her rule as empress that she wanted to do more. She wanted an enlightened Russia where people were free to think and to be able to choose your religion. Catherine had new ideas "bold assertions of human freedom, of emancipation from the deadweight of tradition. Free-ranging religious thought, fresh and creative approaches to learning." (Erikson 234-235). This made her very popular with her people since the new generation wanted to be more like other countries. Catherine was always a strong woman and had great leadership qualities. She overthrew her husband and became empress. Her quick thinking to draw up some sort of oath that the soldiers and other such important people would take that way if Peter tried to regain Petersburg he wouldn't be able to. Petersburg " was secure and Catherine was officially empress. The empress and her advisers dispatched couriers to army a

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1111
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)