Catherine the Great
Throughout history, Russia has been viewed as a regressive cluster of barely civilized people on the verge of barbarism. In the eighteenth century, ideas of science and secularism grasped hold of Europe, and Russian Czars, realizing how behind Muscovite culture was, sought out this knowledge, attempting to imbed it into Russian society. Catherine II was one of these Czars. She listened to both the ideas of the philosophes and the problems of her people and strove to enlighten Russia by codifying the laws, establishing an elected government, funding hospitals, and forming a functioning school board. Her attempts, however, were met with only partial success. Her reforms received much criticism, especially from the serfs, and Catherine was forced to realize, through the Pugachev Rebellion in 1773, that enlightening all of Russia was an impossibility. Catherine II's greatest glory was seen in her foreign policies, as she solved two fundamental problems for Russia by winning victories over Turkey and Poland. As well, she established a League of Armed Neutrality and spoke out against the French Revolution. Catherine's reign created both prosperity and poverty for Russia. In order to decide whether she was truly great, one mus
Russians also believed that severe discipline aided knowledge, a belief which stemmed partly from the nature of military Russian education and partly from teachers wanting dumb obedience (Dukes 31). It was also the consequence of the seventeenth century religious theory, that children were naturally wicked and that they had to be purged before they could learn, that led to the physical abuse of children (Dukes 31). This abuse handicapped Russian education by creating mindless followers instead of outspoken thinkers. Catherine condemned this practice by banning physical punishment in schools, and therefore, taking the first step in creating a non-militaristic, rational education system. The final concept that made Russian education a failure was the influence of a peculiar Russian culture, composed of ancient, Slavic superstition and folklore, and simple, but powerful Orthodox Christian faith (Dukes 34). Peter the Great began the struggle against the old culture by creating a strict order with uniform regulations, however, this organization was rejected by the vast majority of Russians who wanted to stick to the old ways. Catherine tried to create a school system that would be embraced by all Russians, with moderate success. Although the education was free, and open to all classes, just after Catherine's death, there were 49 major schools in operation, with 269 teachers and only 7 001 students enrolled; similarly, there were 239 minor schools, with 491 teachers and only 15 209 students. In comparison with the Russian population, these numbers were miniscule, but, in comparison with the number of students of 1727, which was no more than 2 000, her educational reform marked a great leap forward. "In many ways her principles were remarkable...self-governing institutions and the spirit of free intellectual enquiry" (Hosking 125). The Statute of Popular Schools was Catherine's last major act in the cultural field. Three years after its publication, the French revolution broke out and Catherine turned her attention to foreign acquisitions. Monsieur Diderot, I have listened with the greatest of pleasure to all that your brilliant genius has inspired you with; but all your grand principles, which I understand very well, though they make fine books, would make sad work in actual practice. You forget, in all your plans for reformation, the difference between our two positions. You work only upon paper, which submits everything. Whereas I, a poor empress, work upon human nature, which is on the contrary, irritable and easily offended. (Oblensky and Stone 210) It was Russian tradition that reading secular books was a temptation from the devil (Miliukov 5), and so, grammar was taught with Church Slavonic print and church books until the 1760s. This practice was harmful because, by the 1700's, Church Slavonic was no longer the vernacular (Dukes 30). Catherine alleviated this by drafting an index of secular books to be used in schools, including The Primer, Rules for Pupils, On the Duties of Man and Citizen, History of the World, Introduction to European Geography, and Russian Grammar. Prior to Catherine, the curriculum was as useless as the textbooks since it laid emphasis on only a few practical subjects, and was, for the most part, without "rhyme or reason" (Dukes 31). The Russians of the first half of the eighteenth century tended to view education as "general, separate pieces of information, and that to learn these and become an educated man was simple" (Dukes 31). Catherine observed this restraint, and formed a system of successive learning, where specific subjects were studied in four grade levels, each level increasing in difficulty. Through this, Catherine gave her people understanding, not just superficial knowledge. The Second Turkish War began in 1787 when Turkey declared war on Russia. Catherine's troops, led by General Alexander Suvorov, scored a series of brilliant victories over Turkish forces,
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Approximate Word count = 4346
Approximate Pages = 17 (250 words per page double spaced)
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