Woman Ruler Woman Rule |
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The Empress decided [Grand Duke Peter and I] would be married on the 21st of August 1745. The closer the day came, the sadder I became. My heart predicted but little happiness—ambition alone sustained me (my ambition is as great as is humanly possible): in my inmost soul there was something which never allowed me to doubt for a single moment that sooner or later I would rule Russia…I would have loved my new husband if he had wanted me to or had been kind to me. If a woman has a good heart and a gentle nature, the kindness and courtesy of her husband will win her love. Instead eighteen years of boredom and loneliness made me read a great many books. On the 25th of December 1761 the Empress Elizabeth died; my husband became Emperor Peter III and lost what little wit he had. After six months he had shocked and offended everyone. He wanted to change his religion back to Lutheran, marry his mistress and have me shut up. The counter-plan was to shut him up…I was sleeping peacefully on the morning of the 28th of June when Aleksey Orlov came in and very gently said: "Time to get up; all is ready to proclaim you!" Everyone was shouting "Vivat! Long live our little Mother Catherine!" I never saw such a fury of joy, everyone was weeping and shouting that their country was free at last. The Emperor abdicated in perfect freedom the next day. I sent the deposed Emperor to a remote and very agreeable place. The first matter presented to me was the country's extreme poverty. Then too, corruption reigned everywhere while the Senate remained deaf and lethargic to the affairs of the State. Within three years the debts of the reigns of Peter the Great, the Empress Anne, and three-quarters of those of the Empress Elizabeth had been paid. Banks were established, commerce was raising its head, the value of silver was established, the bureaucracy and the Army were reorganized, the peasant rebels were pacified and justice ceased to be corrupt. Schools had begun to be established--along the principles that children must almost never be beaten, since by such punishments children are humiliated and lowered; baseness is bred in them, they learn to lie and sometimes acquire serious vices. I also founded a school for women--to educate neither prudes nor coquettes, but pleasant and capable women, able both to bring up their own children and manage their households and to take their places as women of the world, knowing proper behavior, good manners and languages. I often say to myself: such a measure may be just, but is it practicable? For it is not as easy as one thinks to be an autocratrix and absolute ruler. In the first place my orders would not be carried out unless they were the kind of orders which could be carried out: for each law I wish to promulgate I examine the circumstances, I take advice, I consult the enlightened part of the people, and so find out what sort of effect my law will have. And when I am already convinced in advance of general approval, then I issue my orders, and have the pleasure of what one calls blind obedience. And that is the foundation of unlimited power. But believe me, they would not obey blindly if I were to follow only my own desires without thinking of the consequences and if the orders were not adapted to the customs and opinions of the people. * * * * *
Catherine's sexuality has been the subject of much scandalous gossip, and of a scrutiny rarely paid to male rulers. She scandalized many of her contemporaries who thought her a corrupter of morality, though her own court was actually quite proper. She was called, particularly by the peasantry, "the trollop tsaritsa." But as Catherine once remarked: "The majority does not confirm the truth, but only indicates the mind of the majority." In fact Catherine had only twelve proven lovers over a period of forty-four years, and never more than one at a time. Sometimes they tired of her, sometimes she tired of them; in both cases they were dismissed with generous pensions. |
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