Catherine's original name was Sophia Auguste, and she had 23 lovers in her lifetime, so it seems that she was a charming woman, but in fact she made a great contribution to Russia during her reign. Under her expansion policy, Russia expanded a total of 670,000 square kilometers, making Russia a large empire spanning three continents, and she can be called Russia's "Wu Zetian" story begins with her marriage to Russia.
At this time her name was Sophia, and she was born into a declining aristocratic family in the Kingdom of Prussia, and because she was not a man, she was even disliked by her own mother. In 1744 she was chosen by Empress Elizabeth of Russia to be one of the candidates for the marriage of Crown Prince Peter of Russia, and after receiving a letter from Empress Elizabeth, Sophia came with her mother to the Kremlin in Moscow. Here Queen Elizabeth entertained them graciously, and Crown Prince Peter was courteous to her. But Sophia knew in her heart that in order to gain a foothold in Russia, she must first make herself a Russian, so she studied Russian and Orthodox etiquette all day and night, and finally left Protestantism and converted to Orthodox Christianity, changing her name to Catherine, and on the day of her baptism, she spoke in Russian throughout the day of her baptism, winning the favor of everyone in the court.
In 1745 Catherine and Peter had a grand wedding, she was crowned Grand Duchess, and in order to ensure that the bride was not a threat to the throne, Empress Elizabeth drove Catherine's mother home, and from then on Catherine could only rely on herself and her husband in the court. But married life is not as easy and pleasant as imagined, Catherine knows that this is a political marriage between the two sides and no feelings, but she initially planned to find a way to live in harmony with Peter, but Peter herself did not think so, perhaps knowing that Catherine in the court is just a little transparent, he did not give his wife face at all, another new love to snub his wife, all day and lover to find fun.
But Catherine didn't complain about herself in this situation, and she threw herself into a variety of books. At first, he relied on reading novels to get rid of his loneliness, but when he accidentally read the works of Voltaire and Montesquieu, he was also interested in political philosophy books, and he also read a lot of history books, and the two lived apart for 5 years. In the 5-year marriage, the two had no children and lovers under their knees.
The two of them were not in a hurry, but Empress Elizabeth was very annoyed, and she was eager to hold the grandchild as soon as possible, and Catherine suddenly woke up at the point of the head of the maid's guard, thinking that as long as she gave birth to the crown prince, her seat would be secure. But this was not the case, she did not have a mother and son, and Elizabeth took Paul away when she first gave birth to the crown prince, so Catherine was later estranged from her own son.
But there is also a theory that Paul born to Catherine is actually a child with a lover, and some people speculate that this lover Sergei was sent by Empress Elizabeth to seduce Catherine, but we do not know what the truth is. After being treated like this, Catherine decided to take charge of her own destiny, but what could she do as a woman who made vases in the court without the power of a chicken? It seems that this matter still has to be considered in the long run, after all, now whether it is Empress Elizabeth or Crown Prince Peter, she can manipulate her at will, and her relationship with the heir to the throne is very distant, and she cannot rely on anyone but on herself.
In the following years, Catherine's pampered male favorites continued, and in the middle of it, she became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter, named Anna. Peter also knew about his wife's erotic history over the years, he did not save face for his wife this time, openly told people that he did not know how his wife got pregnant, and his attitude toward his wife became more and more unreasonable, and Catherine naturally sensed her husband's attitude, and she began to seek political support.
As time progressed, in 1759 her daughter Anna died and her mother died of illness, and Catherine's relationship with Peter turned into an open hostility. At a court banquet, Catherine happened to meet the officer Orlov, a tall, handsome man who was a good hand at horseback combat, so she attracted a large number of high-society women. But all this was seen by Catherine, who seemed to be lacking political power and that men could be used rationally, so she hinted at Orlov, who was also a wise man who quickly understood the meaning of the lady and pursued her eagerly, and the two had maintained a lover's relationship for many years.
With the death of Empress Elizabeth in 1761 and Peter III's succession to the throne, the situation was critical for Catherine, as it was likely that Peter would find a way to get rid of her lover and put her lover on the throne. Peter even humiliated her in public, and the relationship between the two was on fire. Catherine knew very well that in the current situation, she could only seize the throne if she wanted to survive in the court, and she was also inspired by Elizabeth, her fate was up to her, and now she needed to gather strength and wait for a suitable time.
Since Peter III remained uncertified for six months in power and during this time he signed a peace treaty with Prussia, Catherine waited for her opportunity. At the same time, her lover Orlov had helped her build up strength in the Guards over the years, and she had more and more followers in the army, and privately she co-opted the forces of the Church, promising to protect them from requisition. Everything was ready, catherine put on her military uniform, supported by many followers and courtiers, and launched a coup d'état to overthrow Peter III as emperor and become the eighth emperor of the Russian Empire.
Peter III knew nothing of this when the coup d'état was launched, and was still in the palace and had fun with his little lover. Catherine knew that from the perspective of the law of succession to the throne, it was legally difficult to convince the public, so she had prepared for it, the first thing she did after she ascended the throne was to tell the world that she had gained the legitimacy of the regime, from the legal point of view, there was no way to explain it from the moral and political level, she said that Peter III had acted perversely, and many of the actions she had done betrayed Russia, so she was helpless to launch a coup d'état, and also called her ascension to the throne the choice of the Russian people.
After ascending the throne, Catherine held great power, and she focused all her energy on how to enrich the country and strengthen the army. She selected talents from her side and emerged such a capable minister as Potemkin, so Potemkin later became the most powerful lover around her, and until her death, she was the number 2 person in Russia. Militarily, Catherine II was an excellent statesman and diplomat, having gained more than 460,000 square kilometers of land in three parts of Poland, and since then she has completely erased Poland from the map. On the issue of the Black Sea outlet, she provoked Turkey, which was in charge of the East-West exchange gate, to launch a war, successfully defeated Turkey, and enabled Russia to realize its long-standing desire to obtain the Black Sea sea exit.
Since then, Turkey has fought another war with Russia in order to regain its land, but the Russo-Turkish war has failed during Catherine's rule, and the old Ottoman Empire of Turkey has since collapsed, and Russia has suffered a long-term problem.
In order to deal with the threat of Asian nomads, Catherine the Great also conquered the Crimean Khanate, turning Russia into a super empire spanning three continents: Europe, Asia and the United States. She was the only empress in Russian history to be called the Emperor, and in the heyday of Russia, the Emperor said domineeringly: If I could live to be 200 years old, all of Europe would crawl at my feet. Catherine's life can be said to be from "Cinderella" to "Wu Zetian" Her achievements have never relied on her husband Peter, all relying on her own planning in the court, she is also the only emperor in the history of the Russian Empire to be called the Emperor, on a par with the famous Peter the Great, which is enough to see the glory of her life.