Catherine the Great

Born Sophie Fredericke Auguste von Anhult-Zerbst, Catherine the Great was married to Grand Duke Peter of Holstein in 1745. When he became Peter III, he only reigned as emperor for a few months before being thrown out and Catherine placed on the throne. She continued most of the modernizing and westernization Peter the Great began, and she brought Russia into the cultural equal of France and Germany. Catherine founded a medical college and a school for girls. She tried to implement a system that would provide equal protection under the law for all people and a system to prevent crime, but bureaucracy prevented her dream.

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