The reign of Catherine 2 in Russia (1762 - 1796) was a time of great change and significant events in the life of the people.
The future Russian empress, nee Sophia Augusta Frederika Anhalt-Zerbst first came to Russia in 1745 at the invitation of Elizabeth. In the same year, she married the Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich (Peter 3). The husband’s dislike and Elizabeth’s illness led to a situation where there was a threat of her expulsion from Russia. Relying on the guards regiment, in 1762 she made a bloodless coup and became empress. In such circumstances, the reign of Catherine 2 began.
The empress carried out vigorous reform work, seeking to strengthen her personal power. In 1767, he convened a commission to write a new code. The meeting of lawmakers, however, turned out to be objectionable to Catherine and was dissolved
In 1763, she introduced senatorial reform to improve the system of governance. There were six departments in the Senate and he lost the right to lead the state apparatus, turning into the highest judicial and administrative body. The Berg College, the Main Magistrate and the Manufactory College were restored. The centralization of the country and the bureaucratization of power went in parallel at a steady pace. To resolve financial difficulties in 1763–1764, Catherine secularized church lands (transferring them to secular property), which made it possible to replenish the treasury and neutralize the clergy as a powerful political force.
The reign of Catherine 2 was not soft. At the time of her reign, the Pugachev uprising took place. The peasant war of 1773-1775 showed that this layer of society does not support it. And Catherine decides to strengthen the absolutist state, relying only on the nobility.
"Granted Letters" to the nobility and cities (1785) streamlined the structure of society, strictly indicating the closeness of the estates: the nobility, clergy, merchants, middle class and serfs. The dependence of the latter constantly increased, creating the conditions for the onset of the "noble golden age."
During the reign of Catherine 2, the feudal system in Russia reached its peak. The empress did not seek to change the foundations of public life. Based on the labor of serfs, the empire, the throne resting on the faithful nobility and the wise empress who ruled over everything - that was how the country's life in this period looked. Domestic and foreign policies were carried out exclusively in the interests of a centralized state. The imperial approach was typical of the provinces (Lesser Russia, Livonia and Finland), and expansion also extended to Crimea, the Kingdom of Poland, and the North Caucasus, where national problems began to worsen. In 1764, hetmanism was liquidated in Ukraine, and the Governor General and President of the Maloros College were appointed to rule it.
In 1775, management reform began. Instead of 23 provinces, 50 new ones were created. The state chamber controlled industry, the order - public institutions (hospitals and schools), the courts were separated from the administration. The system of government became uniform, subordinate to the governors, central colleges, governors and, finally, the empress.
It is known that the reign of Catherine 2 is also the height of favoritism. But if under Elizabeth this did not bring tangible damage to the state, now the wide distribution of state lands and serfs to the fit empress nobles began to cause discontent.
Catherine’s enlightened absolutism is the time of the implementation of the ideas of the socio-political theories of the 18th century, according to which the development of society should follow an evolutionary path under the guidance of an enlightened and beloved by the people monarch, whose assistants are philosophers.
The results of the reign of Catherine 2 are very significant for Russian history. The territory of the state has grown significantly, treasury income has quadrupled, and the population has grown by 75%. However, enlightened absolutism could not solve all pressing problems.