# 8
Peter and Catherine: The Greats
Tuesday – 10:00 a.m. Winter Term 2012 (14 weeks)
Coordinator: Carol Segal Co-coordinator: Katie McGovern
Course Description
1672: Russia was a backwater country mired in traditional medieval customs. On June 9 of the same year Peter, son of Tsar Alexei was born. Known to us as Peter the Great, he instituted radical political, social and educational changes and took Russia kicking and screaming into the modern world. He built a modern army, created a navy, opened up a privileged aristocracy, brought the church under state control and adopted the European calendar. Peter played a pivotal role in the creation of a whole new Europe in which Russia was to play a crucial part. To what extent were the seeds of change already there? How successful were these reforms? At what cost did these benefits come?
Four years after Peter died, Catherine was born, a German princess, who then through marriage and political intrigue, came to rule and even enlarge the already vast Russian Empire. Her long reign was marked by public turbulence and controversy, as well as many private love affairs, inspiring both admiration and criticism in her subjects and later by historians. She was famous for her intellectual brilliance and pursuit of the ideals of the Enlightenment, but her actual achievements fell short of her declared intentions. Was she a hypocritical, self-serving tyrant and sex symbol or a politically astute autocrat, fighting to survive and to maintain order?
In this SD/G we’ll examine the lives and unique personalities of these two Great Tsars of Russia. We’ll study the time period in which they lived, the social, political and cultural development of Russia and their participation in the international arena. And we shall explore the part they played in the modernization of Russia and their impact on the whole of Europe. And we’ll try to answer the question: Do Peter and Catherine still deserve to be called “The Greats”?
Topics
Peter
1. Background, early life, education, ascent to throne
2. Travels abroad, founding of St Petersburg, Strel’tsy Revolts, war with
Sweden, the Grand Embassy
3. Building of St. Petersburg, war with Sweden, Peter’s army, the Senate,
royal weddings
4. Peter’s marriage, more travels, relationship with sons, buildup of navy,
colleges, general regulations
5. Nystad, new status as European power, legislation, corruption, Persian
War, Rules of Succession
6. Catherine’s coronation, Academy of Sciences, Peter’s death.
Legacies – yesterday and today
Catherine
7. Background, early life, education, marriage, court life, coup d’état, accession to the
throne
8. Coronation, consolidation of power, challenges from Senate, the church, the
military, peasant unrest, peace, domestic reforms
9. The Volga voyage, the legislative commission, foreign policy, war with Poland and
Turkey
10. Crisis in public health, plots against the throne, pretenders, rebel resurgence
11. “Legislomania’ – reaction to opposition, favorites and favoritism, “nymphomania”
12. Succession concerns, Potemkin’s influence, the Crimea, new alliances, wars with
Sweden, Turkey
13. Advancing age, declining health, uncertainty at home and abroad, the last year
14. Legend vs. historical record. Legacies – yesterday and today
(This session will include Catherine’s love notes and Epilogue from the core book)
Bibliography
Core Books
Alexander, John T., Catherine the Great: Life and Legend, Oxford University Press, 1989
Hughes, Lindsey, Peter the Great: A Biography, Yale University Press, 2004
Additional Bibliography
Dixon, Simon, The Modernization of Russia 1676-1825, Cambridge University Press,
1999
Madariaga, Isabel de, Catherine the Great: A Short History, Yale University Press,
1990/2002
Massie, Robert K. Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman, Random House, 2011
Massie, Robert K., Peter the Great: His Life and World, Alfred A. Knopf, 1980
Raleigh, Donald J. and Iskenderov, A.A., The Emperors and Empresses of Russia:
Rediscovering the Romanovs, M. E. Sharpe, 1996
Troyat, Henri, Catherine the Great, Penquin Books, 1994
Troyat, Henri, Peter the Great, Easton Press, 1993
Warnes, David, Chronicle of the Russian Tsars, Thames and Hudson, Ltd., 1999
Wilson, Derek, Peter the Great, St. Martin’s Press, 2009
Pre-meeting Tuesday, December 13, 10:00 A.M.
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