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Catherine II was born in Stettin, Pomerania (Now Szczecin, Poland) on May 2, 1729. She died on November 17, 1796 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
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Teenage Catherine travels with her mother to Russia to become the bride of Grand Duke Peter. Catherine fell ill, which created conflict between her mother, and the empress of Russia, Elizabeth. They couldn't agree on a treatment. After being engaged to Peter, she switched faiths to the Russian Orthodox, and along with it, she changed her name to Yeketerina, or Catherine.
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Catherine married the Grand Duke Peter on August 21, 1745. Their marriage was not good however, as Peter was immature and juvenile, and the two were too different to be in a happy relationship. Catherine soon developed her own pasttimes, such as reading.
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Catherine II gave birth to a son, Paul, on September 20, 1754. This child's father, however, may not have been Catherine's husband, but a man named Sergei Saltykov who was a member of the court and a Russian noble. Paul has also been said to look a lot like Peter, so there was confusion on who the real father was. Either way, Catherine sadly didn't have enough time to take care of Paul, so the empress of Russia, Elizabeth, took on the duty of raising him instead.
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The previous empress to Russia, Elizabeth, died on December 21, 1761. Catherine's husband became Emperor Peter III, and Catherine became the new empress. Catherine was advised to leave Russia, as Peter was planning to divorce her. Catherine, however, stayed, as she had much bigger plans for Peter.
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Starting in 1762, Catherine expands the senate with the idea of leading Russia to be a full member of Europe. This expansion was followed with the improvement of the Procurator-General office in 1763, and the incorporation of Ukraine into the Russian empire by abolishing the self-governed communities of Cossacks in Southern Ukraine. These communities had their own political and administrative centers, and were located around the Dnieper River.
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On June 28, 1762, Catherine rallied troops to support her and her lover, Grigory Orlov, in a coup to overthrow and kill Peter III. Catherine named herself Empress Catherine II, and her son Paul was to be her heir. Peter was to be kept as a prisoner for life, but died days later in a fight with the prison guards.
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Catherine's rule of Russia started with the overthrowing of her former husband and emperor, Peter III, and ended with her death in 1796.
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During this time (1764 - 1768) Catherine worked on reforming Russia's laws. She needed a time of peace to focus on this, so she entrusted Russia's foreign policies to Count Nikita Panin.
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From 1773-1775 Pugachev led a rebellion regarding the laws that Catherine had put in place giving Serfs even fewer rights than they already had. It was the largest peasant revolt in Russia's history.
