Catherine the great was an absolute ruler.

She started her rule as if she were heading to

the non absolute ruler, but had taken a turn once she failed to set up a constitution. From there
she slowly spiraled out of control until she simply stopped trying to help the serfs and instead
helped the boyars. Catherine crushed any opposition to her rule along the way.
Catherine had attempted to set up a constitution in Russia to help all of the people. The
constitution would have most likely have allowed the serfs slightly more rights, and allow them
to gain some freedom. This, however, was considered too liberal for the time, and such was not
put in place. She then later went to war with turkey, during which in Russia a former officer of
the Don Cossacks had set in motion a rebellion in order to give power to the serfs. By the time
that the rebellion was ready to march on Moscow, Catherine had won the war with Turkey and
was able to crush the rebellion. She then gave more power to the boyars because she believed
that they could stop another rebellion from occurring.
What Catherine essentially did is cause the nations people to fear her wrath. The
common people had been forced into agreeing with what she had put forth. She made it so that
the serfs would not rebel again, while she was in power. With more power to the boyars,
Catherine essentially ensured that there would not be another rebellion. With the Great power,
the serfs became objects to the boyars. Catherine would not allow the serfs to think for
themselves, and would not allow the people to rebel again. Catherine solved the problem of
rebellion in her nation.
After the rebellion, she had taken a disliking to the serfs in Russia. She had given up on
helping them. She turned to the Church and believe she had taken too much from them when
she first came to power and gave the Church much of its land back. She, being a religious
skeptic, had then begun to believe that the Church had too much power in the nation, and
restricted it. She had taken the land that she had given back, and made the Church part of the
state, and force it to pay taxes. Everything that the Church owned was now owned by the state
and would remain that way. Catherine did not want the Church inspiring an uprising.
Catherine had an interesting love life. It is believed that she had up to 12 lovers. She had
given the ones that she had liked the most high ranking positions. She could not remarry as it
cause her image as a ruler to be diminished. She wanted to keep her power to control the
people.
Catherine did an excellent job of controlling the people of her nation. She didn't allow
any sort of rebellion past the rebellion led by a former officer of the Don Cossacks. Catherine
had neglected the rights of the serfs. She did not want to overthrown. She also restricted the
power of the church. This, however, could be seen as a step to a non-absolute as she opened
up religious tolerance, but she had seeked to control the people by restricting the Church. She
did wanted to control the nation with an iron fist. Catherine the Great was an absolute monarchy
in all right.


Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.biography.com/people/catherine-ii-9241622#synopsis>.

"Catherine The Great." History. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.history.co.uk/biographies/catherine-the-great>.