If these two people have to compete, in terms of foundation and legend, I will choose Catherine II, who is the only monarch in Russian history who can be called "the Great" and an unparalleled female czar.
/kloc-in Germany in the 0/8th century, nobles were no longer "expensive", and the upper class was full of all kinds of poor and nameless little nobles.
Yekaterina's father is one of them. As Prince Augustus, the principality of Anhalt, his territory is only a small piece, not so much a principality as a small town.
However, johanna, the young wife of Prince Augustus, is quite outstanding. Born in johanna, the Holstein family had already married into the Norman dynasty of tsarist Russia. 174 1 year, Elizabeth, the youngest daughter of Peter the Great, staged a coup and became a Russian czar overnight.
As Anna, the younger sister of the current czar, married johanna's cousin, Count Charles, the value of the Holstein family suddenly doubled. Simply put, "Your sister married my brother, and we are sisters." This is the relationship between the Tsar and johanna.
Our Catherine the Great was born in such a family, a little princess in Germany, formerly known as Sophia Augustus.
Sophia's mother is full of longing and interest in power. After giving birth to Sophia, she was quite disappointed. She thinks that Sophia can't bring her a promotion in status, and even ignores Sophia after giving birth to a baby boy.
Ironically, this small German aristocratic family is famous in history because of the birth of Sophia. Otherwise, who would care about two rural nobles?
When Sophia was 8 years old, her mother johanna took her everywhere to visit relatives and friends. She realized that finding a prominent in-laws for her daughter would help her join the power center.
1739, a fateful encounter happened to Sophia. Her uncle Adolf was appointed as the guardian of Peter Ursili, the grandson of Peter the Great and Sophia's little cousin.
The impression of meeting for the first time is neither bad nor bad. Yekaterina wrote in his memoirs:
"Little Peter looks very cultured, but he is short and thin, looks ill and talks very likable."
Johanna saw her daughter chatting happily with Peter, heir to the Swedish king. However, this encounter did not immediately cause any repercussions, and the two children went home separately.
As a little princess, Sophia is poor, but education is definitely indispensable. Her German tutor described her as a "smart fool" and always asked embarrassing questions, such as "What is the universe made of?" Moreover, she is so stubborn that her tutor can only scare her with crutches. Every time Sophia gets into trouble with the teacher, she is very unhappy.
"I have been obedient to reason and gentleness all my life, and oppression will only make me stand up." -"memoirs"
Sophia's rare independence aroused strong dissatisfaction from her mother johanna, who thought it would affect her marriage, and she was even more miserable. Sophia also wants to leave this family more and more.
The Russian coup also triggered a series of chain reactions. Elizabeth, as a czar, made her nephew Peter Jr., the heir of the king of Sweden, her successor in order to consolidate her position.
Because she can't have children herself, a deposed Ivan VI will be the legal heir after her death.
At the same time, little Peter had to give up his inheritance right in Sweden, and this good thing was arranged by Elizabeth on Sophia's uncle Adolf.
Therefore, school-age girl Sophia began to attract the attention of European monarchs, especially Frederick II, King of Prussia in the German Principality.
At this time, Russia benefited from the governance of Peter the Great and became the most influential empire in Europe. However, the growing expansion of Prussia aroused Russia's vigilance. Frederick II wanted to make friends with Russia very much. At this time, finding a wife for the successor of the future czar is of great benefit to the relations between the two countries.
So Frederick met the girl 14 years old. I didn't expect Sophia to cope with the dialogue about art and poetry without stage fright. The King of Prussia did not hesitate to arrange for the portrait of Sophia to be sent to Russia and personally wrote a letter of recommendation.
1 year later, 1744 1 month later, a letter from St. Petersburg arrived in johanna's hand, inviting johanna and Sophia to leave immediately to see Queen Elizabeth, and kindly attaching 10,000 rupees as travel expenses.
On the way to Russia, Sophia witnessed a huge comet burning in the night sky.
I have never seen such a spectacular sight. This shining star is so close to the earth. -"memoirs"
Maybe Sophia didn't realize that her own light would shine even more than this comet.
At this time, the future czar of Russia, Peter Jr., has arrived in Russia, but Peter Jr. is extremely repulsive to Russia and unwilling to learn Russian, and his previous education is also very rude, which leads to Peter's timid but ruthless character and full of distrust for the people around him.
Little Peter made no secret of his dislike of Russia, thinking that Russia was too backward, far behind Germany and the principality of Holstein where he had lived before. Elizabeth is also very helpless.
Little Peter often looks ill, and Elizabeth has to think about what to do if he dies suddenly. Therefore, it is an important means for Elizabeth to let little Peter get married and have children and train the next generation of successors.
Sophia's fate has been firmly tied to Russia at this moment.
After Sophia arrived in Russia, although little Peter greeted her warmly, it was mostly because they were the same age. Little Peter could talk to her in German, not to mention Russian, which he hated very much.
Then, the heir of the great Peter the Great showed a very strange and undisguised personality. He told Sophia endlessly that he was in love with the czar's maid, but he had no choice but to accept marrying Sophia.
This is a bolt from the blue for the new Sophia. Peter's stupidity has done great harm to Sophia.
"I was on pins and needles listening to his secrets, but I was shocked by his thoughtlessness and lack of judgment"-memoirs.
Sophia has to face the reality and patiently play the role of Peter's playmate and friend, because if she wants to get rid of her mother, she must survive in Russia.
Sophia knows that she is different from Peter, who is the grandson of Peter the Great. She's just a little country aristocrat who came to marry her. In order to integrate into Russia, she studied Russian hard and begged for longer study time.
Sophia had a high fever while learning Russian and was in a coma for more than ten days. Elizabeth is full of love for this little girl. Compared with the heartless little Peter, Sophia was polite and considerate, and the czar shed tears several times, almost thinking she was going to lose her.
When everyone thought Sophia was dying, they wanted to find her a priest from Lutheran (the Russian state religion is Orthodox Church, and Sophia's family is Lutheran), but Sophia insisted that they find her a priest and teacher from Orthodox Church.
Studying Russian hard, respecting faith spread throughout the court, and the little girl was full of respect and sympathy from the tsar to the court attendants.
Of course, our great Catherine played a little trick, but it was just right.
After recovering from illness, Sophia successfully converted to the Orthodox Church, got engaged to Crown Prince Peter, and won the title of "Grand Duke", named yekaterina. The queen also generously gave 20 thousand rubles as expenses, and everything seemed very beautiful.
Although Elizabeth seems to have some affinity with yekaterina, the autocratic queen is not so easy to get along with. Elizabeth often scolds yekaterina, sometimes for spending money, and sometimes just for dressing up. Yekaterina had to deal with the czar carefully.
1745, the queen ordered them to get married in July 1. After they got married, johanna, the mother who secretly communicated with Prussia in Russia, was driven back to Prussia by the Queen, and yekaterina was completely under Elizabeth's control. The queen's purpose is simple, hoping that the two will give birth to an heir as soon as possible.
In order to control them, the queen also specially sent a housekeeper to "urge" them not to play and do "serious things" as soon as possible.
But Peter and yekaterina didn't obey the Queen's wishes. Eight months later, nothing happened. Angry Elizabeth thinks it's all yekaterina's fault and despises herself.
The queen didn't know that the weird Peter was addicted to the toy soldier's game at this time. Every day he changed his clothes and went to bed, then he closed the door and let the attendants in. On the bed, soldiers in blue German uniforms played "war games". This hobby continued until Comrade Peter ascended the throne, and he still enjoyed it.
Yekaterina can only look on:
"In my opinion, someone really should find me a more suitable position." -"memoirs"
With the passage of time, Peter's character has not changed at all, but has become more irritable and perverse under the pressure of Russia.
On a spring outing in 1750, Peter met a princess from Kurland. Peter publicly expressed his love for the princess, regardless of yekaterina's feelings. Until the evening, Peter kept praising Princess Kurland, which made yekaterina very impatient.
The way she didn't want to listen made Peter yell, grabbed yekaterina and hit her twice, then lay down to sleep, completely ignoring yekaterina who was crying, and didn't apologize until the next day.
Peter's attitude towards yekaterina is full of selfishness and materialism, and he will rely on her when he encounters difficulties.
Later, Peter accidentally hurt his face while playing with a whip. He was frightened, afraid of being punished by the Queen, and went to yekaterina anxiously.
Yekaterina carefully prescribed the medicine for Peter and hid it for him, and the matter ended.
Peter is like this. He came and went in a hurry without thanking him. He is one year older than yekaterina, but he is still a complete child.
1753, under Elizabeth's repeated hints and warnings, yekaterina finally got pregnant, but in fact, she and Peter no longer had feelings, and this little prince was her trump card to maintain her position and had to do it.
The heir was named Paul after his birth, but yekaterina was left in the delivery room, unable to turn over. The queen and Peter left in a hurry with their children in their arms.
The city is full of lights, singing and dancing, and all Russians are celebrating the birth of their children, while yekaterina is lying in bed alone, and nobody cares. It seems that Elizabeth thinks she is the mother of the child, and yekaterina is just a tool.
She can't even go to see her son. For a whole winter, yekaterina didn't go out. In his room, he opened the chronicle of Tacitus, Montesquieu's On the Spirit of Law and Voltaire's On Customs, which had been messed up by Peter.
Yekaterina and Tacitus studied the characters and power composition of the Roman Empire.
Learning Montesquieu's enlightenment philosophy, he classified himself as "a man with thoughts";
Voltaire was her guide, and yekaterina was impressed by Voltaire. Through long-term communication, she learned to live and laugh, and how to govern the country.
With the deterioration of his marriage with Peter, yekaterina also has his own lover-noble Saltikoff. After giving birth to the baby, she left for Hamburg in a hurry because she was afraid of things.
The departure of his son and lover, as well as his lonely life, made yekaterina determined to change his situation. She has fulfilled her obligations and brought an heir to Russia, but she was abandoned in the bedroom and could not see her children. She wants everything she wants back.
"Let the people trapped in my pain know that I am inviolable, and those who mistreat me will never have a good end." She thinks so.
A year after giving birth, yekaterina dressed up for Peter's birthday party. At the party, she turned in the valet who was sent to spy on her, and the valet turned in Peter.
Peter went to yekaterina angrily and drew his sword to threaten him. Yekaterina did not yield:
"Then give me a sword, too, so that I can fight you."
Peter mumbled back his sword and went back to swearing. This confrontation made Peter feel a little scared. His wife, who has been very careful, seems to become very intense.
At a ball, yekaterina met young and handsome Polish aristocrat poniatowski and Welsh aristocrat Sir Charles. The former became her lover and the latter became her good friend.
Sir Charles is sophisticated and wise. He kindly offered to provide financial support for yekaterina and opened an overdraft account for her from England, which provided an effective guarantee for yekaterina to make friends with dignitaries later.
Poniatowski is more to bring her happiness. The most ridiculous thing is that when he secretly went to yekaterina's residence, he was caught by Peter's guards.
In fact, Peter does have his own lover, and he doesn't care much about it, just keeps him.
Yekaterina had no choice but to ask Peter's lover, Vorenkova. Peter laughed when he saw his lover. "Now there is only one person left."
Going to the bedroom to take off yekaterina was more like humiliating her. Four people ate together, and Peter had a great time playing until midnight.
Yekaterina didn't accept such an absurd move in his heart, but when it didn't break out, he had to endure it.
Many years later, after Polish King poniatowski ascended the throne, he made no secret of his derogatory remarks about Peter in his memoirs:
"In our nature, he has become a coward and an alcoholic. He has no sense of belonging to Russia and even hates it. "