ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a concise sketch of political developments from the death of Peter the Great in 1725 through the end of Catherine's reign in 1796. For one hundred years, beginning with Peter the Great's death and ending with the Decembrist Revolt of 1825, the question of who was to sit on the tsarist throne created political turmoil in the Russian Empire. Notably, three women, First Catherine, Anna, and Elizabeth, reigned in this period. Adhering to principles of the Enlightenment, Catherine strengthened rather than curtailed the autocracy and opposed the French Revolution. This was not hypocritical. In both the concept of enlightened despotism and the empire's political tradition, beneficial change was to be directed from above, and the monarch was not to relinquish authority but to use it wisely. Throughout the 1700s, but particularly during Catherine's reign, the Russian Empire continued to expand its frontiers in all directions and to settle new areas.
