RUSSIA ^HISTORY OF). 



43 



the powers of Europe; and her armies were vastly 

 improved. 



Anna died in 1740, and Iwan III., two months 

 old, was placed on the throne, under Biron's guard- 

 ianship: but, December 6, 1741, the princess Eliza- 

 beth, youngest daughter of Peter the Great, 

 ascended the throne, and imprisoned Iwan III. 

 (grandson of the sister of Anna). Elizabeth, who 

 was notorious for gross and open licentiousness, sent 

 the chancellor Ostermann and field-marshal Miin- 

 nich to Siberia. The German language had, till 

 then, prevailed at court and in the chief schools; 

 but the French now gradually gained the ascen- 

 dancy. France had instigated Sweden to a war 

 with Russia, during the Austrian war of succession, 

 in order to prevent Russia from affording aid to 

 Maria Theresa of Austria; but the conquest of 

 Finland caused the peace of Abo, August 17, 

 1743. The act of succession of prince Adolphus 

 Frederic of Holstein-Gottorp confirmed the influ- 

 ence of Russia over Sweden. In favour of this 

 prince, his cousin Charles Peter Ulrich, of Holstein- 

 Gottorp, resigned his claims upon the Swedish 

 throne, and was declared by his aunt, the empress 

 Elizabeth, in 1743, her successor in that of Russia. 

 Lestocq was banished, and Bestucheff, taking charge 

 of the foreign relations, changed the foreign policy 

 of the country, so that, in 1747, Elizabeth renewed 

 her alliance with Austria and England, and sent an 

 army to Germany against France, by which means 

 she contributed to bring about the peace of Aix-la- 

 Chapelle. In 1754, Russia assisted Austria against 

 Prussia, in the seven years' war. Elizabeth died 

 January 5, 1762, and her successor, Peter III., the 

 admirer and friend of Frederic the Great, imme- 

 diately concluded a peace and alliance with him. 

 But Catharine II. deprived her husband of his 

 throne and life, July 9, 1762, and confirmed only 

 the peace with Frederic, and not the alliance. 



With the reign of this able, artful, and licentious 

 woman begins a new era in Russian history. (For 

 an account of her life, see Catharine //.) As soon 

 as she had relieved the country from an exhausting 

 war, she invited all kinds of colonists into it, and 

 collected around her distinguished foreigners to 

 assist her plans; schools, laws, commerce, indus- 

 try, every thing received a new impulse. The 

 revenue rose from thirty millions of roubles to 

 sixty millions; the army was increased to 450,000 

 men; the navy to forty-five vessels of the line. 

 She caused, in 1764, Stanislaus Poniatowski, who 

 had been one of her lovers, to be elected king of 

 Poland; and foreign laws were forced upon the 

 people; but their despair produced, on a sudden, 

 the general confederacy at Bar, and Poland resisted 

 Catharine for six years. She was victorious by 

 land and sea against the Porte (1770), and would 

 have been able to humble Poland, had not the 

 Rreaking out of the plague in Moscow, the insur- 

 rection of a common Cossack, PugatschefF, and the 

 revolutions in Sweden, given so much employment 

 to her forces. At length, the partition of Poland 

 took place (August 5, 1772), and Russia received 

 that part of Poland which lies between the Duna, 

 the Dnieper, and Drutsch. (See Poland.) Be- 

 sides this, the influence of Russia upon that un- 

 happy country was confirmed by the establishment 

 of a permanent council, the guarantee of an elec- 

 tive kingdom, and the liberum veto. July 22, 1774, 

 she concluded peace with the Turks, by which she 

 acquired Kinburn, Azoph, part of the Crimea, and 

 Kabarda: all the other conquests were restored. 



In 1776, she divided the empire into governments. 

 In 1780, she instituted the alliance, called the 

 armed neutrality, between Russia, the German 

 emperor, Prussia, and Portugal, against the naval 

 power of the British. In 1778, she had taken a 

 new lover, Potemkin, who directed the Russian 

 policy until 1791, when he died. With him she 

 planned the expulsion of the Turks from Europe, 

 and the re-establishment of the Byzantine empire ; 

 but political considerations prevented the execution 

 of this idea at the time it was projected; and when 

 it was resumed, ten years later, it succeeded but 

 very partially. In 1783, Russia took possession of 

 Little Tartary; thus she held the key to the 

 Ottoman empire. The favour of Prussia had been 

 won by the first partition of Poland, that of Aus- 

 tria by the project of an exchange of Bavaria. 

 Austria, in fact, was even connected with Russia 

 by an alliance against Turkey, so that the idea of 

 expelling the Turks was not a mere chimera. The 

 war with the Porte began. The attempt of the 

 Turks to reconquer the Crimea was frustrated; 

 their fleet was defeated, in 1788, at the mouths of 

 the Dnieper. Oczakow was taken by a bloody 

 assault; but again the Austrians were unsuccessful. 

 Joseph II. lost, at Lugos, September 20, 1788, his 

 health and military reputation. Yet the Austrian 

 and Russian armies were subsequently victorious; 

 but, in 1790, Austria retired from the theatre of 

 war, after the convention of Reichenbach; and 

 when Gustavus III. of Sweden had invaded Fin- 

 land, Catharine became inclined to peace. The 

 Turks did not take advantage of the propitious 

 moment. The peace of Werela, in 1790, put an 

 end to the war with Sweden, after several naval 

 battles, advantageous to the latter. Austria con- 

 cluded peace with Turkey at Sistova, in 1791 ; 

 Russia at Jassy, January 9, 1792, by which only 

 Oczacow, with its territory, was taken from the 

 Porte, and the Dniester became the frontier of 

 Russia towards Moldavia and Bessarabia. During 

 this war, Prussia had prevented Poland from joining 

 Russia against the Turks ; and the Prussian party 

 in Poland, with Ignatius Potocki at their head, 

 gave a new constitution to the country, May 3, 

 1791. Felix Potocki, at the head of the Russian 

 party, formed, in 1792, the confederation of Targo- 

 witz, for the support of the old constitution. But 

 Prussia, at war with France, feared a war with 

 Russia, and, breaking her word given to the Poles, 

 marched an army into Poland. The second parti- 

 tion of this ill-fated country took place at Grodno, 

 August 17, 1793 (see Poland), by which Russia 

 acquired 13,609 square miles (the greater part of 

 Lithuania, with Wilna, of Volhynia, and the rest 

 of Podolia). The wreck of the republic was 

 annexed to Russia by the act of union. In 1794, 

 Kosciusko (q. v.) and Madalinski rose for the 

 deliverance of their country. In the same year, 

 the republic was entirely dissolved. In this last 

 partition, Austria also took a share. October 24, 

 1795, the boundary treaty between Russia and 

 Prussia was concluded, and finally settled January 

 26, 1797. Courland was taken by Russia as a 

 Polish fief. 



Catharine died November 17, 1796, having 

 added to the empire of Russia 210,000 square 

 miles of fertile land. She had not taken an active 

 part against the French revolution, though she had 

 concluded an alliance with Britain and Austria; 

 but Her only son, Paul I., united with Naples, 

 Turkey, Austria, and Britain, whilst Bonaparte 



