why is Catherin called the great queen of Russia ?

Catherin in the Great of Russia (1762-1796)

Of  the female sovereigns of Russian Empire the most notable was Catherine II usually called Catherine the Great (1762-96). She was a German princess and the wife of the Tsar peter III who proving a worthless ruler was deposed after a reign of a few months, then done to death probably with the connivance of his wife. She became empress and for thirty-four years ruled Russia with an iron hand. Fond of pleasure, fond of work, a woman of intellectual tastes or at least pretensions which she satisfied by intimate correspondence with Voltaire, Diderot and other French philosophers of the day, being rewarded for her as the, ''Semiramis of the North''. Catherine passes as one of the enlightened despots of her century. Being of passes as one of the enlightened despots of her century. Being of Western birth she naturally sympathised with the policy of introducing western civilization into Russia and gave that policy her vigorous support and consummated the work of Peter the Great.

According to her any means were legitimate success was the only standard of right or wrong. She wrote, ''He who gains nothing loses''. The dominant idea and aim with her was that the greatness of the state was in proportionate its territorial extent, not in proposition to the freedom the prosperity and the education of its people.

In the administrative system Catherine reorganised the government and districts, division and sub-divisions of Russia over which she placed governors and vice governors respectively, all appointed by the central Authority. To the ecclesiastical alterations of Peter she added the secularization of Church property, thereby making  the clergy completely dependent upon her bounty and strengthening the autocracy. She established several schools and academics and encouraged the upper classes in Russia to use French as the language of polite society. She sent Russian princes to England to observe the latest experiments with the new agriculture.

But her chief significance in history was her strong and brilliantly successful foreign policy. There countries of western Europe, Sweden, Poland and Turkey. Peter had conquered the first and secured the waterroute to the Baltic. Catherine devoted her entire reign to conquering the other two. The former she accomplished by nefarious  means and with rare completeness. By the end of her reign Poland had been utterly destroyed and Russia had pushed her boundaries far westward until they touched those of Prussia and Austria. Catherine was not able to dismember Turkey as Poland was dismembered but she gained from her the Crimea and the Northern shore of the Black sea from the Caucasus to the Dniester.  

In 1774 the treaty of kuchuk  kainarji was concluded between the belligerents. It was a landmark both in the expansion of the Russian Empire and in the contraction of the Ottoman Empire. The policy of Catherine the great in respect of the Ottoman Empire bore three significant results. In the first place , Russia acquired a natural boundary in Sothern Europe, and became the thief power on the black sea. Her ships might now pass freely through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles out into the Mediterranean to trade with Western Europe. Russia's second ''window to the west'', was gained. Russia was henceforth looked upon as natural ally friend of oppressed Christian nationalities within the realm of the Muslim Turks. Finally the special clause confirming on Russia the protectorate of certain special clause Constantinople afforded her a pretext for a later claim to protect Christians throughout the Ottoman lands and consequently to interfere incessantly in Turkish affairs.

Henceforth Europe could count on one thing with certainty, namely that Russia would be a factor to be considered in any arrangement of the Balkan Peninsula in any determination of the Eastern Question. Not only thus by war and conquest she actually made Russia a great power in Europe.

''The King'', according to her ''is for the nation and not the nation for the king'' - an attitude truly of an enlightened Despot. 

Sweden and Spain

Rulers of Sweden and Spain were also deeply influenced by the spirit of Enlightenment. Gustav III of Sweden and Charles III of Spain rank high among the lesser enlightened rulers. Gustav III was a nephew of Frederick the Great. Gustav openly asserted that he was a follower of reason. In the field of economic and religion he did more beneficial work than his great uncle did. He removed obstacles to domestic and foreign trade. He extended toleration to few as well as to non-Lutheran Christian sects. Charles III adopted progressive policies  begun by his father. He put a new life into the slog out economy of Spain and undertook irrigation projects, reclaimed waste lands and built new roads, canals, banks, and textile mills.