Catherine the Great of Russia and the Coup against Peter III

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The real figure and story of Catherine the Great and Peter the Third has been overlaid by gilt and varnish much like the church mural paintings of old. Some of the true story would be uncovered, while other fragments of it would remain hidden beneath the surface never to be revealed. The allegory of Catherine, and the mysteriously convenient death of Peter III, is one that has been pondered over for decades. With very little evidence to go by the events that occurred on June 28, 1762 are very mysterious and highly susceptible to exaggeration and bias. An examination of the memoirs of Catherine II as well as other key members of the Russian military and royalty will show that Catherine the Great was not individually responsible for the death of Peter III. Catherine the Great was an exceptionally bright and cunning woman, and she cared deeply for the well being of Russia and its citizens. After watching her husband, Peter III's, inability to govern the country properly, Catherine decided to take matters into her own hands. She plotted a coup d'etates with the help from her devoted followers and admirers the Orlav family, Count Nikita Panin, Passek, and Hetman Kirill Gregorevich Razumovsky to name a few. According to Catherine's memoirs, "the nation was completely devoted to her and saw in her their only hope. Various groups had been formed to put a stop to the suffering of the Fatherland." The coup came at the most congenial time; the Russian people were ready for a change. The coup was put in effect very rapidly; Peter did not have an opportunity to rebel. He was arrested very briskly but, "in putting himself into the power of his wife, was not entirely destitute of hope" so he was then, "confined in a pleasant villa, called R... ... middle of paper ... ...although there are several inaccuracies within theses texts, that this historical evidence should still be considered credible as it gives us priceless information about an event that would have been lost save for these manuscripts. As a juror for this case I would most likely believe that Catherine was innocent of the murder, but that Peter was in fact murdered by over zealous supporters of Catherine and her cause. Bibliography Bain, R. Nisbet. "Appendixes from Peter III Emperor of Russia" in Peter III Emperor of Russia: The Story of a Crisis and a Crime, 1971 New York: AMC Press Catherine the Great. "Memoirs of Catherine the Great: Excerpts" in Memoirs of Catherine the Great,. 1935 Tudor Publishing Catherine the Great. "The Memoirs of Catherine the Great: Excerpts and Letters" in The Memoirs of Catherine the Great,. 1995 Hamish Hamilton

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