Johanna had cultivated ties with Empress Elizabeth, who had seized the Russian throne in 1741. Elizabeth’s deceased sister, Anne, had married Johanna’s cousin and was Peter Ulrich’s mother; Elizabeth herself had been betrothed to Johanna’s brother Charles Augustus, who died of smallpox. In 1742, Elizabeth had brought Peter Ulrich to Russia, adopted him, and proclaimed him heir.

On January 1, 1744, a letter from Elizabeth summoned Johanna and Sophia to Russia immediately, excluding Christian Augustus. A second letter from King Frederick II of Prussia revealed the purpose: Sophia’s marriage to Peter. While Johanna was delighted, Christian Augustus objected, particularly to Sophia’s required conversion to Orthodoxy, but felt compelled to obey. He wrote cautionary advice for his daughter.

Sophia’s trousseau was meager, as the money went to Johanna’s wardrobe. Sophia, having deduced the journey’s purpose, assured her mother she had courage for it. She parted from her beloved Babet Cardel without revealing the truth; they never met again. On January 10, 1744, the family left for the Prussian court in Berlin.

Frederick II needed Russia’s friendship to counter Austria after seizing Silesia. Empress Elizabeth’s vice-chancellor, Bestuzhev-Ryumin, favored an anti-Prussian alliance and a Saxon princess for Peter. Frederick saw Sophia as an alternative and recruited Johanna to undermine Bestuzhev.

In Berlin, Frederick met Sophia and was impressed by her intelligence. He privately instructed Johanna to act as his agent in St. Petersburg. Delighted, she accepted.

On January 16, Prince Christian bid his daughter a tearful farewell; they would never meet again. The journey east was arduous, but Sophia saw it as adventure. At Riga they traveled in a luxurious imperial sledge to St. Petersburg. After meeting the Prussian and French ambassadors, who reinforced Johanna’s anti-Bestuzhev mission, they hurried toward Moscow, arriving at the Golovin Palace on February 9, 1744.

Elizabeth, born in 1709, was the daughter of Peter the Great and former peasant Marta Skavronskaya, who became Empress Catherine I. Beautiful and vivacious, Elizabeth was educated for marriage to Louis XV, but France rejected her because her mother was a peasant. After Peter the Great’s death, Elizabeth endured years of marginalization. Her betrothed, Charles Augustus, died of smallpox in 1727, and her mother died in the same year.

Elizabeth’s character combined pleasure-seeking with deep religious devotion. In 1730, her cousin Anne of Courland became empress, cutting Elizabeth’s income and banishing her lover. Elizabeth cultivated the Imperial Guards and began a lifelong relationship with Alexis Razumovsky, a Ukrainian peasant singer who possibly became her secret husband.

When Empress Anne died in 1740, her infant grandnephew Ivan VI became tsar under a regent. On November 24, 1741, Elizabeth led the Preobrazhensky Guards—the Tsar’s own regiment—in a bloodless midnight coup. She became empress, rewarding her supporters lavishly. The deposed Ivan VI was kept as a secret prisoner. To secure her dynasty, Elizabeth summoned her nephew Peter Ulrich as heir.

Elizabeth’s sister, Anne, had married Charles Frederick of Holstein and given birth to Charles Peter Ulrich on February 21, 1728; Anne died three months later. Peter’s father had neglected him; his education was haphazard, and his attitudes were shaped by common ridicule of Russia in the household. In 1739 Peter’s father died and, at 11, Peter became Duke of Holstein under his uncle’s guardianship. His care was delegated to the cruel martinet Otto Brümmer, who subjected him to beatings, starvation, and public humiliation, damaging him for life.

After her coup, Elizabeth summoned Peter to St. Petersburg. She was disappointed by his sickly appearance, ignorance, and gawky manner. Peter sneered at Russian customs, remained homesick for Germany, and openly disliked his new country. On November 18, 1742, he was received into the Orthodox Church, renamed Peter Fedorovich, and proclaimed heir. His poor health convinced Elizabeth he needed a wife to produce a stronger heir quickly, leading to the summons for Sophia.

Peter greeted Sophia and Johanna warmly in German before the formal presentation. Sophia observed the 15-year-old Peter and noted he was short and thin, though his friendly greeting seemed genuine. He may have seen her as an ally who understood his German background. Sophia and Johanna were formally presented to Empress Elizabeth, who stood dazzling in silver, gold, and diamonds. Sophia was overwhelmed by Elizabeth’s beauty and majestic bearing. Elizabeth embraced Johanna warmly, declaring her like family. Alexis Razumovsky, whom Sophia found extraordinarily handsome, presented the Order of St. Catherine to both women.

Sophia adapted to Peter’s childishness and became his playmate. Peter confided he was in love with another woman and was only marrying Sophia because his aunt wished it. Though wounded, Sophia accepted her role, understanding she must obey her father’s command to win Peter’s love through meekness.

Sophia understood she must please Elizabeth and become fully Russian. Her instruction in Russian and the Orthodox faith began under Bishop Todorsky, who reassured her that Russian Orthodoxy was similar to Lutheranism in many ways. Sophia studied Russian intensely, rising at night to walk barefoot on cold floors memorizing words. When she developed pneumonia. Elizabeth rushed back, overruled Johanna, and personally nursed Sophia, forming a deep bond. Bestuzhev’s supporters quietly exulted at the prospect of Sophia’s death, while Frederick probed for replacements.

Sophia’s illness won popular sympathy when Russians learned she fell ill from eagerness to learn their language. At a critical moment, when a Lutheran pastor was suggested, Sophia asked for Todorsky instead, moving Elizabeth to tears and cementing her reputation as someone choosing Russia over her German faith.

By early April, Sophia’s fever passed. On her 15th birthday she appeared at court, pale and thin, feeling the new sympathy she had won. She wrote her father requesting his consent for her conversion; Christian Augustus objected, but Frederick intervened to persuade him.

Johanna continued to conspire against Bestuzhev with the French and Prussian ambassadors. Bestuzhev, a gifted, ruthless statesman, intercepted, decoded, and copied their letters. The French ambassador La Chétardie’s letters contained insulting remarks about Elizabeth and revealed Johanna’s role as Frederick’s agent.

On June 3, 1744, Elizabeth confronted Johanna, and Sophia was afraid she would be sent home until the furious empress appeared with a weeping Johanna but showed kindness to Sophia and Peter, indicating they bore no blame. La Chétardie was banished within 24 hours and Johanna fell into permanent disgrace. Bestuzhev was promoted to full Chancellor, his power secure.

On June 28, 1744, Sophia was received into the Orthodox Church, reciting the creed in Russian. She was renamed Ekaterina (Catherine), after Elizabeth’s mother, to avoid association with Peter the Great’s rival half-sister, Sophia.

The next day, the betrothal ceremony between Peter and Catherine took place in the Kremlin’s Assumption Cathedral. At the banquet, Johanna was humiliated by being refused a seat at the imperial table. Catherine blushed each time protocol forced her mother to walk behind her.

Catherine was given her own court. She and Peter played games, with Catherine trying to please him. She refused Brümmer’s request to help discipline Peter, understanding she must remain his friend. Rumors circulated about an affair between Johanna and chamberlain Count Betskoy.

The wedding between Peter and Catherine was postponed because doctors deemed Peter too physically immature. In August 1744, Elizabeth undertook a pilgrimage to Kiev. At Razumovsky’s Koseletz estate, Peter accidentally tipped over Johanna’s jewel case while romping. Johanna flew into rage. Catherine, caught between them, kept silent. Peter defended Catherine, and he and Johanna quarreled violently, bearing each other permanent grudges. The incident made Peter see Catherine as his ally.

Back in Moscow, the court held “transvestite” balls, which Elizabeth enjoyed because male clothing displayed her shapely legs. Elizabeth’s jealousy flared when she noticed Catherine’s growing beauty and popularity. The empress publicly humiliated Catherine over a supposed debt and Peter sided with the empress; Catherine learned never to outshine Elizabeth.

In late 1744, Peter contracted measles, then smallpox. Elizabeth personally nursed him for six weeks, risking her own health and beauty. In St. Petersburg, Catherine’s position became precarious as courtiers anticipated Peter’s death. When the Swedish diplomat Gyllenborg criticized Catherine for becoming superficial, urging her to read Plutarch and Montesquieu, Catherine wrote a self-analytical essay, “Portrait of a Fifteen-Year-Old Philosopher,” which impressed him.

In early February, Peter returned. Catherine met him in semi-darkness but was horrified: His face was scarred by pockmarks. She could not mask her reaction and this created a permanent emotional distance between them. Peter, feeling unlovable, retreated into childish behavior, playing at soldiers with servants. Catherine had no intention of breaking the engagement, however, as her ambition to become empress was paramount.

Elizabeth dismissed the doctors’ advice and ordered the wedding to proceed. At 17, Peter was sexually ignorant and intimidated by marriage. He increasingly avoided Catherine, preferring to play with servants. At their court, Peterhof, his military games became more open, and he forced Catherine to stand guard duty. As the wedding approached, Catherine became melancholy, sustained only by ambition and a premonition she would one day rule Russia. At age 16, she remained physically innocent and her mother refused to enlighten her about sex. The wedding was finally set for August 21, 1745.

On the wedding day, Elizabeth supervised Catherine’s dressing in heavy silver brocade and a diamond crown. Afterward, placed in bed, she waited alone for two hours. When Peter finally arrived, he was intoxicated and fell asleep. The marriage was unconsummated and would remain so for nine years. Two weeks later, Peter announced he had fallen in love with one of Elizabeth’s ladies-in-waiting. Catherine resolved to “keep on a leash any affection” and never love a man who would not return her love fully (88).

Catherine, unhappy in her marriage, found solace in her mother’s company and briefly felt homesick as Johanna’s departure approached. Johanna received lavish farewell gifts but owed enormous debts. Catherine agreed to pay the remainder, incurring a debt lasting 17 years. Johanna left before dawn without saying goodbye. Catherine woke to find her mother’s room empty and was distraught, realizing she would never see her mother or any family member again. Johanna’s departure severed Catherine’s final tie to her German past.

At Riga, Elizabeth ordered Johanna to acknowledge her role as a failed Prussian agent. Frederick never forgave Johanna for her failure and later annexed Zerbst, forcing her into exile in Paris, where she died in 1760. Catherine was now 16, under the personal control of the Empress Elizabeth and married to a young man whose behavior she found increasingly difficult to understand.