Frederick II of Prussia arranged Paul’s second marriage to Princess Sophia of Württemberg. After visiting Berlin and deepening his admiration for Prussia, Paul married her—renamed Maria Fyodorovna—in September 1776, five months after Natalia’s death. In 1777, Maria gave birth to a son, Alexander, followed by Constantine 18 months later; the couple would have nine children. Catherine granted Paul the palace at Gatchina, where he created a private army drilled in Prussian style.

Paul resented his exclusion from power and envied Catherine’s favorites, especially Potemkin, while she denied him any role in government. She considered bypassing Paul’s succession in favor of Alexander. Maria later claimed Catherine asked her to secure Paul’s renunciation, but she refused. Fearing disinheritance, Paul instructed Maria to seize Catherine’s papers upon her death. When Paul became emperor in 1796, he restored primogeniture, ensuring male succession until the monarchy’s fall in the early-20th century.

After the first Turkish war, Catherine granted Potemkin authority over the southern provinces. He led the development of “New Russia,” founding cities including Kherson (1778), Sebastopol after the 1783 annexation of Crimea, Ekaterinoslav, and Nikolaev, and planning Odessa. In 1784, he became president of the College of War and a field marshal, reforming the army and overseeing relations with Turkey and the Black Sea Fleet.

In 1781, Joseph II of Austria pledged support against Turkey, ending Panin’s influence. Catherine rejected British overtures for alliance against France. In 1783, she announced Crimea’s annexation, which Potemkin secured largely peacefully. While there, he contracted severe malaria.

Catherine’s 1787 journey to Crimea became famous, later inspiring claims that Potemkin staged the eponymous fake villages. However, observers including Joseph II and the Comte de Ségur confirmed the region’s genuine development.

Departing on January 7, Catherine traveled in a grand procession to Kiev, then down the Dnieper with a fleet carrying thousands. At Kaniev, she met Stanislaus Poniatowski in a strained reunion. Joseph II joined her as they reached Kherson, now a fortified port where ships were launched. An arch proclaimed “the way to Byzantium” (500). In Crimea, Sebastopol showcased the Black Sea Fleet, which Joseph praised as the finest port he had seen. Catherine named Potemkin Prince of Tauris. Soon after her return, Turkey declared war.

Turkey declared war in 1787, with Russia unprepared. Potemkin took command, with Suvorov delivering battlefield victories. At Ochakov in 1788, a brutal assault killed tens of thousands. After Austria made peace in 1790, Russia fought alone. Suvorov’s capture of Izmail secured a major victory. Sweden also attacked, but peace in 1790 restored borders. The 1791 Treaty of Jassy confirmed Russian control of Crimea, Ochakov, and surrounding territories.

Returning to St. Petersburg, Potemkin grew anxious about Catherine’s new favorite, Platon Zubov. After meeting with Catherine, he departed in July 1791 for the war. Falling ill, he died on October 5, asking to die “in the field” (519). Catherine was devastated, declaring she had no one left to rely on.

Catherine began collecting art in 1763, acquiring major European collections and expanding her holdings to nearly 4,000 paintings. She admitted her drive was “voracity” (523). Rejecting baroque excess, she favored neoclassicism, building the Little Hermitage and commissioning palaces such as the Tauride. Architects like Charles Cameron and Giacomo Quarenghi reshaped imperial spaces, including Tsarskoe Selo and the Alexander Palace.

Catherine’s most famous commission was Falconet’s equestrian statue of Peter the Great. A massive stone pedestal was transported with great difficulty, and casting the statue required multiple attempts. Falconet eventually left Russia without Catherine’s farewell. Unveiled in 1782, the statue showed Peter towering above the Neva, symbolizing Catherine’s claim to his legacy. The inscription read: “TO PETER THE FIRST, FROM CATHERINE THE SECOND” (532). Later immortalized by Pushkin, it embodied her effort to align herself with Peter’s greatness.

The French Revolution began in 1789 with the Estates-General and rapidly escalated: The National Assembly formed, the Bastille fell, and aristocratic privileges were abolished. Louis XVI’s failed escape in 1791 and subsequent war deepened the crisis.

Catherine reacted with growing alarm, recalling the chaos of the Pugachev rebellion. She declared herself firmly aristocratic. The storming of the Tuileries, the September massacres, and the execution of Louis XVI in 1793 horrified her. She ordered state mourning, severed relations with revolutionary France, and watched as the Reign of Terror unfolded, followed by Napoleon’s rise. The revolution entrenched her fear of popular upheaval.

The French Revolution completed Catherine’s shift away from Enlightenment ideals. By 1796, she had imposed censorship and closed private presses. When Alexander Radishchev’s Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow (1790) condemned serfdom and warned of rebellion, Catherine denounced him as worse than Pugachev and sentenced him to death, later commuting it to exile after Potemkin urged leniency. Radishchev later died by suicide.

In Poland, reform efforts alarmed Catherine. The 1791 constitution strengthened the state, prompting her intervention. In 1792, Russian troops invaded, leading to the Second Partition with Prussia. A 1794 uprising led by Thaddeus Kosciuszko was crushed by Suvorov, whose assault on Praga killed thousands. Catherine then pushed for a final partition. In 1795, Russia, Prussia, and Austria erased Poland from the map. Stanislaus abdicated, and Poland disappeared as a nation for 126 years.

By 1796, Catherine remained intellectually active despite declining health. She maintained a structured routine of work, audiences, and evenings at the Hermitage, insisting on informality and laughter. She suffered from chronic illness in later life but remained engaged, especially with her grandchildren. She took a dominant role in raising Alexander, whom she groomed as successor, exposing him to Enlightenment ideas through tutors like La Harpe. Caught between Catherine and Paul, Alexander developed a habit of adaptability and indecision.

Catherine sought a political marriage for her granddaughter Alexandra with Gustavus of Sweden, but the match collapsed over religious differences, humiliating the court and affecting Catherine’s health.

On November 5, 1796, Catherine was found unconscious after suffering a stroke. She never regained consciousness and died on November 6. Courtiers speculated whether she might disinherit Paul on her deathbed, but he secured the throne. Paul immediately asserted authority, ordering his mother’s papers sealed. He later staged a symbolic reburial of Peter III, forcing those involved in his death to participate.

Catherine had ruled through enlightened autocracy, claiming to govern by consulting informed opinion. She rejected grand titles in life, though she was later called “the Great.” Following on from Peter the Great, she had reshaped Russia, expanding its borders, strengthening its cultural institutions, and advancing its intellectual life. Her reign helped lay the groundwork for Russia’s later literary and artistic achievements.

Even late in life, Catherine retained her love of laughter and was especially fond of playing games like blindman’s buff. Massie concludes that her rise from a minor German princess to one of Russia’s greatest rulers marked an extraordinary and improbable journey.