Catherine the Great or Catherine II was born in Stettin, Prussia or known as Stettin, Poland on May 2, 1729. She grew up as a minor German prince and her name was birth was Sophie Friederike Auguste, her mother was called Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein Gottorp and her father was Christian August prince of Anhalt-zerbst, she also had a brother Wilhelm Christian but he died at the age of 12. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Catherine's mother spent a lot of time with Wilhelm and wasn't really interested in Catherine, so Catherine was raised by her governess Babette. As she grew up with her mother, she came to visit her more due to her brother's death and took her on trips to see if there was a possible suitor. Catherine's perspective on marriage was that she would be walking away from a very overbearing mother. So at the age of fourteen, Catherine was chosen to be the wife of Charles Ulrich Duke of Holstein-gottorp, grandson of Peter the Great and heir to the throne of Russia. In 1744 Catherine arrived in Russia and acquired the name Grand Duchess Catherine Alekseyevna. , and married his younger cousin the following year. Her husband was extremely unstable, stubborn, very disobedient and a fanatical worshiper of Frederick II of Prussia, enemy of Empress Elizabeth, ruler of Russia at the time. Catherine's marriage was a failure and the eighteen years that passed were full of disappointments and humiliations for her. So Elizabeth devoted a lot of pleasure and luxury and was strongly eager to give her court the splendor of a European court, so Elizabeth prepared the way for Catherine to become the next ruler of Russia. Catherine loved Russia and was very intelligent, which earned her much needed support. While Catherine was in court she was bored and humiliated, so she read a lot to prepare. Elizabeth died and Peter took her place, Catherine, the new Peter, was unable to rule Russia, so Catherine thought about getting rid of Peter and Peter thought about getting rid of Catherine. Peter allied himself with Frederick II of Prussia, Peter made no secret that he loved Germany and hated Russia, and by then Catherine had gained the support of the army, the court, the public and the enlightened. Please note: This is just an example Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay On June 28, 1762, Catherine led regiments into St. Petersburg and had herself proclaimed empress. People assumed that Peter had been murdered by someone ordered by Catherine just eight days after she became empress, but no one was sertan. As the days passed Catherine was above all a ruler and loved Russia very much, she dedicated herself to making Russia a powerful and successful state.