Familiar Origins
I have talked a little about our family origins, the High Tatra of north eastern Slovenia. I have mentioned we are Carpathian Germans, our family group went there, I'm told, during the early Eighteenth century, with a group who had some service with the military accompanying Catherine, who became Empress of All the Russias. Her actual name was Sophia, but she ruled as Tsarina Catherine the Great. You might know her history, and her favour given to Germans from her principality.
Catherine II (born Princess Sophia Augusta Frederica von Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 1729 – 17 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III. Under her long reign, inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment, Russia experienced a renaissance of culture and sciences, which led to the founding of many new cities, universities, and theatres, along with a large-scale immigration from the rest of Europe and with the recognition of Russia as one of the great powers of Europe.
In her accession to power and her rule of the empire, Catherine often relied on her noble favourites, most notably Count Grigory Orlov and Grigory Potemkin. Assisted by highly successful generals such as Alexander Suvorov and Pyotr Rumyantsev, and admirals such as Samuel Greig and Fyodor Ushakov, she governed at a time when the Russian Empire was expanding rapidly by conquest and diplomacy. In the south, the Crimean Khanate was annexed following victories over the Bar Confederation and the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War. With the support of Great Britain, Russia colonised the territories of New Russia along the coasts of the Black and Azov Seas. In the west, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth—ruled by Catherine's former lover, King Stanisław August Poniatowski—was eventually partitioned, with the Russian Empire gaining the largest share. In the east, Russians became the first Europeans to colonise Alaska, establishing Russian America.
Many cities and towns were founded on Catherine's orders in the newly conquered lands, most notably Yekaterinoslav, Kherson, Nikolayev, and Sevastopol. An admirer of Peter the Great, Catherine continued to modernise Russia along Western European lines. However, military conscription and the economy continued to depend on serfdom, and the increasing demands of the state and of private landowners intensified the exploitation of serf labour. This was one of the chief reasons behind rebellions, including Pugachev's Rebellion of Cossacks, nomads, peoples of the Volga, and peasants.
The Manifesto on Freedom of the Nobility, issued during the short reign of Peter III and confirmed by Catherine, freed Russian nobles from compulsory military or state service. The construction of many mansions of the nobility, in the classical style endorsed by the empress, changed the face of the country. She is often included in the ranks of the enlightened despots. As a patron of the arts, she presided over the age of the Russian Enlightenment, including the establishment of the Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens, the first state-financed higher education institution for women in Europe.
Catherine was born in Stettin, Province of Pomerania, Kingdom of Prussia, as Princess Sophia Augusta Frederica (Sophie Auguste Friederike) von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg. Her mother was Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp. Her father, Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, belonged to the ruling German family of Anhalt. He failed to become the duke of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, and at the time of his daughter's birth, he held the rank of a Prussian general in his capacity as governor of the city of Stettin. However, because her second cousin Peter III converted to Orthodox Christianity, her mother's brother became the heir to the Swedish throne and two of her first cousins, Gustav III and Charles XIII, later became Kings of Sweden. In accordance with the then-prevailing custom among the ruling dynasties of Germany, she received her education chiefly from a French governess and from tutors. According to her memoirs, Sophie was regarded a tomboy and trained herself to master a sword.
In 1764, Catherine placed Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski, her former lover, on the Polish throne. Although the idea of partitioning Poland came from Frederick II of Prussia, Catherine took a leading role in its execution in the 1790s. In 1768, she formally became the protector of the political rights of dissidents and peasants of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which provoked an anti-Russian uprising in Poland, the Confederation of Bar (1768–1772), supported by France. After the rebels, their French and European volunteers, and their allied Ottoman Empire had been defeated, she established in the Commonwealth a system of government fully controlled by the Russian Empire through a Permanent Council, under the supervision of her ambassadors and envoys.
Fearing that the May Constitution of Poland (1791) might lead to a resurgence in the power of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the growing democratic movements inside the Commonwealth might become a threat to the European monarchies, Catherine decided to refrain from her planned intervention into France and to intervene in Poland instead. She provided support to a Polish anti-reform group known as the Targowica Confederation. After defeating Polish loyalist forces in the Polish–Russian War of 1792 and in the Kościuszko Uprising (1794), Russia completed the partitioning of Poland, dividing all of the remaining Commonwealth territory with Prussia and Austria (1795).
Having German Pomeranian settlers move into the lands then held by Greater Poland might be seen as an annexation by Germans used for a Russian imperial interest, but this part of Europe changed a great deal during this period of history, and the settlers simply made lives for themselves as best they were able.
The Province of Pomerania was a province of Brandenburg-Prussia, the later Kingdom of Prussia. After the Thirty Years' War, the province consisted of Farther Pomerania. Subsequently, the Lauenburg and Bütow Land, Draheim, and Swedish Pomerania south of the Peene river were joined into the province. The province was succeeded by the Province of Pomerania set up in 1815.
The name Pomerania comes from Slavic po more meaning the land at a sea.
Farther Pomerania was made a province of Prussia (Brandenburg-Prussia) after the Peace of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years' War in 1648. During the war, the noble House of Pomerania (Griffins), ruling Pomerania since the 1120s as Dukes of Pomerania, became extinct in the male line with the death of Bogislaw XIV in 1637. Throughout the existence of the Griffin duchy, Brandenburg claimed overlordship and was asserted of Pomerania inheritance in numerous treaties. Yet, Sweden had been one of the most important players in the war and as such, it was awarded some of its territorial gains in Pomerania (Swedish Pomerania), after the war by the Peace of Westphalia, thwarting Brandenburg-Prussia's ambitions for inheritance of the whole former Duchy of Pomerania.
During the Second Northern War (1654–1660), Brandenburg-Prussia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth concluded the Treaty of Wehlau on 19 September 1657, and the subsequent Treaty of Bromberg. The Commonwealth therein gave Brandeburg-Prussia the Lauenburg and Bütow Land as a fief, and also pawned Draheim to Brandenburg.
The Peace of Oliva on 3 May 1660, confirmed Brandenburg's rights in the Lauenburg and Bütow Land as well as in Draheim.
Swedish Pomerania was occupied by Denmark and Brandenburg in the Brandenburg-Swedish theater of the Scanian War from 1675 to 1679, whereby Denmark claimed Rügen and Brandenburg the rest of Pomerania. Sweden reestablished control after the Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 28 June 1679.
This tempted Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, to utter "Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor! [Let someone arise from my bones as an avenger]".
The strip of land on the east side of the Oder, except for Gollnow and Altdamm, was given to Brandenburg. Gollnow and Altdamm were held by Brandenburg as a pawn in exchange for reparations, until these were paid in 1693.
During the Great Northern War, Stettin was sieged by Russian and Saxon forces led by prince Menschikov, and surrendered on 29 September. According to the Treaty of Schwedt on 6 October, Menschikov was paid his war costs by Prussia, and Stettin was occupied by Holstein and Brandenburg troops.
On 12 June 1714, king Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg-Prussia concluded a treaty with the Russian Empire confirming her gains in Swedish Ingermanland, Karelia and Estonia, and in turn received Russian confirmation of his gains in southern Swedish Pomerania.
On 22 November 1714, King Charles XII of Sweden returned from Turkey to lead the Swedish defense in Pomerania in person. In turn, Holstein's forces in Stettin were arrested as a Swedish ally by Prussia. In February 1715, Charles seized Wolgast in an advance to reestablish Swedish control in Western Pomerania.
On 1 May 1715, Prussia officially declared war on Sweden. In the same month, Hanover and Denmark joined the Russian-Prussian treaty of 1714. The allied forces subsequently occupied all of Pomerania except for Stralsund. In the Battle of Stralsund Charles XII of Sweden led the defense until 22 December 1715, when he evacuated to Lund.
In the Treaty of Stockholm, concluded on 21 January 1720, Prussia was allowed to retain its conquest, including Stettin. By this, Sweden ceded the parts east of the Oder River that had been won in 1648 as well as Western Pomerania south of the Peene river (Old Western Pomerania or Altvorpommern) and the islands of Wollin and Usedom to Brandenburg-Prussia in turn for a 2 million Taler payment.
The capital was then moved to Stettin.
Catherine II (born Princess Sophia Augusta Frederica von Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 1729 – 17 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III. Under her long reign, inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment, Russia experienced a renaissance of culture and sciences, which led to the founding of many new cities, universities, and theatres, along with a large-scale immigration from the rest of Europe and with the recognition of Russia as one of the great powers of Europe.
In her accession to power and her rule of the empire, Catherine often relied on her noble favourites, most notably Count Grigory Orlov and Grigory Potemkin. Assisted by highly successful generals such as Alexander Suvorov and Pyotr Rumyantsev, and admirals such as Samuel Greig and Fyodor Ushakov, she governed at a time when the Russian Empire was expanding rapidly by conquest and diplomacy. In the south, the Crimean Khanate was annexed following victories over the Bar Confederation and the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War. With the support of Great Britain, Russia colonised the territories of New Russia along the coasts of the Black and Azov Seas. In the west, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth—ruled by Catherine's former lover, King Stanisław August Poniatowski—was eventually partitioned, with the Russian Empire gaining the largest share. In the east, Russians became the first Europeans to colonise Alaska, establishing Russian America.
Many cities and towns were founded on Catherine's orders in the newly conquered lands, most notably Yekaterinoslav, Kherson, Nikolayev, and Sevastopol. An admirer of Peter the Great, Catherine continued to modernise Russia along Western European lines. However, military conscription and the economy continued to depend on serfdom, and the increasing demands of the state and of private landowners intensified the exploitation of serf labour. This was one of the chief reasons behind rebellions, including Pugachev's Rebellion of Cossacks, nomads, peoples of the Volga, and peasants.
The Manifesto on Freedom of the Nobility, issued during the short reign of Peter III and confirmed by Catherine, freed Russian nobles from compulsory military or state service. The construction of many mansions of the nobility, in the classical style endorsed by the empress, changed the face of the country. She is often included in the ranks of the enlightened despots. As a patron of the arts, she presided over the age of the Russian Enlightenment, including the establishment of the Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens, the first state-financed higher education institution for women in Europe.
Catherine was born in Stettin, Province of Pomerania, Kingdom of Prussia, as Princess Sophia Augusta Frederica (Sophie Auguste Friederike) von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg. Her mother was Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp. Her father, Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, belonged to the ruling German family of Anhalt. He failed to become the duke of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, and at the time of his daughter's birth, he held the rank of a Prussian general in his capacity as governor of the city of Stettin. However, because her second cousin Peter III converted to Orthodox Christianity, her mother's brother became the heir to the Swedish throne and two of her first cousins, Gustav III and Charles XIII, later became Kings of Sweden. In accordance with the then-prevailing custom among the ruling dynasties of Germany, she received her education chiefly from a French governess and from tutors. According to her memoirs, Sophie was regarded a tomboy and trained herself to master a sword.
In 1764, Catherine placed Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski, her former lover, on the Polish throne. Although the idea of partitioning Poland came from Frederick II of Prussia, Catherine took a leading role in its execution in the 1790s. In 1768, she formally became the protector of the political rights of dissidents and peasants of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which provoked an anti-Russian uprising in Poland, the Confederation of Bar (1768–1772), supported by France. After the rebels, their French and European volunteers, and their allied Ottoman Empire had been defeated, she established in the Commonwealth a system of government fully controlled by the Russian Empire through a Permanent Council, under the supervision of her ambassadors and envoys.
Fearing that the May Constitution of Poland (1791) might lead to a resurgence in the power of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the growing democratic movements inside the Commonwealth might become a threat to the European monarchies, Catherine decided to refrain from her planned intervention into France and to intervene in Poland instead. She provided support to a Polish anti-reform group known as the Targowica Confederation. After defeating Polish loyalist forces in the Polish–Russian War of 1792 and in the Kościuszko Uprising (1794), Russia completed the partitioning of Poland, dividing all of the remaining Commonwealth territory with Prussia and Austria (1795).
Having German Pomeranian settlers move into the lands then held by Greater Poland might be seen as an annexation by Germans used for a Russian imperial interest, but this part of Europe changed a great deal during this period of history, and the settlers simply made lives for themselves as best they were able.
The Province of Pomerania was a province of Brandenburg-Prussia, the later Kingdom of Prussia. After the Thirty Years' War, the province consisted of Farther Pomerania. Subsequently, the Lauenburg and Bütow Land, Draheim, and Swedish Pomerania south of the Peene river were joined into the province. The province was succeeded by the Province of Pomerania set up in 1815.
The name Pomerania comes from Slavic po more meaning the land at a sea.
Farther Pomerania was made a province of Prussia (Brandenburg-Prussia) after the Peace of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years' War in 1648. During the war, the noble House of Pomerania (Griffins), ruling Pomerania since the 1120s as Dukes of Pomerania, became extinct in the male line with the death of Bogislaw XIV in 1637. Throughout the existence of the Griffin duchy, Brandenburg claimed overlordship and was asserted of Pomerania inheritance in numerous treaties. Yet, Sweden had been one of the most important players in the war and as such, it was awarded some of its territorial gains in Pomerania (Swedish Pomerania), after the war by the Peace of Westphalia, thwarting Brandenburg-Prussia's ambitions for inheritance of the whole former Duchy of Pomerania.
During the Second Northern War (1654–1660), Brandenburg-Prussia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth concluded the Treaty of Wehlau on 19 September 1657, and the subsequent Treaty of Bromberg. The Commonwealth therein gave Brandeburg-Prussia the Lauenburg and Bütow Land as a fief, and also pawned Draheim to Brandenburg.
The Peace of Oliva on 3 May 1660, confirmed Brandenburg's rights in the Lauenburg and Bütow Land as well as in Draheim.
Swedish Pomerania was occupied by Denmark and Brandenburg in the Brandenburg-Swedish theater of the Scanian War from 1675 to 1679, whereby Denmark claimed Rügen and Brandenburg the rest of Pomerania. Sweden reestablished control after the Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 28 June 1679.
This tempted Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, to utter "Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor! [Let someone arise from my bones as an avenger]".
The strip of land on the east side of the Oder, except for Gollnow and Altdamm, was given to Brandenburg. Gollnow and Altdamm were held by Brandenburg as a pawn in exchange for reparations, until these were paid in 1693.
During the Great Northern War, Stettin was sieged by Russian and Saxon forces led by prince Menschikov, and surrendered on 29 September. According to the Treaty of Schwedt on 6 October, Menschikov was paid his war costs by Prussia, and Stettin was occupied by Holstein and Brandenburg troops.
On 12 June 1714, king Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg-Prussia concluded a treaty with the Russian Empire confirming her gains in Swedish Ingermanland, Karelia and Estonia, and in turn received Russian confirmation of his gains in southern Swedish Pomerania.
On 22 November 1714, King Charles XII of Sweden returned from Turkey to lead the Swedish defense in Pomerania in person. In turn, Holstein's forces in Stettin were arrested as a Swedish ally by Prussia. In February 1715, Charles seized Wolgast in an advance to reestablish Swedish control in Western Pomerania.
On 1 May 1715, Prussia officially declared war on Sweden. In the same month, Hanover and Denmark joined the Russian-Prussian treaty of 1714. The allied forces subsequently occupied all of Pomerania except for Stralsund. In the Battle of Stralsund Charles XII of Sweden led the defense until 22 December 1715, when he evacuated to Lund.
In the Treaty of Stockholm, concluded on 21 January 1720, Prussia was allowed to retain its conquest, including Stettin. By this, Sweden ceded the parts east of the Oder River that had been won in 1648 as well as Western Pomerania south of the Peene river (Old Western Pomerania or Altvorpommern) and the islands of Wollin and Usedom to Brandenburg-Prussia in turn for a 2 million Taler payment.
The capital was then moved to Stettin.
26-30, F