Catherine the Great

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/catherine-the-great

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was Catherine the Great born?May 2, 1729
2. When did Catherine the Great die?November 17, 1796 (age 67)
3. Where was Catherine the Great born?Stettin, Prussia (now Szczecin, Poland)
4. What is the related topics?Russian Empire, Enlightenment, European history, Autocracy, Imperialism
5. Who was Catherine the Great and how did she become the ruler of Russia?Catherine the Great was born Sophia Augusta Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbst. She came to Russia at age 14 to marry the heir, Peter III, and after learning Russian and becoming a good observer, she took power in 1762 after a coup.
6. What did Catherine the Great do to make Russia bigger?She made Russia larger by taking the Crimean Khanate in 1783, joining the partitions of Poland with Prussia and Austria, and settling people in New Russia along the Black Sea and even in Alaska.

Coup d'état: A sudden, illegal, and often violent seizure of power from a government, typically by a small group.
Enlightenment: An 18th-century intellectual and philosophical movement emphasizing reason, individualism, and skepticism towards tradition and established institutions.
Serfdom: A medieval labor system that bound peasants, or serfs, to the land and obligated them to serve their lord.
Enlightened Despot: A form of absolute monarchy or despotism inspired by the Enlightenment, where rulers embraced Enlightenment ideas like progress and reform.