40 Catherine the Great’s Foreign Policies
Catherine’s Foreign Policy Goals
During Catherine the Great’s reign, Russia significantly extended its borders by absorbing new territories, most notably from the Ottoman Empires and the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania, as well as attempted to serve as an international mediator in disputes that could, or did, lead to war.
Learning Objective
Describe Catherine the Great’s foreign policy efforts and to what extent she achieved her goals
Key Points
- During her reign, Catherine extended the borders of the Russian Empire southward and westward to absorb New Russia, Crimea, Northern Caucasus, Right-bank Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and Courland at the expense, mainly, of two powers – the Ottoman Empire and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Under her rule, some 200,000 square miles (520,000 km2) were added to Russian territory.
- Catherine made Russia the dominant power in south-eastern Europe after her first Russo-Turkish War against the Ottoman Empire (1768–74), which saw some of the heaviest defeats in Ottoman history. In 1786, Catherine conducted a triumphal procession in the Crimea, which helped provoke the next Russo–Turkish War. This war, catastrophic for the Ottomans, legitimized the Russian claim to the Crimea.
- Catherine’s triumph in Crimea is linked to a concept of Potemkin villages. In politics and economics, Potemkin villages refer to any construction (literal or figurative) built solely to deceive others into thinking that a situation is better than it really is.
- Although the idea of partitioning the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania came from Frederick the Great of Prussia, Catherine took a leading role in carrying it out (in three separate partitions of 1772, 1793, and 1795). Russia completed the partitioning of Poland-Lithuania with Prussia and Austria and the Commonwealth ceased to exist as an independent state.
- Catherine longed for recognition as an enlightened sovereign. She pioneered for Russia the role that Britain later played through most of the 19th and early 20th centuries as an international mediator in disputes that could, or did, lead to war.
- In 1780, she established a League of Armed Neutrality, designed to defend neutral shipping from the British Royal Navy during the American Revolution. After establishing a league of neutral parties, Catherine the Great attempted to act as a mediator between the United States and Britain by submitting a ceasefire plan.
Key Terms
- Potemkin villages
- In politics and economics, a term referring to any construction (literal or figurative) built solely to deceive others into thinking that a situation is better than it really is. The term comes from stories of a fake portable village, supposedly built only to impress Empress Catherine II during her journey to Crimea in 1787.
- the Confederation of Bar
- An association of Polish nobles formed at the fortress of Bar in Podolia in 1768 to defend the internal and external independence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth against Russian influence and against King Stanisław II Augustus with Polish reformers, who were attempting to limit the power of the Commonwealth’s wealthy magnates. Its creation led to a civil war and contributed to the First Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
- League of Armed Neutrality
- An alliance of European naval powers between 1780 and 1783, which was intended to protect neutral shipping against the Royal Navy’s wartime policy of unlimited search of neutral shipping for French contraband. Empress Catherine the Great of Russia began the first League with her declaration of Russian armed neutrality in 1780, during the War of American Independence. She endorsed the right of neutral countries to trade by sea with nationals of belligerent countries without hindrance, except in weapons and military supplies.
- Treaty of Jassy
- A 1792 peace treaty signed at Jassy in Moldavia (presently in Romania) by the Russian and Ottoman Empires that ended the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–92 and confirmed Russia’s increasing dominance in the Black Sea. The treaty formally recognized the Russian Empire’s annexation of the Crimean Khanate via the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca of 1783 and transferred Yedisan (the territory between Dniester and Bug rivers) to Russia making the Dniester the Russo-Turkish frontier in Europe and leaving the Asiatic frontier (Kuban River) unchanged.
- Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca
- A 1774 peace treaty signed in Küçük Kaynarca (today Kaynardzha, Bulgaria) between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Following the recent Ottoman defeat at the Battle of Kozludzha, the document ended the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–74 and marked a defeat of the Ottomans in their struggle against Russia.
- the Targowica Confederation
- A confederation established by Polish and Lithuanian magnates in 1792 in Saint Petersburg, with the backing of the Russian Empress Catherine the Great. The confederation opposed the progressive Polish Constitution of May 3rd, 1791, especially the provisions limiting the privileges of the nobility. Four days later after the proclamation of the confederation, two Russian armies invaded the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth without a formal declaration of war.
Catherine’s Foreign Policy
During her reign, Catherine extended the borders of the Russian Empire southward and westward to absorb New Russia (a region north of the Black Sea; presently part of Ukraine), Crimea, Northern Caucasus, Right-bank Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and Courland at the expense, mainly, of two powers – the Ottoman Empire and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Under her rule, some 200,000 square miles (520,000 km2) were added to Russian territory. Catherine’s foreign minister, Nikita Panin (in office 1763–81), exercised considerable influence from the beginning of her reign but eventually Catherine had him replaced with Ivan Osterman (in office 1781–97).
Wars with the Ottoman Empire
While Peter the Great had succeeded only in gaining a toehold in the south on the edge of the Black Sea in the Azov campaigns, Catherine completed the conquest of the south. Catherine made Russia the dominant power in south-eastern Europe after her first Russo-Turkish War against the Ottoman Empire (1768–74), which saw some of the heaviest defeats in Ottoman history, including the 1770 Battles of Chesma and Kagul. The Russian victories allowed Catherine’s government to obtain access to the Black Sea and to incorporate present-day southern Ukraine, where the Russians founded several new cities. The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (1774) gave the Russians territories at Azov, Kerch, Yenikale, Kinburn, and the small strip of Black Sea coast between the rivers Dnieper and Bug. The treaty also removed restrictions on Russian naval or commercial traffic in the Azov Sea, granted to Russia the position of protector of Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire, and made the Crimea a protectorate of Russia.
Catherine annexed the Crimea in 1783, nine years after the Crimean Khanate had gained nominal independence—which had been guaranteed by Russia—from the Ottoman Empire as a result of her first war against the Turks. The palace of the Crimean khans passed into the hands of the Russians. In 1786, Catherine conducted a triumphal procession in the Crimea, which helped provoke the next Russo–Turkish War. The Ottomans restarted hostilities in the second Russo-Turkish War (1787–92). This war, catastrophic for the Ottomans, ended with the Treaty of Jassy (1792), which legitimized the Russian claim to the Crimea and granted the Yedisan region to Russia.
Catherine’s triumph in Crimea is linked to a concept of Potemkin villages. In politics and economics, Potemkin villages refer to any construction (literal or figurative) built solely to deceive others into thinking that a situation is better than it really is. The term comes from stories of a fake portable village, built only to impress Empress Catherine II during her journey to Crimea in 1787. The purpose of the trip was to impress Russia’s allies. To help accomplish this in a region devastated by war, Grigory Potemkin (Catherine’s lover and trusted advisor) set up “mobile villages” on the banks of the Dnieper River. As soon as the barge carrying the Empress and ambassadors arrived, Potemkin’s men, dressed as peasants, would populate the village. Once the barge left, the village was disassembled, then rebuilt downstream overnight. Some modern historians, however, claim accounts of this portable village are exaggerated and the story is most likely a myth.
Partitions of Poland
In 1764, Catherine placed Stanisław Poniatowski, her former lover, on the Polish throne. Although the idea of partitioning Poland came from Frederick the Great of Prussia, Catherine took a leading role in carrying it out (in three separate partitions of 1772, 1793, and 1795). In 1768, she formally became protector of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which provoked an anti-Russian uprising in Poland, the Confederation of Bar (1768–72). After the uprising broke down due to internal politics in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, she established a system of government fully controlled by the Russian Empire through a Permanent Council, under the supervision of her ambassadors and envoys.
After the French Revolution of 1789, Catherine rejected many principles of the Enlightenment she had once viewed favorably. Afraid the progressive May 3rd 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 intervene in Poland. 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).
Relations with Western Europe
Catherine agreed to a commercial treaty with Great Britain in 1766, but stopped short of a full military alliance. Although she could see the benefits of Britain’s friendship, she was wary of Britain’s increased power following its victory in the Seven Years War, which threatened the European balance of power.
Catherine longed for recognition as an enlightened sovereign. She pioneered for Russia the role that Britain later played through most of the 19th and early 20th centuries as an international mediator in disputes that could, or did, lead to war. She acted as mediator in the War of the Bavarian Succession (1778–79) between the German states of Prussia and Austria. In 1780, she established a League of Armed Neutrality, designed to defend neutral shipping from the British Royal Navy during the American Revolution. After establishing a league of neutral parties, Catherine the Great attempted to act as a mediator between the United States and Britain by submitting a ceasefire plan.
From 1788 to 1790, Russia fought a war against Sweden, a conflict instigated by Catherine’s cousin, King Gustav III of Sweden, who expected to simply overtake the Russian armies still engaged in war against the Ottoman Turks, and hoped to strike Saint Petersburg directly. But Russia’s Baltic Fleet checked the Royal Swedish navy in a tied battle of Hogland (1788), and the Swedish army failed to advance. Denmark declared war on Sweden in 1788 (the Theater War). After the decisive defeat of the Russian fleet at the Battle of Svensksund in 1790, the parties signed the Treaty of Värälä (1790), returning all conquered territories to their respective owners.
Attributions
- Catherine’s Foreign Policy Goals
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“Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_K%C3%BC%C3%A7%C3%BCk_Kaynarca. Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0.
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“Russia and the American Revolution.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia_and_the_American_Revolution#Russian_Diplomacy_during_the_War. Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0.
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“Targowica Confederation.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Targowica_Confederation. Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0.
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“First League of Armed Neutrality.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_League_of_Armed_Neutrality. Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0.
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“1280px-Taming-of-the-Shrew-Gillray.jpeg.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_the_Great#/media/File:Taming-of-the-Shrew-Gillray.jpeg. Wikipedia Public domain.
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“Rzeczpospolita_Rozbiory_3.png.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partitions_of_Poland#/media/File:Rzeczpospolita_Rozbiory_3.png. Wikipedia Public domain.