Catherine the Great's Secret Correspondence with Voltaire

Catherine the Great and the Solovki Monastery Prison

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore Catherine the Great's use of the Solovki Monastery as a political prison, a remote fortress in the White Sea that held dissenters like Archbishop Artemy and the Ukrainian hetman Petro Kalnyshevsky. They discuss how Catherine's reign saw the monastery's transformation from a religious center to a symbol of imperial repression, focusing on the contradictory nature of her enlightened absolutism. Lucas details the harsh conditions, the prisoners' lives, and how Catherine's policies toward Old Believers and Cossacks intersected with Solovki's grim history. The conversation touches on the monastery's role in the Pugachev Rebellion aftermath, the case of Saltychikha's imprisonment, and the legacy of Solovki as a precursor to later Gulag camps. Specific dates, names, and locations are woven throughout, offering a fresh lens on Catherine's Russia. #SolovkiMonastery #CatherineTheGreat #PoliticalPrison #OldBelievers #Artemy #PetroKalnyshevsky #WhiteSea #SolovetskyIslands #PugachevRebellion #Saltychikha #RussianHistory #18thCentury #EnlightenedAbsolutism #GulagPrecursor #FexingoHistory #EasternEurope #MonasticPrison #ImperialRussia Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Catherine the Great and Alexander Suvorov: The Unconquered General

In this episode of Fexingo History, Lucas and Luna explore Catherine the Great's partnership with General Alexander Suvorov, Russia's most brilliant and eccentric military commander. They dive into Suvorov's revolutionary infantry tactics, his legendary campaign against the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Rymnik in 1789, and his grueling campaign in the Alps during the War of the Second Coalition. The conversation covers Suvorov's writing of 'The Science of Victory,' his famous maxim 'Train hard, fight easy,' and his relationship with Catherine and her successor Paul I. They also discuss Suvorov's banishment and his mysterious death in 1800. This episode offers a vivid look at how one man's genius shaped Russian military might and left a lasting legacy. #CatherineTheGreat #AlexanderSuvorov #RussianEmpire #MilitaryHistory #BattleOfRymnik #Suvorov #ScienceOfVictory #OttomanEmpire #WarOfTheSecondCoalition #AlpsCampaign #RussianArmy #18thCentury #History #FexingoHistory #Podcast #EasternEurope #SuvorovQuote #Potemkin Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Catherine the Great and the Scottish Enlightenment in Russia

When Catherine the Great ascended the throne, she not only corresponded with Voltaire and Diderot but also invited a remarkable cohort of Scottish thinkers, doctors, and engineers to St. Petersburg. This episode explores the surprisingly deep influence of the Scottish Enlightenment on Russia's modernization. We meet Dr. John Rogerson, Catherine's personal physician who served for over three decades; Sir Samuel Greig, the Scottish admiral who modernized the Russian navy and founded the Russian naval astronomy school; and Charles Cameron, the Jacobite-sympathizing architect who remade Tsarskoe Selo in the neoclassical style. We also discuss how the Scottish moral philosophers Francis Hutcheson and Adam Smith shaped the Nakaz, and how the economist Sir James Steuart — though briefly imprisoned as a suspected spy — became a key advisor on monetary reform. The episode traces the flow of ideas from the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow to the court of the Empress, revealing a little-known chapter of transnational intellectual history. Catherine's Russia was not just a borrower of French wit but an eager student of Scottish practicality, medicine, and political economy. #CatherineTheGreat #ScottishEnlightenment #JohnRogerson #SamuelGreig #CharlesCameron #JamesSteuart #AdamSmith #FrancisHutcheson #TsarskoeSelo #RussianNavy #Nakaz #StPetersburg #Enlightenment #18thCentury #HistoryOfMedicine #NeoclassicalArchitecture #RussianHistory #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Catherine the Great and the Jewish Question

In 1772, with the first partition of Poland, Catherine the Great suddenly became the ruler of the largest Jewish population in the world. This episode explores how her stance on religious toleration collided with the practical realities of governing a people her empire had long excluded. We examine Catherine's early decrees, including the 1762 Edict of Toleration and the creation of the Pale of Settlement, her interactions with Jewish delegates during the 1767 Legislative Commission, and the tension between Enlightenment ideals and the anti-Jewish prejudices of her nobility. The episode also covers the 1794 decree that forced Jews into a separate tax status and the emergence of the Kahal as a self-governing body. How did the 'philosophe on the throne' reconcile Voltaire's principles with the restrictions that would define Jewish life in Russia for over a century? And what does this episode in her reign reveal about the limits of her enlightened absolutism? #CatherineTheGreat #JewishHistory #PaleOfSettlement #PartitionOfPoland #EnlightenedAbsolutism #RussianEmpire #18thCentury #JewishQuestion #Kahal #EdictOfToleration #LegislativeCommission #SaintPetersburg #EasternEurope #History #FexingoHistory #PolandLithuania #Voltaire #ReligiousToleration Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Catherine the Great and Ivan Betskoy: Educating Russia

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore Catherine the Great's ambitious educational reforms through the lens of Ivan Betskoy, the visionary who shaped her policies. They discuss Betskoy's Grand Plan to create a 'new race of men' via closed schools, the Smolny Institute for noble girls (already touched on in Ep 136, but here reframed through Betskoy's broader philosophy), and the Moscow Foundling Home, which aimed to produce educated, useful citizens. The conversation also covers the resistance from nobles, the financial struggles, and the practical failures of Betskoy's utopian ideals, including the high mortality rate at the foundling home. Lucas explains how Catherine's support waned as Betskoy's projects faltered, leading to a shift toward more practical education under her later reign. The episode ends with a reflection on whether the reforms ultimately succeeded in creating a more educated society, despite their shortcomings. Specific terms include Ivan Betskoy, Grand Plan, Smolny Institute, Moscow Foundling Home, and the Charter to the Nobility. #CatherineTheGreat #IvanBetskoy #RussianEducation #SmolnyInstitute #FoundlingHome #18thCentury #Enlightenment #RussianHistory #EmpressCatherine #StPetersburg #Moscow #EducationalReform #GrandPlan #Nakaz #Autocracy #History #FexingoHistory #EasternEurope Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]