Catherine the Great's Instruction and the Enlightenment's Limits

Catherine the Great’s Naval Ambitions: The Black Sea Fleet and the Greek Project

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore Catherine the Great’s ambitious Greek Project, the dream of restoring the Byzantine Empire under Russian control. They discuss the founding of the Black Sea Fleet at Sevastopol, the strategic importance of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus, the role of Grigory Potemkin as viceroy of Novorossiya, and the naming of Catherine’s second grandson Constantine Pavlovich with the Byzantine restoration in mind. The conversation covers the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (1774), the annexation of Crimea (1783), the military campaigns of Alexei Orlov and Samuel Greig, and the naval battles of Chesma and Sinop. They also touch on the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792 and the failure of the Greek Project after Potemkin’s death. A nuanced look at Catherine’s imperial vision, the limits of Russian naval power, and the enduring legacy of the Eastern Question. #CatherineTheGreat #GreekProject #BlackSeaFleet #RussianEmpire #Sevastopol #GrigoryPotemkin #Novorossiya #EasternQuestion #RussoTurkishWar #TreatyOfKuchukKaynarca #Crimea #ConstantinePavlovich #NavalHistory #AlexeiOrlov #SamuelGreig #Byzantine #18thCentury #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Catherine the Great's Medical Reforms Smallpox Inoculation

Before vaccines, smallpox ravaged 18th-century Russia, killing one in seven infants. Catherine the Great took a dramatic step: she herself underwent inoculation, then championed a nationwide campaign. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the empress's 1768 inoculation by English doctor Thomas Dimsdale, the role of Count Grigory Orlov, the founding of the Smallpox Hospital in St. Petersburg, and the resistance from the Russian Orthodox Church and public fear. They compare Catherine's approach to that of other European monarchs and discuss the legacy of her medical reforms in the context of Enlightenment ideas about public health and governance. The conversation also touches on the broader impact of smallpox on Russian society, the spread of inoculation across the empire, and the tension between tradition and progress in Catherine's Russia. #CatherineTheGreat #SmallpoxInoculation #ThomasDimsdale #GrigoryOrlov #RussianHistory #18thCenturyMedicine #Enlightenment #PublicHealth #SmallpoxHospital #RussianOrthodoxChurch #Inoculation #Variolation #EmpressCatherine #StPetersburg #HistoryOfMedicine #RussianEmpire #FexingoHistory #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Catherine the Great and the Smolny Institute: Educating Women

In 1764, Catherine the Great founded the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens in St. Petersburg — the first state-run educational institution for women in Russia. This episode explores the ambitions behind Smolny: Catherine's desire to create a 'new race' of enlightened citizens, the curriculum influenced by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Ivan Betskoy, and the daily life of the students. We discuss the social divides between noble and bourgeois girls, the famous Smolyanki portraits, and the lasting legacy of Smolny as a symbol of female education. Listeners will encounter names like Ivan Betskoy, Sophie de Lafont, and the poet Gavrila Derzhavin, and learn how Smolny shaped generations of Russian women — from empresses to revolutionaries. #CatherineTheGreat #SmolnyInstitute #RussianHistory #18thCentury #WomensEducation #IvanBetskoy #SaintPetersburg #RussianEmpire #Enlightenment #JeanJacquesRousseau #Smolyanki #GavrilaDerzhavin #SophiedeLafont #NobleMaidens #History #FexingoHistory #EasternEurope #Podcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Catherine the Great and the Charter to the Towns

In 1785, Catherine the Great issued an extraordinary document: the Charter to the Towns, or Gramota na prava i vygody gorodov Rossiyskoy imperii. This was a bold attempt to create a European-style urban middle class (meshchane) in a deeply agrarian empire. Lucas and Luna explore how the charter divided city dwellers into six registers—from wealthy merchants (gosti) to craftsmen and posadskie—and established elected town councils (duma) with limited self-governance. They examine the real impact: did it foster civic identity or was it largely ignored outside the capitals? Along the way, they encounter figures like Gavrila Derzhavin, the poet-governor who tried to implement the charter in Tambov, and the little-known city of Tver, which became a model. The episode also touches on how the charter tied to Catherine's broader 'well-ordered police state' concept (blagochiniye) and how it set the stage for later urban reforms under Alexander II. A nuanced look at one of Catherine's most ambitious—and imperfect—Enlightenment projects. #CatherineTheGreat #CharterToTheTowns #RussianHistory #18thCentury #SocialHistory #UrbanHistory #Meshchane #GramotaNaPrava #GavrilaDerzhavin #Tambov #Tver #Blagochiniye #StPetersburg #Moscow #Enlightenment #ImperialRussia #FexingoHistory #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Catherine the Great's Greek Project: The Dream of Byzantium

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore Catherine the Great's audacious 'Greek Project' — a grand imperial scheme to revive the Byzantine Empire under Russian control, with her grandson Constantine as its emperor. They trace the origins of the plan in the 1770s, after the Russo-Turkish War, and its geopolitical implications for the Ottoman Empire, Austria, and Europe. Key figures include Grigory Potemkin, who championed the project, and Joseph II of Austria, who reluctantly allied with Russia. The conversation details the 1781 secret correspondence between Catherine and Joseph, the Treaty of Alliance of 1781, and the planned partition of Ottoman Europe. They also discuss the practical preparations: the naming of Constantine, the creation of a Greek-language school, and the dispatch of Russian agents to the Balkans. The episode examines why the project ultimately failed — due to Austrian reluctance, Ottoman resilience, and European power politics — and its legacy in Russian imperial ideology, including its echoes in later Pan-Slavism and the Crimean War. #CatherineTheGreat #GreekProject #ByzantineEmpire #RussianEmpire #GrigoryPotemkin #JosephII #RussoTurkishWar #OttomanEmpire #ConstantinePavlovich #TreatyOfAlliance1781 #Geopolitics #18thCentury #EasternQuestion #PanSlavism #ImperialDreams #History #FexingoHistory #Podcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]