Catherine the Great and the Enlightenment Salon of St. Petersburg

Catherine the Great's Secret Correspondence with Voltaire

For nearly 15 years, Catherine the Great carried on a secret correspondence with the French philosopher Voltaire. While she publicly posed as an enlightened despot, her letters reveal a cunning political strategist using Voltaire's pen as a propaganda weapon for Russia. This episode dives into their exchange — how Catherine flattered Voltaire, fed him carefully curated news about Russian victories, suppressed reports of the Pugachev Rebellion, and even convinced him to praise the partition of Poland. We explore Voltaire's genuine admiration for her, his willful blindness to serfdom, and how Catherine manipulated the Enlightenment's greatest voice to burnish her image abroad. Their letters, spanning 1763 to 1778, offer a masterclass in intellectual diplomacy. Also covered: Catherine's purchase of Voltaire's library after his death, and the 5,000-volume collection now housed in the National Library of Russia. #CatherineTheGreat #Voltaire #Enlightenment #RussianHistory #Propaganda #FexingoHistory #SecretCorrespondence #Ferney #18thCentury #Despotism #Philosophes #Diderot #Pugachev #PartitionOfPoland #Serfdom #Diplomacy #IntellectualHistory #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Catherine the Great and the Enlightenment Salon of St. Petersburg

In this episode of Fexingo History, Lucas and Luna explore Catherine the Great's role as an Enlightenment patron through the lens of her literary and philosophical salon in St. Petersburg. They discuss how Catherine corresponded with Voltaire and Diderot, purchased Diderot's library, and hosted intellectuals at the Winter Palace. The episode also covers the creation of the Hermitage collection and the Nakaz, highlighting the tension between enlightened ideals and autocratic rule. Specific figures include Denis Diderot, Voltaire, Friedrich Melchior Grimm, and Dmitry Golitsyn. The conversation touches on the concept of the 'philosophe' and the Salons of Paris, comparing them to Catherine's court. Listeners will learn about the role of the Russian Academy and the translation of Western works into Russian. #CatherineTheGreat #RussianEnlightenment #DenisDiderot #Voltaire #HermitageMuseum #Nakaz #StPetersburgHistory #18thCentury #SalonCulture #Philosophes #RussianHistory #FexingoHistory #EmpressCatherine #DiderotLibrary #FriedrichMelchiorGrimm #DmitryGolitsyn #EnlightenmentIdeas #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Catherine the Great and the Cossacks: Loyalty, Rebellion, and Empire

In this episode of Fexingo History, Lucas and Luna explore Catherine the Great's complex relationship with the Zaporozhian Cossacks. From their role as frontier defenders to the destruction of the Zaporozhian Sich in 1775, we examine how Catherine's centralizing empire clashed with Cossack autonomy. We discuss the Cossack revolts that preceded her reign, the fate of the Cossack leader Petro Kalnyshevsky, and how the Cossacks were later repurposed as Kuban Cossacks under Potemkin. We also touch on the Pugachev Rebellion's connection to Cossack discontent. What did Catherine gain by dissolving an entire military culture, and what did Russia lose? #CatherineTheGreat #ZaporozhianCossacks #RussianHistory #Cossacks #PetroKalnyshevsky #ZaporozhianSich #KubanCossacks #Potemkin #PugachevRebellion #ImperialRussia #18thCentury #UkrainianHistory #FrontierHistory #Novorossiya #BlackSea #EasternEurope #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Catherine the Great and the Pugachev Rebellion

Before Catherine the Great crushed the Pugachev Rebellion, she faced the greatest internal threat to her rule. In 1773, a Don Cossack named Yemelyan Pugachev—claiming to be the murdered Tsar Peter III—galvanized a massive uprising of Cossacks, serfs, Bashkirs, and Old Believers across the Volga and Ural regions. This episode traces how Pugachev's motley army captured cities like Orenburg and Kazan, issued manifestos promising freedom from serfdom and taxes, and briefly held much of southeastern Russia in a grip of terror. We explore Catherine's response, the role of General Alexander Bibikov, the brutal suppression by troops under Colonel Ivan Mikhelson, and how the rebellion's aftermath hardened Catherine's views on serfdom and centralized power. Pugachev's capture, his trial in a cage, and his execution in Moscow marked a turning point that consolidated Catherine's autocracy and pushed her reforms toward a more conservative path. Drawing on primary sources like Pushkin's 'History of Pugachev' and the rebel manifestos, we examine why this uprising shook the empire and how its legacy echoed in later Russian revolts. #PugachevRebellion #YemelyanPugachev #CatherineTheGreat #RussianHistory #Serfdom #Cossacks #UralRegion #VolgaRegion #Orenburg #Kazan #AlexanderBibikov #IvanMikhelson #OldBelievers #Bashkirs #Pushkin #18thCentury #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Catherine the Great and the 1771 Plague Riot in Moscow

In September 1771, Moscow was ravaged by a bubonic plague outbreak that killed over 50,000 people. Panic turned to violence when Archbishop Amvrosy tried to quarantine a miracle-working icon, sparking the Plague Riot. Lucas and Luna explore how Catherine the Great, then in Tsarskoe Selo, dispatched her former lover Grigory Orlov to restore order. Orlov's bold leadership—offering bribes, closing factories, and imposing quarantines—ended the riot and curbed the epidemic. The episode examines the Meditsinskaya Kollegiya's failures, the role of Governor Pyotr Saltykov, and how the crisis exposed deep social fractures in Catherine's Russia. It also touches on the aftermath: Orlov's temporary rehabilitation, Catherine's renewed push for medical reform, and the riot's legacy as a warning against public health neglect. #History #FexingoHistory #CatherineTheGreat #RussianEmpire #PlagueRiot #1771 #Moscow #BubonicPlague #GrigoryOrlov #Amvrosy #MeditsinskayaKollegiya #Smallpox #TsarskoeSelo #PyotrSaltykov #PublicHealth #18thCentury #Epidemic #Podcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]