posed a web of destructive feuds, religious superstition and xenophobia within Russia. Peter I took the throne in 1682 and reigned until 1725, with themes of war, love of foreigners, and love of the sea marking his rule. He and his army defeated Sweden at Poltava in 1709, he founded a navy at St. Petersburg, and he expanded the policy of hiring foreigners. Peter wrought numerous changes, attempting to impose order on the Russian society, but, along with these reforms, he forged a gap between the upper Russian classes and the peasant population. After his death, Russia was turned over to several meager Czars: Peter's wife, Catherine I, a self-indulged illiterate, from 1725-27; Peter, his 12 year old grandson, from 1727-30; his niece Anna, a woman with no political interests from 1730-40; and Ivan VI, an infant from, 1740-41 (Oblensky and Stone 145). In 1741, Peter's daughter, Elizabeth was raised to the throne, overthrowing Ivan VI. Lavish baroque palaces, an increase in western culture, and the taking of Berlin from Prussia in the Seven Years War characterized her reign. Again, Russia seemed to be establishing itself as a powerful society. However, Elizabeth's successor, Peter III, undid much of what she had accomplished, as he returned Russia's gains from the Seven Years War to his hero Frederick the Great (Oblensky and Stone 145). Within six months of his succession, Peter was overthrown by a Guards' coup in favour of his German wife, Catherine II.
             Catherine was thirty-three years old when she ascended the Russian throne. She had survived a loveless marriage, in which "ambition alone sustained her" (Gooch 6). Ignored by her husband, Peter III, she dedicated her time to learning the Russian language, studying the writings of the philosophes, and adapting cleverly to her new environment-skills which constitute important aspects of her reign. Schooled by these teachings, she favoured rel...