Tsesarevna Katish, who wanted to become Empress Catherine III

Tsesarevna Katish, who wanted to become Empress Catherine III. Ekaterina Pavlovna was already the fourth daughter of Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna and Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich. The birth was difficult and Catherine II herself participated in them, the birth of the fourth daughter led the Grand Duchess to despair, so Catherine II, in order to somehow console her daughter-in-law, gave her granddaughter her name, maybe they say she will become Empress Catherine III.

And indeed, Katish, that was her name in childhood, showed up a decisive and strong-willed character very early, besides, she was smart, pragmatic and had great ambition, which she allegedly inherited from her grandmother. The girl in the royal family was a bargaining chip with which to establish diplomatic relations. So for Katish, her mother Maria Fedorovna began to look for a suitable groom in Europe, and there the cannons were already rumbling, the Napoleonic wars were going on. And then the wife of the Austrian Emperor Franz I dies, by the way, the sister of Maria Feodorovna, and the latter has the idea to marry her daughter to her son-in-law, well, nothing that he is older than her, but Katish will be the empress. Maria Fedorovna sends matchmakers in the person of Prince Kurakin, but then her eldest son Alexander I opposed, something in this seemed disgusting to him, that his beloved sister would go to bed with the old man, in the place of his own aunt. And he considered the Austrian emperor a coward. Always obedient to the will of his mother, here he showed perseverance and did not allow Katisch to marry Franz.

To Catherine, he describes Franz as frail, old, bald, relaxed in mind and body. Katish herself apparently did not mind becoming an empress. She writes: Is a man at thirty-eight old? He is not handsome, but is beauty so important for a man, he is untidy, Katish writes nothing, I will wash him. He's stupid, nothing will change. Women were stubborn, and Alexander was adamant. But then a new suitor appeared on the horizon, Napoleon Bonaparte himself.

Alexander, of course, understood that Napoleon was a usurper, but he was a genius.

There is a legend that allegedly Ekaterina Pavlovna said that she would rather marry the last stoker than Napoleon. Well, it’s hard to believe these words, since Katish also suited being the Empress of France. It was her mother, Maria Feodorovna, who stood in a pose and weaved intrigues against Napoleon, the latter considered her his personal enemy. Alexander, although he considered Napoleon a rude man, understood perfectly well that this marriage was beneficial to Russia, and here the British intervened, trying to prevent the union of Russia and France, Alexander understood all this very well.

But then the mother and daughter got into such a battle square that Alexander had to politely refuse Napoleon. Napoleon then wooed his youngest daughter, but she was only 13 years old and she was not suitable for a bride. Already on the island of St. Helena, Napoleon wrote that, having married a Russian princess, he would not have ended up here.

Maria Feodorovna understood that Katish had to be married off urgently, besides, her daughter was in love with the hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, Pyotr Bagration. As a result, unexpectedly, Prince Georg of Oldenburg, Maria Feodorovna's nephew and cousin Katish, was taken as Catherine's husband. To be honest, many people were surprised by this marriage, firstly, they were the closest relatives, and secondly, he did not have a beautiful appearance, was not a bright personality, he was distinguished by humility and good nature. But maybe it was Catherine who attracted him, who was prone to dictatorship. Petersburg closed their eyes to the fact that he was poor and rustic, but he was kind and honest. All foreigners wrote that this marriage was unequal.

The honeymoon of the newlyweds took place in Pavlovsk, and in the autumn they did not go abroad, but to Tver. The royal family decided not to let Katish go to Europe, to her husband's poor castle. And leave them in Russia. As a result, Georg was appointed governor-general of Tver. He was entrusted with the management of waterways in the Yaroslavl, Novgorod, Tver provinces. And George turned out to be a responsible, diligent person, he immediately plunged into the business. The husband was busy with business, and Catherine also did not waste time and helped her husband in his affairs. There was not a day that she did not come to his office where they worked together on projects, besides, Katerina got a gift from her mother, she was good at drawing. The couple were happy, and then guests began to come to the Tver court, first Georg's compatriots, German professors from Moscow University, then Fedor Rostopchin, a great humorist, Neledinsky-Meletsky, who became famous for his songs that became popular, and Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin. In a word, an intellectual circle was formed in Tver. Here in Tver Karamzin began to read excerpts from his famous History of the Russian State. In the salon of Ekaterina Pavlovna, speeches were also made about politics. Here Karamzin wrote his Notes, where he outlined a new look at the affairs of the Great Peter. Alexander also came to Tver, read the Notes, but he did not like them. where he outlined a new look at the deeds of the Great Peter. Alexander also came to Tver, read the Notes, but he did not like them. where he outlined a new look at the deeds of the Great Peter. Alexander also came to Tver, read the Notes, but he did not like them.

Catherine and Alexander had some kind of special relationship, they were both cordial and trusting, and some historians believe that they were intimate. It is not known exactly whether only fraternal relations connected Catherine and Alexander, but the fact that his sister had a huge influence on him is undeniable. It is known that Catherine hated Speransky, and it was thanks to her that the latter was sent into exile, to Siberia. Here, of course, women's revenge was also involved. In 1808, the Swedish embassy came to invite George to the throne in Stockholm, but Speransky dissuaded the king, since the situation in Sweden was confusing. But Katish could become the Swedish queen. But soon there was no time for intrigues, the year 1812 broke out and Katish and her husband went headlong into caring for the thousands of wounded. In addition, Tver is a water artery connecting St. Petersburg with Moscow, and Napoleon rushed to Moscow.

Catherine was terribly upset by the defeat of Russia, she blamed the Masons, her weak-willed brother for everything, and could not forgive him for appointing the loser Kutuzov as commander-in-chief. And the emperor reported to her, justified himself, because it was she who personally asked him to leave the army, saying that he was doing more harm than good.

And in October 1812, Catherine's husband, while visiting a hospital with the wounded, contracted typhus, Georg suddenly died. She falls into a deep depression, it seems to her with the loss of her husband, she lost everything. She is taken to Petersburg. Alexander at this time breaks up with his mistress Maria Naryshkina and also finds himself alone. This brings them closer. They write frequently and in large numbers. They write about everything that excites them. They understand each other perfectly. From these letters it is clear that Catherine is ambitious and wants to play her political role in Europe, since the prestige of Russia after the defeat of Napoleon has risen greatly. After the victorious Russian army enters Europe, Katish also goes there, visits various capitals of the Western powers, and here politicians begin to notice the influence of his sister on the decisions of the emperor.

Katish traveled to England as the Emperor's plenipotentiary. And she made many enemies among the nobility there, when Alexander landed on the island, he looked at the "evil British" through the eyes of his sister. But Katish was a beautiful and passionate woman, she began an affair with Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Württemberg, and this ended not just in an affair, but the prince divorced his wife and offered Katish a hand and heart. Katish thought thought and agreed, and in the same year she became the Queen of Württemberg.

Ekaterina was ambitious, active, with big plans, since the money from Russia allowed her to realize her plans. She cherished the dream of making Stuttgart the new center of Germany as opposed to Berlin and Munich. Her marriage with Friedrich was a success, she tried to be a real German in Germany, although she was already one by her grandmother and mother. She gave birth to her husband two daughters and her life was going great, but suddenly an unexpected absurd death in December 1818. The death of the queen, who was not yet thirty-one years old, was painful, she died of infectious erysipelas. For her husband, it was a blow, he did not want to believe in her death and sat for a long time over the lifeless body of his wife, hoping that she would open her eyes.