Did Catherine The Great Britain Influence The Ideals Of The Enlightenment

Part One:

The Enlightenment was an influential time filled with new ideas and change. During this time, there was a shift in thought with how the government should act and with the religion of the people. These changes occurred because of inspiration from the Scientific revolution and past conflicts, like war, and made people want to stand up and adjust society. None of these innovations would have been made without the philosophers. A few philosophers who contributed were Voltaire, Immanuel Kant, Goethe, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, and many more.

Some countries going through these changes was Russia, Scotland, and in later years, Germany. Specifically, in Russia, Catherine the Great was becoming interested in the ideals of the enlightenment, but in the end

Many philosophers such as, Voltaire, Immanuel Kant, Goethe, and Gottfried Willhelm Leibniz, talked of laws and freedom by nature and change of basic belief or knowledge. These ideas and many others influenced society in these ‘enlightened’ countries.

The czar at the time, Catherine the Great, admired the various views of the philosophers. One philosopher Catherine greatly admired the french philosopher Voltaire. She even went as far as when Voltaire died she “ordered an enormous tomb built in his honor and arranged to purchase his private library” (116, Whitelaw). She was an eager leader who sought ought to expand her country. With that she was also interested in the European ideas of the enlightenment, so “it was Catherine’s aim to Europeanize her adopted country by establishing direct contact with the high priests of the Aufklarung, and to remove the stigma that the colossus of the north stood for nothing except brute strength” (2, Gooch). Even though she didn’t get rid of serfdom, she still was effective by bringing in the arts and literature into the