- "Let us rule by force of personality, by passion, rather than some bloodless system!"
Catherine II (2 May 1729 – 17 November 1796), commonly known as Catherine the Great, was empress of Russia from 1762 until her death. Coming to power after overthrowing her own husband, Peter III, during her reign she significantly expanded the territory of Russia, turning it into one of the great powers in Europe, and fostered a renaissance of culture, art, and science known as the Russian Enlightenment. She is a leader in Civilization VII.
Intro[]
Born a German princess, Catherine the Great overthrew her husband in 1762 to become Empress of Russia. Guided by a vision of modernization, she established new models of law and governance, and oversaw an era of rapid expansion through war and diplomacy. Motivated by intellectual curiosity and love of the arts, Catherine also sponsored creatives, scholars, and scientists, fostering the Russian Enlightenment and its environment of innovation.
In-Game[]
Catherine the Great has the Cultural and Scientific attributes. Her default colors are yellow and black.
Her leader ability is Star of the North. It grants +2 
Culture per Age on displayed Great Works, an additional slot in Buildings with Great Work slots, and Cities settled in Tundra 
Science equal to 25% of their Culture.
Her agenda is Dusha. Her Relationship decreases by a Medium Amount with the player that has the most Great Works, and increases by a Medium Amount with the player that has the least.
Strategy[]
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Share your wisdom!
How do you use Catherine the Great? |
Lines[]
Catherine the Great is voiced by Svetlana Migdissova. She speaks modern Russian. Although the court language at the time would have been French and written accounts reported Catherine having a German accent and making grammatical mistakes, her speaking modern Russian was chosen due to the risks of annoyance and confusion that would arise otherwise, sounding as if Catherine was being caricatured and mocked.[1]
| Line | Quote (English translation) | Quote (Russian) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quote | Let us rule by force of personality, by passion, rather than some bloodless system! | Будем же править силой личности, страстью, а не посредством бескровной системы!
Budem zhe pravit' siloy lichnosti, strast'yu, a ne posredstvom beskrovnoy sistemy! |
The word Бескровно (beskrovno, lit. "bloodless") actually implies peacefulness rather than a lack of passion. The intended meaning was "dispassionate," but a better alternative could have been бездушный (bezdushnyy, lit. "soulless") to better convey the intended critique. The line also serves as a subtle joke about players who focus too much on maximizing in-game efficiency ("yield porn," as said by Andrew Johnson).[2] |
| Greeting | Yekaterina Alekseyevna, Catherine, tsarina and patron of the arts. But you can call me Sophie. (lit. "Yekaterina Alekseyevna, empress and patron of the arts. But you can call me Sophie.") | Екатерина Алексеевна, императрица и попечительница искусств. Но вы можете называть меня Софи.
Yekaterina Alekseyevna, imperatritsa i popechitel'nitsa iskusstv. No vy mozhete nazyvat' menya Sofi. |
She calls herself Yekaterina Alekseyevna, the name given to her when she was baptized as an Orthodox Christian. "Alekseyevna" is a patronymic that means "daughter of Aleksey" and was given to her so that she could in all respects be the namesake of Catherine I, the mother of Elizabeth and the grandmother of Peter III, her husband.[3] Sophie is her German name, as she was born a Prussian princess named Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst. She also calls herself "empress" (императрица, imperatritsa) despite the subtitles saying "tsarina," which is a completely different word in Russian (царица, tsaritsa). |
| Attacked | Come, then. I will leave you where — as they say — the crayfish sleep. (lit. "Well then, let's go. I will leave you where — as they say — the crayfish winter.") | Ну что ж, пойдёмте. Я оставлю вас там, где, как говорится, раки зимуют.
Nu chto zh, poydomte. Ya ostavlyu vas tam, gde, kak govoritsya, raki zimuyut. |
There are some bad translations to Russian here:
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| Declares War | I am already planning my triumphal parade after your defeat. (lit. "Ha, I'm already planning a triumphal parade on the occasion of your defeat.") | Ха, я уже планирую свой триумфальный парад по случаю вашего поражения.
Xa, ya uzhe planiruyu svoy triumfal'nyy parad po sluchayu vashego porazheniya. |
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| Accepts Player's Deal | Lovely. Let us make it so. (lit. "It's beautiful, so be it.") | Прекрасно, быть посему.
Prekrasno, byt' posemu. |
The word красно (krasno) here is short for красный (krasniy) which means "red" in modern times, but also has an archaic/poetic meaning of "beautiful."[6] "Быть посему" (byt' posemu) is actually a phrase that Russian emperors used on documents to signify their approval, and several sources indicate that Catherine used this phrase on different documents.[7] |
| Rejects Player's Deal | Friendship is friendship, but there are times that I must say no. (lit. "Friendship is friendship, but work is work/service is service.") | Дружба дружбой, а служба службой.
Druzhba druzhboy, a sluzhba sluzhboy. |
This is a Russian proverb.[8] |
| Defeated | Look after my palace when I am gone. The Grand Church must be aired regularly, and keep the amber dusted. You mu — No. It is yours. I leave now. (lit. "Take care of my palace when I'm gone. The Grand Church needs to be aired regularly, and the amber dusted. You mu — No, this is yours. I have to go.") | Позаботьтесь о моём дворце, когда меня не станет. Большую церковь следует регулярно проветривать, а с янтаря стирать пыль. Вы до… Нет, это ваше. Мне пора.
Pozabot'tes' o moyom dvortse, kogda menya ne stanet. Bol'shuyu tserkov' sleduyet regulyarno provetrivat', a s yantarya stirat' pyl'. Vy do... Net, eto vashe. Mne pora. |
Leader Path[]
| Level | Unlocks |
|---|---|
| 2 |  Eagle Banner
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| 3 | Cultural Attribute Node
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| 4 | Exploration Cultural Legacy Card |
| Exploration Scientific Legacy Card | |
| 5 |  Potemkin's Sword-Knot
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| 6 | Catherine Badge 1
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Catherine Banner
| |
| 7 | Scientific Attribute Node
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| 8 | Modern Cultural Legacy Card |
| Modern Scientific Legacy Card | |
| 9 |  Great Imperial Crown |
| 10 | Catherine Badge 2
|
Star of the North
|
Civilopedia entry[]
Russian history is one of rises and falls, and a high or low point always anticipates its opposite. When the Romanovs took power in the 17th century from the Rurikid dynasty, the dynasty that traced its lineage back to the semi-mythical Rurik the Viking, it was a move out of a period of chaos and into a European world.
The Romanovs played two distinct parties against each other. The “Slavophiles” emphasized Russia’s distinction from the West, whereas the “Europhiles” believed Russia was a part of the West. The early Romanovs – especially Catherine and Peter – were decidedly the latter. They embraced European engineering and art, German nobility, and the French language.
In previous centuries many European powers were absolute monarchies: bureaucratic states centered on a particular individual. In Russia, this was intensely personalized, and the whims of the tsar (or tsarina) dictated policy. This could reach bizarre heights – while Peter the Great is lauded for his progressiveness in European (especially British) circles, his reign was intensely driven by personality and a commitment to autocracy.
In a way, Catherine's story starts with Peter the Great, who ruled from 1682-1725 and reshaped Russia. He expanded its borders and built a capital at St. Petersburg, formerly a Finnic-speaking frontier. Under Peter, Russia became an iron mining and timber powerhouse and gained a naval port on the Baltic. Peter also cultivated marriage alliances with other European powers and implemented Western dress and French language at court.
Militarily, Peter’s reign was marked by victories against the Ottomans, and a massive war over control of the Baltic – Russia was concerned with Europe, pushing westward militarily and diplomatically. Culturally, Peter is depicted as an enlightened despot, a devotee of industry and science, but this ambition was tempered by his profligacy at home. He engaged in late-night drinking bouts, brutal parties centered around abusing less-liked courtiers.
Under Peter, Russia was catapulted onto the world stage – becoming a great power with a navy and a claim to the Baltic and Black seas. The country was a player in European dynastic politics, though its religious orthodoxy set it slightly apart.
Here enters Catherine.
Peter the Great’s campaign to make marriage alliances became a common practice in Russia, and his descendant Peter III chose (or had chosen for him) a Prussian princess named Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst. Upon her conversion to Orthodoxy, Princess Sophie became Tsarina Catherine. The marriage was not happy. Peter III was stuck in permanent adolescence, playing with toy soldiers and drinking in court rather than governing – or procreating.
When Peter III ascended to the throne in 1762, he continued his legacy of bad choices. Moreover, he lacked a global strategy. The year before, Russia had been at war with Prussia, but Peter admired the Prussian leader Friedrich II and signed an extremely conciliatory treaty. Peter also alienated powerful allies. He had inherited a claim on a duchy in Denmark and decided to wage war against that country despite long-running Russian-Danish alliances.
In short, Peter III looked like a disaster for Russia. Several people could have deposed him – rival nobles, the military, a foreign power – but Catherine was the one who successfully organized the coup. Peter was deposed in 1762, and Catherine took the crown herself.
Catherine was a classic “enlightened despot,” an absolute ruler without the impulse for liberalism or the rights of the people, and a leader who wielded power via engagement with arts and philosophy. Her internal rule was a strange series of sexual politics. She would often appoint her lovers to high-status positions, holding to Russia’s personality-based political ladder. Potemkin was one of the most famous examples – an extremely competent advisor who governed Russia’s outlying provinces, worked to modernize the state, and conducted a great deal of other reforms (although his use of fake villages built to impress the visiting tsarina, known as “Potemkin Villages,” are now understood to be a myth). When Catherine and Potemkin's affair was over, Potemkin allegedly named his successor to Catherine’s bedchambers.
Culturally, Catherine’s rule during the Russian Enlightenment brought Chinese trade goods and European artistic sensibilities into Russia. Indeed, the massive Hermitage Museum is largely taken from her personal collection. Like Friedrich II, she was a friend and confidant of the French satirist Voltaire. Internally, she also oversaw growth in higher education for women and other educational reforms.
Abroad, Catherine expanded the boundaries of Russia, chipping away at Poland and the Ottomans along the way. However, she saw Russia as a mediator more than as an expansive empire. Catherine’s shrewd instincts were displayed during the American Revolution – she did not see the war as a fundamental shift in world politics, and therefore a threat, but as a failure of King George III, and thus an opportunity. She lobbied to preserve trade and end blockades, exploiting the conflict for Russia’s profit.
Catherine died at the age of 65, having helped define the heights of Imperial Russia. She combined canny foreign policy, an enlightened cultural approach, and sound attention to local leaders and notables. She was not a liberal, but she presented a model of enlightened autocracy that few could emulate.
Trivia[]
- Catherine the Great is the only leader in the game to have a voice artist reprise their role: Svetlana Migdissova also voiced her in Civilization V.
- Catherine the Great's leader ability is the epithet given to her by Voltaire, her correspondent for 15 years, while her agenda is the Russian word for "soul" and "breath," often used in the term russkaya dusha (русская душа) ("Russian soul"), in reference to the uniqueness of Russian identity.
- Catherine the Great's release in Civilization VII marks the fifth time she has appeared in the Civilization franchise (including the Civilization Revolution games). She was absent only from Sid Meier's Civilization and Civilization VI, where Russia was led by Stalin and Peter, respectively.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
First Look- Catherine - Civilization VII
First Look: Catherine the Great
Related achievements[]
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Lived up to the Name.
Win the modern age as Catherine the Great.
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References[]
- ↑ https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/new-first-look-catherine-the-great.694058/page-5
- ↑ https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/civilization-7-leaders-dialogue-translations.691404/page-7
- ↑ wikipedia:Catherine the Great#Marriage and reign of Peter III
- ↑ https://gramota.ru/biblioteka/spravochniki/spravochnik-po-frazeologii/pokazat-gde-raki-zimuyut
- ↑ https://www.rbc.ru/life/news/674889159a79471f18e3141c
- ↑ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/красный#Russian
- ↑ https://punktuaciya.academic.ru/83/быть_по_сему
- ↑ https://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/dahl_proverbs/14714/Дружба
See also[]
- Catherine the Great in other games