ut laughing, drinking and having a good time at parties. Catherine was clearly the model ruler. After the death of his mother, Peter III began an even more disastrous reign. He offended officials of the court and of the church, while Catherine was busy gaining supporters through her lover, Orlov and his brothers. One night, while drunk, Peter announced that he planned to divorce Catherine. 14/2/69 News spread of the Tsars scandalsous attack on Cahterine. Instead, she and Orlov planned to overthrow him. On the night of June 27, 1762, Orlov took Catherine away to an army barracks where the solderis proclaimed her their savior, and she took the throne. Peter was imprisoned and was later put to death. Catherine was now the rightful Empress of Russia, Catherine II.Catherines efforts to self educate herself paid off. She was an intelligent, well rounded leader. 2/5/488Throughout her reign Catherine was passionately interested in education, which she firmly believed could remodel human nature. Catherine truly wanted to improve the Russian economy. She changed her views of the world when she became Empress. She was origionally opposed to serfdom, where serfs were bound by lwaw to their land and had no rights of their own. But she soon began to treat the common people as objects to be given as gifts. During her reign, Catherine said,15/2/71 My only desire in which God as placed me The glory of my own country is my own glory. In the beginning of her reign, Russias foreigh and domestic affairs were in terrible shape because of the haphazard reigns of her predecessors, Peter and his mother Elizabeth. On of the ways Catherine chose to mend the problems was in 1762, she allowed nobles to build factories on their estates. This led to the expansion of industry in Russia. The backstage workings of the government interested Catherine greatly. She read all of her paper work, accounts, reports, memorandums, and atteneded all meetings....
