[Video] Today in History: July 9, 1762 — Catherine the Great Seizes Power

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Today in History: July 9, 1762 — Catherine the Great Seizes Power

On this day in 1762, Catherine the Great overthrew her husband, Peter III, in a nearly bloodless coup and assumed the throne of Russia. Born a minor German princess, Catherine had married into the Romanov dynasty but quickly proved far more capable than her erratic husband. With the support of the military and the nobility, she was declared empress, beginning one of the most influential reigns in Russian history.

Catherine led Russia into the heart of European politics, culture, and Enlightenment thought. Under her leadership, Russian territory expanded southward and westward through wars with the Ottoman Empire and the partitions of Poland. She also reformed Russia’s administration, dividing the empire into provinces to improve governance and justice. Though she championed Enlightenment ideals, she ruled as an absolute monarch and brutally crushed uprisings—most notably Pugachev’s Rebellion in 1773.

Her reign further entrenched serfdom, binding millions of peasants to the land under harsh conditions. Still, she advanced education and the arts, founding the Smolny Institute—the first state-funded school for women in Russia—and building the foundations of the Hermitage Museum. Catherine’s rule lasted more than three decades and left a lasting imprint on Russia. She remains one of history’s most powerful and complicated female rulers—a woman who modernized a medieval empire but never let go of the reins.