Episodes
Catherine the Great's Russian Academy of Sciences
This episode explores Catherine II’s ambitious project to build a world-class scientific institution in St. Petersburg, contrasting her Enlightenment ideals with the harsh realities of imperial expansion and serfdom. We examine how Peter Simon Pallas and other scholars were recruited from across Europe to establish the Imperial Academy of Sciences, transforming Russia into a hub for exploration and taxonomy. The conversation delves into the tension between Catherine’s public commitment to…
Catherine's Secret War: The Pugachev Rebellion
In Episode 234, we turn away from the polished courts of St Petersburg to the brutal reality of the Russian steppe. While Catherine was busy corresponding with Voltaire and expanding her empire, a Cossack named Yemelyan Pugachev claimed to be the resurrected Tsar Peter III, sparking the largest internal revolt in Russian history. We explore how Pugachev exploited the deep grievances of the Old Believers and the Urals’ industrial serfs, turning the empire’s eastern frontier into a war zone that…
Catherine the Great's Last Years and the Rumors of Her Death
By the autumn of 1796, Catherine II was seventy years old, a ruler who had reshaped Europe through diplomacy, war, and cultural ambition. Yet her final months were shrouded in mystery that persists to this day. This episode explores the chaotic days following her sudden death on November 17th, 1796, at the Winter Palace. We examine the conflicting reports from her physician Johann Jakob von Struensee and the courtiers present, including the controversial claim of a stroke versus more lurid…
Catherine's Lost Heir: The Mystery of the Romanovs
In this episode, we step away from Catherine’s public victories to explore one of the most haunting mysteries of her reign: the fate of her son, Paul. For years, Paul was kept in isolation at Pavlovsk, cut off from his mother and the court, a pawn in the power struggle between Catherine and her lover, Grigory Orlov. We examine the psychological toll of this separation on Paul, who grew up believing his mother had abandoned him. This narrative explores how these early wounds shaped the paranoid…
Catherine's Lost Heir: The Mystery of the Romanovs
While history remembers Catherine the Great as a reformer and conqueror, one shadow from her past refused to stay buried. This episode explores the enigmatic figure of Grigori Orlov’s rumored illegitimate son, often whispered about in St. Petersburg salons but rarely documented by official courts. We trace the life of this mysterious youth, his sudden disappearance, and the chilling rumors that he was secretly imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress, far from the prying eyes of the public.…
Catherine's Lost Kingdoms: The Georgia Tragedy
In this episode of Fexingo History, we explore Catherine the Great’s complex and often overlooked alliance with the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti in Georgia. While her expansion into Poland and Crimea dominates the narrative, her relationship with Heraclius II was built on mutual survival against Persian and Ottoman threats. We trace the Treaty of Georgievsk, the promise of Russian protection, and the devastating betrayal that followed when Agha Mohammad Khan invaded Tbilisi. Discover how…
Catherine's Silk Road Ambitions: Lunin and the Quest for Central Asia
While Catherine the Great is often remembered for her European salons and wars with the Ottomans, she harbored a different kind of imperial dream: reaching the markets of China and India through the heart of Central Asia. This episode explores the ambitious, largely forgotten expedition led by Ivan Lunin in 1768-1770, a mission that aimed to establish direct trade routes with Bukhara and Khiva. We follow Lunin’s journey from Astrakhan across the steppes, his interactions with the Khanate of…
Catherine's Black Sea Fleet: Building an Empire on Water
In 1783, Catherine the Great annexed Crimea, but securing the peninsula required more than just soldiers—it demanded a navy. This episode explores the rapid construction of the Black Sea Fleet, centered in the newly founded city of Sevastopol. We follow the engineers and sailors who turned muddy bogs into a formidable maritime power, challenging Ottoman dominance in the region. From the laying of the first keel to the strategic deployment of ships against Turkish galleys, we examine how…
Catherine's Forgotten War in Georgia: A Lost Alliance
In this episode of the Fexingo History podcast, we turn our gaze south to the Caucasus mountains and the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti. While Catherine the Great is often remembered for her wars with the Ottoman Empire and the partitions of Poland, her relationship with King Heraclius II was a complex diplomatic dance that ultimately ended in tragedy. We explore the Treaty of Georgievsk of 1783, which promised Russian protection against Persian invasion, and the devastating reality that followed…
Catherine's Lost Libraries and the Fire of St. Petersburg
In 1787, a fire swept through Catherine the Great’s private collection at Tsarskoye Selo, threatening to destroy centuries of accumulated knowledge. This episode explores the tragedy behind the blaze, the specific volumes lost—including rare manuscripts from Peter the Great—and how Catherine responded not with despair, but with a renewed, aggressive push for cultural expansion. We look at her correspondence with Denis Diderot during this crisis, the role of her librarian Ivan Shuvalov, and the…
Catherine the Great's Enlightenment Salons and Censorship
We step away from the battlefield maps and court intrigues that have dominated our recent episodes to explore a different kind of power: the intellectual. In this episode, we examine Catherine the Great’s ambitious project to reshape Russian culture through the lens of the European Enlightenment. We look at her correspondence with Voltaire and Diderot, her founding of the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens, and the creation of the Free Economic Society. But as Luna and Lucas discover, this…
Catherine the Great's Silk Road Ambitions
While Catherine the Great is often remembered for her westernization of Russia and her military expansions into Poland and the Crimea, she harbored a far more exotic dream: connecting St. Petersburg to the markets of China and India via Central Asia. This episode explores her secret diplomatic missions to Bukhara and Khiva in the 1770s, led by the intrepid Ivan Lunin and later the explorer Peter Pallas. We dive into the geopolitical chess match against the British East India Company, the…
Catherine's Secret Police and the Death of Radishchev
While Catherine the Great is often remembered for her Enlightenment correspondence with Voltaire and Diderot, her reign contained a darker undercurrent: the systematic suppression of dissent. This episode explores the terrifying efficiency of the Tainaia ekspeditsiia, or Secret Expedition, and its chief enforcer, Stepan Sheshkovsky. We dive into the case of Alexander Radishchev, a nobleman whose 1790 book Journey from St Petersburg to Moscow challenged the very foundations of autocracy and…
Catherine's Secret Wars: The Polish Uprising
While Catherine the Great is often remembered for her diplomatic brilliance and cultural patronage, her reign was defined by a brutal, three-part dismantling of Poland-Lithuania. In this episode, we look past the treaties and maps to examine the human cost of the Partitions of Poland, focusing on the failed Kościuszko Uprising of 1794. We explore how Catherine manipulated internal Polish politics, installed puppet kings, and ultimately erased a sovereign state from the map through military…
Catherine the Great's Forgotten War in Georgia
In this episode of Fexingo History, Lucas and Luna explore a dramatic and often overlooked chapter of Catherine the Great’s reign: the Russo-Georgian War of 1739–1740 and its long shadow leading to the 1783 Treaty of Georgievsk. While we have covered her wars with the Ottomans and the partitions of Poland, few episodes delve into the complex relationship between St. Petersburg and the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti. We follow King Heraclius II as he seeks Russian protection against Persian…
Catherine's German Ancestors: The Askanian Roots
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the surprising German heritage of Catherine the Great. Born Sophie von Anhalt-Zerbst, Catherine descended from the House of Ascania, a dynasty with roots in the medieval Holy Roman Empire. We trace the Askanians from Albrecht der Bär, the 12th-century conqueror of Brandenburg, through the partitions that left tiny Anhalt-Zerbst as a patchwork of princely states. We discuss how Catherine's father, Christian August, governed a realm of just 15,000 people…
Catherine's German Ancestors: The Askanian Roots
Before she was Catherine the Great, she was Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst. This episode traces Catherine's maternal line back to the Askanian dynasty, medieval German princes who ruled the Saxon lands and left a mark on the Baltic. We explore how Catherine's family ties to the House of Anhalt shaped her identity and her claim to the Russian throne, touching on the Reformation, the Thirty Years' War, and the small German principality that would produce an empress. Along the way, we meet Catherine's…
Catherine the Great's Quarantine Line: The 1771 Border
In 1771, as the Plague Riot shook Moscow, Catherine the Great faced a crisis that threatened her empire from within. While her armies fought the Ottomans far to the south, a different enemy crept across the steppe: bubonic plague. This episode traces Catherine's response—not just the violent quarantine that sparked the Chumnoi Bunt, but the quieter, more lasting measures she imposed on Russia's vast borders. We follow the work of Daniel Samoilovich, the physician who risked his life to study…
Catherine's Cossack Legacy: The Black Sea Host
In this episode of Fexingo History, Lucas and Luna explore the creation of the Black Sea Cossack Host, a military force born from the remnants of the Zaporozhian Sich and reshaped by Catherine the Great's ambitions. Discover how the empress, after dismantling the Sich in 1775, later revived the Cossack spirit under the leadership of Sidor Bily, Anton Holovaty, and Zakhar Chepiha. Together, they forged a new host that would settle the Kuban steppe, defend Russia's southern borders, and play a…
Catherine's Crimean Annexation: The Final Act
In 1783, Catherine the Great annexed the Crimean Peninsula, ending centuries of Ottoman and Tatar rule. This episode unpacks the diplomatic maneuvering, the role of Grigory Potemkin, the Treaty of Georgievsk, and the final Ottoman recognition under the Treaty of Jassy in 1792. We explore the strategic importance of Crimea, the fate of the Crimean Khanate, and the establishment of Sevastopol as Russia's Black Sea stronghold. From the ousting of Şahin Giray to the creation of Taurida Oblast, we…
Catherine's Copper Rush: Mining in the Urals
In the 1760s, Catherine the Great looked east. Beyond the Urals lay Siberia, and beneath it, copper. The Empress who corresponded with Voltaire and Diderot was also a hard-nosed industrialist, determined to turn the empire's mineral wealth into military might. This episode follows the copper trade from the mines of Kolyvan and the smelters of Barnaul to the imperial mint in St. Petersburg, where coins stamped with Catherine's profile financed wars, palaces, and the expanding state. We meet the…
Catherine the Great's Roads: Dirt, Mud, and Empire
In this episode of Fexingo History, Lucas and Luna explore the forgotten infrastructure that held Catherine the Great's empire together: her roads. From the infamous Vladimirka highway — the road to Siberia exile — to the post roads that tied St. Petersburg to Moscow, we follow the ruts and mud that shaped Russian administration, trade, and rebellion. Discover how the 1763 Road Commission tried to impose order on a thousand miles of muck, why Catherine's government measured distances in versts…
Catherine's Iron Fist: The Secret Police and the Empire
In this episode, Lucas and Luna delve into the shadowy world of Catherine the Great's secret police, a network of informants and spies that underpinned her enlightened rule. They explore the creation of the Secret Expedition under the Senate, its role in the Pugachev Rebellion, and the surveillance of intellectuals like Alexander Radishchev. The conversation reveals the paradox of an empress who corresponded with Voltaire while silencing dissent, and how her autocratic machinery shaped Russia's…
Catherine the Great and the Pugachev Rebellion
In 1773, a Don Cossack named Emelyan Pugachev claimed to be the murdered Tsar Peter III and launched the largest peasant uprising in Russian history. Katherine the Great, fresh from her triumph in the Russo-Turkish War, faced a rebellion that threatened her throne and her Enlightenment ideals. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how Pugachev's revolt exposed the brutal realities of serfdom, forced Catherine to confront the contradictions of her rule, and ultimately hardened her policies.…
Catherine the Great's Jewish Policy: From Confinement to Inclusion
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how Catherine the Great's policies transformed the lives of Jewish communities in the Russian Empire. Starting with the Pale of Settlement, established after the partitions of Poland, Catherine's reign saw both the consolidation of restrictive laws and the gradual opening of new opportunities. We trace the 1791 decree that confined Jews to the western provinces, the 1769 ukase that allowed some to join the merchant class, and the 1804 Statute that, though…
Catherine the Great and the Charter to the Nobility
In 1785, Catherine the Great issued the Charter to the Nobility, a sweeping legal reform that defined the rights and privileges of Russia's noble class for over a century. This episode explores how the charter emerged from Catherine's Enlightenment ideals and her practical need to secure elite support after Pugachev's Rebellion. We discuss the charter's key provisions, including exemption from taxation and corporal punishment, the creation of noble assemblies, and the complex relationship…
Catherine’s Great Bet: The 1768 Smallpox Gamble
In 1768, Catherine the Great made a decision that scandalized the Russian court and saved countless lives: she vaccinated herself against smallpox. This episode follows the empress's risky inoculation—from the arrival of English physician Thomas Dimsdale to the tense days of recovery at Tsarskoe Selo. We explore the science of variolation, the political courage behind the act, and how Catherine's gamble transformed public health in Russia. Along the way, we meet Grigory Orlov, the court…
Catherine the Great and the Art of Diplomacy: The Peace of Nystad
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore a turning point often overshadowed by Catherine's later wars: the Peace of Nystad, the 1721 treaty that ended the Great Northern War and set the stage for Russia's rise as a European power. Though Catherine wasn't yet on the throne, the treaty's terms—Russia gaining Livonia, Estonia, Ingria, and Karelia—created the very empire she would later rule and expand. The hosts delve into the negotiations, the key figures like Andrei Osterman and Jacob Bruce, and…
Catherine the Great's Grand Strategist: Nikita Panin
Before Potemkin, there was Nikita Panin — the cautious diplomat who shaped Catherine's foreign policy for nearly two decades. This episode explores Panin's Northern Accord, his rivalry with Grigory Orlov, and his quiet influence on Catherine's early reign, from the Russo-Turkish War to the partitions of Poland. We look at his upbringing, his time as ambassador to Sweden, and his role as tutor to the Grand Duke Paul, where he tried to plant Enlightenment ideals in the future emperor. Panin's…
Catherine's Grand Tour: The 1787 Crimean Journey
In 1787, Catherine the Great embarked on a six-month journey through her newly conquered southern territories, accompanied by a retinue of foreign ambassadors, European dignitaries, and her lover and advisor, Grigory Potemkin. This episode of Fexingo History follows the empress along the Dnieper River, through the wilds of Novorossiya, and into the newly founded cities of Kherson and Sevastopol. We explore the famous 'Potemkin villages' — the movable facades that allegedly masked a barren land…
Catherine the Great's Crimean Journey: Potemkin's Reality
In 1787, Catherine the Great undertook one of the most extraordinary journeys in Russian history—a six-month, 4,000-mile expedition to the newly annexed Crimea. This episode follows the Empress and her vast entourage as they travel through the southern steppe, visiting newly founded cities like Kherson and Sevastopol, meeting the last Crimean Khan, and witnessing the birth of the Black Sea Fleet. We explore the myth and reality of Grigory Potemkin's 'villages', the diplomatic theater staged for…
Catherine's Court Painter: Dmitry Levitsky and the Faces of Empire
In this episode of Fexingo History, Lucas and Luna explore the art and politics of Catherine the Great's court through the eyes of Dmitry Levitsky, the empress's unofficial portraitist. They discuss how Levitsky's portraits of Catherine, the Smolny Institute girls, and the aristocracy shaped the empire's public image, and how his brush captured both Enlightenment ideals and the realities of autocracy. From his famous 1783 coronation portrait to his depictions of the Smolny maidens, Levitsky's…
Catherine the Great's Navy: The Baltic Fleet That Shaped an Empire
In this episode of Fexingo History, Lucas and Luna cast off to explore Catherine the Great's Baltic Fleet — the naval force that turned Russia into a maritime power. From the first Russian warships built by Peter the Great to Catherine's ambitious shipbuilding programs, we trace how the Baltic Fleet grew into a formidable force. We follow Admiral Grigory Spiridov's daring Mediterranean expedition that culminated in the stunning victory at the Battle of Chesma in 1770, a triumph that sent…
Catherine the Great's Bastard Children: The Bobrinsky Line
In this episode of Fexingo History, Lucas and Luna explore a lesser-known chapter of Catherine the Great's reign: her illegitimate son, Alexei Bobrinsky, born in 1762 to Grigory Orlov. They trace Alexei's hidden childhood under the watchful eye of Vasily Shkurin, his abrupt introduction to his mother at age twelve, and his turbulent youth marked by gambling and exile to the Baltic estate of Oberpahlen. The episode follows his eventual return to favor, his discreet elevation to the Russian…
Catherine the Great's Secret War: The Russo-Turkish Conflict of 1768
In this episode, Lucas and Luna step away from Catherine's reforms and court intrigues to examine the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774, the conflict that reshaped the Black Sea and set the stage for Russia's southern expansion. They unravel the tangled web of Polish politics, Cossack raids, and Ottoman ultimatums that dragged St. Petersburg and Constantinople into war. Along the way, they meet the naval commander Alexei Orlov, whose Mediterranean gambit led to the stunning victory at the Battle…
Catherine's Enlightened Lawyer: The Nakaz of 1767
In 1767, Catherine the Great drafted a legal code meant to reform Russia along Enlightenment lines. The Nakaz, or Instruction, borrowed from Montesquieu and Beccaria, but its journey from page to practice was anything but smooth. This episode traces the Nakaz from its writing in St. Petersburg to the Legislative Commission's collapse, and asks why Catherine's grand project failed. Along the way, we meet the deputies from across the empire, the censored chapters on serfdom, and the French…
Catherine the Great and the Plague of 1771
In September 1771, Moscow was a city in crisis. Bubonic plague, carried along trade routes from the Ottoman Empire, had exploded into an epidemic that killed over 50,000 people in a single year. The city's governor fled, the archbishop preached to empty streets, and a desperate mob lynched a doctor they believed was spreading the disease. Catherine the Great, far away in St. Petersburg, faced a terrifying choice: let the city burn itself out, or take the risk of sending a trusted nobleman into…
Catherine's Cossack Cavalry: The Unseen Power
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore Catherine the Great's surprising relationship with the Don Cossacks — the warriors who fought her wars, colonized her frontiers, and ultimately challenged her authority. They follow the story from the Don River heartland to the Siberian steppe, tracing how Ataman Matvei Platov rose from loyal subject to folk hero, how the Cossack host was reformed by Grigory Potemkin into a modern military machine, and how Catherine's own policies sowed the seeds of…
Catherine's Faith: Empress and the Russian Orthodox Church
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore Catherine the Great's complex relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church, a story of political calculation, secularization, and the limits of Enlightenment tolerance. They discuss her early conversion from Lutheranism, the secularization of church lands in 1764, her treatment of Old Believers and religious dissenters, and her controversial policies toward Jews, including the double taxation and confinement to the Pale of Settlement. The episode also…
Catherine the Great and the Russian Academy of Sciences
This episode explores Catherine the Great's role in transforming the Russian Academy of Sciences into a world-class institution. We dive into her 1783 decision to appoint Princess Yekaterina Dashkova as director—a bold move that made Dashkova one of the first women to head a scientific body in Europe. We discuss the Academy's origins under Peter the Great, the challenges of Russian academic life, and the intellectual culture of Saint Petersburg. We also examine the Academy's expeditions, its…
Catherine's Jesuit Puzzle: Faith, Enlightenment, and Empire
In this episode of Fexingo History, Lucas and Luna explore a surprising chapter of Catherine the Great's reign: her relationship with the Jesuits. After the order was suppressed by the Pope in 1773, Catherine refused to enforce the ban in her territories, allowing the Jesuits to continue their work in the Russian Empire. Why did an Enlightenment empress, skeptical of religious power, protect a Catholic order? Lucas explains how the Jesuits became valuable educators in Belarus, running schools…
The Hermitage Cats: Catherine's Unlikely Courtiers
Before the Winter Palace became a museum, it was a fortress against an army of rats. Catherine the Great, fresh from her coup, faced a rodent infestation that threatened her art and her sanity. Her solution? An official decree: hire cats. In this episode, we meet the first feline courtiers — the French mouser that reportedly led Catherine to the throne, and the decree that made cats the palace's most beloved custodians. We trace the Hermitage's cat dynasty from the 18th century through the…
Catherine's Smallpox Gamble: The 1768 Inoculation
In 1768, at the height of the Enlightenment, Catherine the Great made a startling personal decision: she submitted herself to the new and controversial practice of smallpox inoculation. This episode explores the risks, the politics, and the legacy of that gamble. We discuss the state of medicine in 18th-century Russia, the role of the English physician Thomas Dimsdale, the elaborate court theatre staged around the event, and the broader impact on Russian public health. We also consider the…
Catherine the Great and the Greek Project
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore Catherine the Great's audacious Greek Project — her dream of reviving the Byzantine Empire under Russian rule. Joined by her favorite prince, Grigory Potemkin, Catherine imagined placing her grandson Constantine on the throne of a restored Byzantium. They discuss the project's origins, its cultural and religious dimensions, the role of Joseph II and the Habsburgs, and the practical steps taken in Novorossiya and the Black Sea, including the founding of…
Catherine the Great's Greek Project and the Dream of Byzantium
In Episode 191 of the Catherine the Great series, Lucas and Luna explore Catherine's audacious 'Greek Project' — her dream of reviving the Byzantine Empire under Russian rule. Co-planned with Grigory Potemkin in the early 1780s, this grand scheme envisioned driving the Ottomans from Constantinople and placing her grandson Constantine on a restored imperial throne. The plan involved a new state called Dacia in the Danubian principalities, a flurry of orchestral diplomacy, and the naming of…
Catherine the Great and the End of the Zaporozhian Cossacks
In 1775, Catherine the Great ordered the destruction of the Zaporozhian Sich, the semi-autonomous Cossack stronghold on the Dnieper. This episode explores why the empress turned on the very warriors who had helped her seize power and expand Russia's southern frontier. We follow the rise of the Zaporozhian Cossacks as a frontier democracy, their role in the Russo-Turkish wars, and the growing tension with St. Petersburg as the state sought to centralize control. With the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca…
Catherine's Legislative Commission: The Lost Chance for Reform
In 1767, Catherine the Great convened a grand Legislative Commission in Moscow, bringing together elected deputies from across the Russian Empire—nobles, townspeople, state peasants, and even non-Russian minorities—to craft a new legal code. But serfs were excluded, and the Commission's radical debates soon stalled. Lucas and Luna discuss how Catherine's Nakaz, a progressive instruction borrowing from Montesquieu and Beccaria, clashed with noble interests, why the serf question was deferred…
Catherine the Great and Denis Diderot: An Enlightenment Encounter
In 1773, the philosopher Denis Diderot, chief editor of the Encyclopédie, traveled to St. Petersburg for a five-month stay at Catherine the Great's court. This episode explores their remarkable intellectual friendship, from Catherine's purchase of Diderot's entire library to their nightly debates on serfdom, law, and the limits of autocratic reform. We examine how Diderot's radical ideals clashed with Catherine's pragmatic rule, and how their conversations influenced her Nakaz (Instruction) and…
Catherine the Great's Final Partitions of Poland
In the aftermath of the First Partition, Poland attempted reform with the Constitution of May 3, 1791. But Catherine saw this as a threat to Russian influence. She engineered the Targowica Confederation, invaded, and imposed the Second Partition in 1793. When Tadeusz Kościuszko led a national uprising to resist, Catherine crushed it with ruthless force, leading to the Third and final partition in 1795. Poland vanished from the map. Join Lucas and Luna as they explore Catherine's role in…
Catherine the Great's Annexation of Crimea 1783
In 1783, Catherine the Great annexed the Crimean Khanate, a bold move that transformed Russia into a Black Sea empire. This episode explores the diplomatic chess game following the 1774 Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca, the tragic fate of the last Crimean khan Şahin Giray, and Grigory Potemkin's grand vision—the Greek Project. We discuss the founding of Sevastopol, the expulsion of the Crimean Tatars, and Catherine's triumphant 1787 journey to the new territories, which gave rise to the 'Potemkin…
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