Catherine

Catherine, name of 2 Russian empresses. Catherine I (1684–1727), wife of Peter I, succeeded him to the throne on his death in 1725. Catherine II, the Great (1729–96) married the future Peter III in 1745. After his deposition and murder in 1762, she became empress. Her liberalism was quenched by Pugachev's peasant uprising (1773–74) and the French Revolution. She greatly extended Russian territory, annexing the Crimea (1783) and partitioning Poland (1772–95).