Russian Expansion under Catherine the Great 23partition of Poland among Austria, Prussia, and Russia all reflect the
pervasive desire for territorial expansion during the second half of
the eighteenth century. Henry Brougham, the publicist critic of slav-
ery and the indiscriminate acquisition of colonies, expressed the pre-
vailing sentiment when he wrote, "In the same manner as a state will
naturally people up to its resources, it will naturally extend its do-
minions as far as those resources permit."^2 Russia differed from the
other European powers in that it had greater opportunity for success
because it was so much stronger than some of its immediate neighbors.
The existence of a "Greek project" might indicate the existence of
a distinctly Russian messianic expansionism, but it is highly doubtful
that Catherine ever meant the project as seriously as others thought
she did. The tone of Catherine's reign was decidedly pragmatic, with
little room for farfetched schemes like the expulsion of the Turks
from Europe and the creation of a Greek kingdom with its capital at
Constantinople. Her actions at many times during her reign indicated
her ability to recognize when she could not proceed with her ambi-
tious plans. She backed away from some of her boldest plans for re-
form when the Legislative Commission of 1767-1768 revealed the in-
tensity of noble opposition. If she occasionally devised implausible
panaceas, such as enlarging the middle class with specially trained or-
phans, she usually recognized when to abandon unsuccessful experi-
ments. The "Greek project" was probably nothing more than an idea
briefly entertained and quickly discarded.
In fact, the substance of the project was quite tenuous. It was
based on a rather vague remark in a letter to the Habsburg emperor,
Joseph II, referring to the possibility that, if Austria and Russia were
to be successful in a war against the Porte, then the Turks might be
driven from Europe. The rest of the evidence for the plan comes
from the testimony of her secretary and political counselor Alexander
Bezborodko and Gregory Potemkin, who was in charge of Russia's
relations with the Porte and the development of southern Russia.
However, the fact that two of the important members of Catherine's
government were enthusiastic about the plan does not mean that she
shared their feelings. Both these men had reasons of their own to fa-
vor a "Greek project" even when the tsaritsa did not. Potemkin was
an extremely ambitious man who had risen from the lesser provincial
gentry to become one of the most powerful men in Russia. He looked
forward to becoming king of "Dacia," a country to be formed from
the Ottoman Empire's Danubian provinces. Bezborodko was a Ukrain-
ian who viewed the Turks as Russia's greatest enemy because of their
repeated attacks on Russian and, especially, Ukrainian territory. None-