7 The 100 Most Influential World Leaders of All Time 7The Final Years
Catherine felt seriously threatened by the French
Revolution. In 1790 the writer A.N. Radishchev, who
attempted to publish a work openly critical of the abuses
of serfdom, was tried, condemned to death, then par-
doned and exiled. Ironically, the sentiments Radishchev
expressed were very similar to Catherine’s Instruction of
- Next, Poland, encouraged by the example of France,
began agitating for a liberal constitution. In 1792, under
the pretext of forestalling the threat of revolution,
Catherine sent in troops to Poland and the next year
annexed most of the western Ukraine, while Prussia
helped itself to large territories of western Poland. After
the national uprising led by Tadeusz Kościuszko in
Poland in 1794, Catherine wiped Poland off the map of
Europe by dividing it between Russia, Prussia, and
Austria in 1795.
Catherine’s last years were darkened by the execution
of Louis XVI, the advance of the revolutionary armies,
and the spread of radical ideas. The empress realized,
moreover, that she had no suitable successor. She consid-
ered her son Paul an incompetent and unbalanced man,
and her grandson Alexander was too young yet to rule. In
1796 she died unexpectedly from a stroke.
Russians, even Soviet Russians, continue to admire
Catherine and regard her as a source of national pride.
Non-Russian opinion of Catherine is less favourable. She
figured in the Western imagination as the incarnation of
the immense, backward, yet forbidding country she ruled.
Yet, her many achievements—including the expansion of
Russian territory and trade, together with the glory of mil-
itary victories and the fame of a brilliant court—have won
her a distinguished place in history.