Modern politicians could learn a thing or two from this Russian empress

“There are unscrupulous people in Russia. Fortunately, I’m one of them,” says Catherine the Great, played by Helen Mirren, as she stands above the corpse of a rival to her throne. For those following present day politics, this memorable moment from HBO’s new, eponymously named series might feel familiar.

Little else in Catherine’s historic rule as Russia’s empress seems to align with the strategies of present-day politicians, however.

Fascinated by Enlightenment ideals of science and reason, and eager to thrust the country into the modern era, Catherine used precise strategy, charm —and her considerable networking powers — to rule Russia for 34 years and establish the nation as a powerful force in Europe. For those bemoaning a lack of, well, most of these traits in those holding office today, perhaps her onscreen reintroduction to America could serve as a timely reminder of an alternative mode of rule.

Kelsey Rubin-Detlev, assistant professor of Slavic languages and literatures at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, says, “Catherine didn’t just interact with public intellectuals: She was a public intellectual herself. She was a playwright, a journalist, a historian, a political theorist and much more. This is what being a great monarch in the Enlightenment was all about: combining ideas with power.”

Friends and frenemies

Catherine the Great came to power in 1762 after successfully tossing her husband, Peter III, whom she considered an unbearable spouse and weak ruler, from the throne in a coup.

Her reign was perilous.

She was not Russian, but German, marrying into the Russian imperial family through a political alliance. Although Russia had a history of women rulers (Peter III’s aunt, Elizabeth, had run the country for two decades), maintaining the respect of her male peers was a constant battle. Various usurpers, including her own son, were vying for the crown.

In response to these challenges, she cultivated a canny ability to network and turn enemies into allies without upsetting the delicate aristocratic ecosystem that kept her in power.  

To paraphrase Mirren’s Catherine, always keep the awkward ones busy, and then get rid of them if they actually mess it up. For Rubin-Detlev, this was a core strategy for Catherine’s rule.

“Catherine knew better than to avoid or mistreat people whom she didn’t like. Instead, she often gave potential enemies a role in her government and treated them with respect. This way, she took away any grounds they might have to complain and made their success inseparable from hers.”

Keeping her detractors loyal was just one part of her strategy. “Catherine was also extremely savvy in choosing her friends and correspondents,” says Rubin-Detlev.

Catherine’s dramatic arrival on the throne and early pronouncements of her intent to rule according to Enlightenment principles attracted a great deal of attention in Europe, but many, including the leading French philosopher Voltaire, were skeptical about her ability to hold on to power. Catherine managed to overcome his doubts: When he dedicated his Philosophy of History to her a few years after her accession, she wrote a witty note back, sparking a correspondence that went on for 15 years and covered topics like politics, morality and Russia’s place in the Enlightenment.  

The relationship was strategic.

“Besides the fact that she genuinely admired his writings, [Catherine] knew that by befriending [Voltaire], she was joining a network of highly influential people,” says Rubin-Detlev. “She could count on Voltaire not just to publish good things about her in his very popular writings, but also to talk about her with other intellectuals and with people like the duc de Richelieu, an advisor to the king of France.”

On Voltaire’s part, it reflected well in social circles that he was pen pals with the empress of Russia. They never met in person but Voltaire kept a portrait of Catherine in his bedroom.

Catherine II ruled Russia from 1762 until 1796. (Image: Catherine II by Fyodor Rokotov.)

Catherine the clown

Mirren successfully captures Catherine’s intelligence, but to Rubin-Detlev, the depiction misses Catherine’s signature sense of humor.

“Catherine was not afraid to clown around,” she says. “The real Catherine learned very early in life that she could get ahead only by being likeable and making people laugh.”

Before Catherine came to power, the reigning ruler, Empress Elizabeth, assigned hostile courtiers to Catherine’s staff to keep tabs on her. Catherine set about keeping them entertained, throwing parties and telling jokes, eventually winning her spies over to her side.

Once on the throne, Catherine hosted intimate dinner parties where guests were expected to lay aside rank and participate with whatever ridiculous games the group invented.

Making herself approachable was a way to form alliances and also a way to learn. By listening to her guests, who felt comfortable in her presence, she could find out information that may have been kept from a more imperious ruler.

She also wrote silly love letters to her partners. In one to her lifelong friend, trusted deputy and possible secret husband, Grigory Potemkin, she writes that she had seen a beautiful man the night before: “You might run into him if, when you get up, you turn to the right and look at the wall.” She wrote this knowing that a mirror hung to the right of his bed.

Catherine was careful, however, to maintain her position as head of state. Unlike her contemporary Marie Antoinette, who playacted as a common person and built a faux country hamlet in which to stage life as a shepherdess, Catherine knew that becoming too earthy would strip her of necessary mystique (and her head).

“Catherine maintained her grip on power, no one could ever forget that she was the empress,” says Rubin-Detlev.

Reason, individualism, skepticism, science

Catherine was immensely attracted to the Enlightenment movement of Western Europe, which emphasized reason and individualism above tradition and which saw science as a means to advance society.

“The Enlightenment was a big, international conversation about what it is to be human and how we can make our lives better in this world. It was an absolute priority for Catherine that Russia be a part of that conversation,” says Rubin-Detlev.

Catherine’s allegiance with these philosophies is perhaps best embodied in her push to inoculate the Russian population against smallpox.

The disease had ravaged Europe for centuries, badly disfiguring Peter III. Determined to rid her countrymen of the scourge that was killing tens of thousands, in 1767, she summoned Thomas Dimsdale, a British physician, to court. Dimsdale had developed a hotly debated early vaccination method. By dipping a knife into the smallpox pustule of a victim with a mild strain of the disease, the strain could then be transferred to a healthy patient via a small cut on their arm. Patients infected with this milder strain developed immunity, and could fight off more deadly strains in the future.

When Thomas arrived at court, Catherine insisted that she receive the innoculation, despite heavy protest from Dimsdale and the rest of her courtiers, who were concerned should the still experimental treatment fail. After inoculation, she fell ill for a few weeks and then recovered (much to the relief of Dimsdale, who had passports and swift horses at the ready to escape an irate court). The experiment was a success, and by 1800, millions of inoculations were administered to Russian citizens.

“It’s pretty amazing that, in the 18th century, the best publicity strategy for Catherine was to show everyone that she was planning laws and reforms by thinking about concepts like justice and natural law and by talking to the best European thinkers about Russia’s needs. Wouldn’t it be great if political leaders today could win votes by appealing to reason and research?” says Rubin-Detlev.

Modern politicians, take note. The next episode of Catherine the Great airs Nov. 4.