ChatLLM by Abacus.AI

Chat LLM by Abacus.AI — one subscription for every major AI model. Try it free here https://chatllm.abacus.ai/jrm A German teenager with zero Russian blood became the most powerful woman in Russian history — and she did it by inventing a fake identity. Sophie von Anhalt-Zerbst arrived in Russia as a political nobody: a minor German princess hand-picked by the King of Prussia to marry the future Emperor so her mom could spy on him. She taught herself Russian, converted to Orthodoxy, outperformed her own husband at being Russian, then overthrew him in a coup — riding a white horse in a military uniform while he died of "hemorrhoids." As Catherine the Great, she tried to drag Russia into the Enlightenment, got death threats from her own nobles, crushed a massive peasant rebellion, and built a political partnership with Potemkin that was equal parts romance and realpolitik. This is the story of how a pageant kid became an empress — and what it cost her. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00 Sophie von German Face 0:52 The Wehraboo's Wife 1:30 Inventing Catherine 3:04 What Peter Could've Used 4:09 The Coup 5:36 Enlightenment Lite 6:37 Catherine Kills Her Husband Again 7:40 Potemkin 8:39 Paul 📺 More Russian History: → Russia's Quest for Warm Water: https://youtu.be/21zSTOg_udQ → How Stalin Rebranded the USSR: https://youtu.be/El24LVRKmo8 Support the channel: patreon.com/jackrackam #catherinethegreat #russianhistory #history #russianempire #catherineII #europeanhistory