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Catherine the Great, also known as Catherine II, reigned as Empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796, and in those four years made significant changes to both Russia and Europe as a whole. Politically, Catherine was very focused on foreign policies; she strengthened connections with Britain, agreeing to a commercial treaty with them in 1766. She extended the borders of the Russian Empire southward and westward, absorbing New Russia, Crimea, Lithuania, Belarus, and many more, adding roughly 200,000 mi2 to Russian territory. She also acted as a mediator in the War of the Bavarian Succession and established a League of Armed Neutrality designed to defend neutral shipping from the British Royal Navy. She also had friendly relations with Japan, trading supplies and food between the two. She also oversaw brutal reprisals in the wake of rebellion, such as Pugachev's Rebellion. Ultimately, Catherine II wanted to be recognized as an enlightened sovereign, and attempted to achieve this through her political actions.

Economically, she created many beneficial trading deals with countries such as Japan and Britain. Within Russia, she instituted the Assignation Bank, issuing the first paper money of the government. Assignation rubles were created due to large government spending, which led to a shortage in silver; however, the creation of such a system greatly affected the way the economy worked in Russia at the time.

Socially, Catherine furthered the evolution of the arts more than any Russian sovereign before or after her. She wrote comedies, fictions and memoirs, all the while communicating with philosophers and economists of the time to drive the artistic scene forward. During her reign, Russians imported and studied classical and European influences that inspired the Russian Enlightenment; in a way, you could say that Catherine the Great instigated the Russian Enlightenment. In terms of education, Catherine believed that education could change the hearts and minds of the Russian people, and therefore pushed for a national school system. She created many schools to educate females as well, including The Smolny Institute for Noble Girls. Finally, in 1786 Catherine achieved her goal by promulgating the Russian Statute of National Education; unfortunately, only a very small population was educated by this system. Religiously, Catherine was indifferent to religion, disallowing dissenters from building churches and exploiting Christianity through her anti-Ottoman policy. This extremely affected the religious views of Russia at the time.

Catherine II was arguably one of the greatest sovereigns of the Russian empire, extending its borders while drastically improving its arts and education system. Through her success in foreign policy, Russia became known as one of the great powers of Europe.

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Q: How did Catherine the Great change Europe politically economically and socially?
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