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.
It affected it Politically, Socially, And Economically
During the peace negotiations: The French prime minister (Clemenceau) wanted to impose politics deliberately meant to cripple Germany militarily, politically, and economically. Britain wanted a relatively strong, economically viable Germany as a counterweight to French and Russian dominance in Continental Europe.
Obviously, the Reformation was an important factor. Also, from about 1500 on in most parts of Europe the rise in population outstripped increases in agricultural production. This led to a significant fall in living standards and to social unrest.
Well, there were fewer people left around to talk.
Reformation had an effect in religious practices and social class. In the first, it created a different denominations like the catholic and Protestants. The social classes emerged stronger, that is, middle class became stronger and thus expanded economically and politically while the lower class began to exert themselves.
It affected it Politically, Socially, And Economically
Black Death almost killed half of Europe's population. It broke Europe economically and socially.
Black Death changed Europe. Both economically and socially.
Black Death changed Europe. Both economically and socially.
Black Death changed Europe. Both economically and socially.
Western Europe is the most developed, economically, socially, and perhaps politically, region in the world. It is home to many powerful countries, some of the most powerful in the world, economically and military wise. It is also one of the most technologically advanced regions on Earth.
Black Death almost killed half of Europe's population. It broke Europe economically and socially.
It prevented Europe from socially or economically recovering from the war
It caused people to be more careful about hygiene. Socially, politically and economically it changed Europe.
Switzerland
This barrier became known as the Iron Curtain. The term was coined by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during the Cold War. He used it to describe the division between Eastern and Western Europe, when the counties of Eastern Europe were isolated from the West politically, economically and socially.
Politically, Europe has close ties to countries such as Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand mainly because they were previous European countries' colonies. NATO is such an example of this politcal union. Its members include Canada, the US, and 26 European nations. Europe is also economically tied to these four nations, as well as socially tied (as many of these countries' immigrants are from Europe and vice versa, similar living conditions).