SPEAKER_07: Reboot your credit card with Apple Card. It gives you unlimited daily cash back that can earn 4.15% annual percentage yield when you open a savings account. A high yield, low effort way to grow your money with no fees. Apply for Apple Card now in the Wallet app on iPhone to start earning and growing your daily cash with savings today. Apple Card subject to credit approval. Savings is available to Apple Card owners subject to eligibility. Savings accounts by Goldman Sachs Bank USA. Member FDIC, terms apply.
SPEAKER_02: Sick of paying $100 for groceries and getting nothing but eggs, orange juice, and a paper bag? Then download the Drop app. Drop lets you earn points with your everyday shopping and redeem them for gift cards. Want a free dinner with those groceries? Drop it. How about daily lattes? Drop it. So download Drop today and get $5 just for signing up. Use invite code GETDROP777.
SPEAKER_04: At Toyota electrified doesn't just mean plugified. So you can go off road in a hybrid Tundra and take the scenic, Rutified. Or step inside a plug-in Prius and get glamified. Or hop in an all electric BZ4X and take it Easyified. Toyota is electrified, diversified. And the more ways we can choose to reduce carbon emissions, the closer we all get to Toyota's beyond zero vision. Toyota, let's go places.
SPEAKER_01: Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Encyclopedia Wamanica. As we dive into a new year and a new decade, we're taking this month to talk about leaders from throughout history. Today we're talking about a woman whose reign ushered in a new era in her country. She reorganized and added to the territory of the Russian empire. She replenished the country's coffers and attempted to enact reforms before doubling down on the system of serfdom, increasing the plight of her nation's poor. Let's talk about Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia. Sophie Frederick Auguste, Princess of Anhalt-Zirpst, was born on May 2nd, 1729 in Prussia. She was the daughter of a minor German prince and her mother was related to the Dukes of Holstein. After a relatively unexciting childhood, Sophie's life took a turn when at age 14, she was chosen to become the wife of Karl Ulrich. Karl's grandfather was Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia, and Karl was his heir. In 1744, Sophie arrived in Russia and took on the title of Grand Duchess Catherine Aliseyevna. The following year, she married Karl, who was known as the Grand Duke Peter. The marriage was wildly unsuccessful when it came to a loving partnership, but it put Catherine in extremely close proximity to power. When Catherine and Peter got married, Russia was ruled by Peter the Great's daughter, Elizabeth. She was Tsarist for 20 years. She stabilized rule over the empire and worked to create a court in Russia akin to those of the rest of Europe. Catherine was intelligent, charming, and extremely ambitious. After Elizabeth's death and her husband's ascension to power, Catherine set in motion a plan to remove Peter and install herself as ruler. Under Elizabeth's rule, Russia was allied with France and Austria in the Seven Years War against Prussia. When Elizabeth died, Peter withdrew from that war and allied himself with Prussia, officially switching sides mid-fight. Peter foolishly made obvious the fact that he loved his native Germany and disliked Russia, the country over which he ruled. He had very few fans among his people. Catherine, meanwhile, had gained the affections of the Russian army, royal court, and the public in Moscow and in St. Petersburg. At that time, she was thought of as enlightened due to her liberal opinions. On June 28th, 1762, Catherine led troops into St. Petersburg and proclaimed herself empress. Her husband, Peter, abdicated, and he was killed nine days later. In September 1762, Catherine was crowned in Moscow and began her reign. She would go on to rule Russia for 34 years. Catherine's goals as ruler were to make Russia prosperous, powerful, and forward-looking. She hoped to spread justice and education throughout the empire and wanted a grand court in the French style. Before rising to power, she even planned to emancipate the serfs, who were essentially slaves who worked the land and were owned by landowners. Unfortunately, Catherine's vision didn't become a reality. She quickly realized that her liberal reforms were too far a leap from Russia's status quo and would cause significant discontent, especially among her supporters in the Russian gentry. Five years later, Catherine gathered a commission of people from different provinces and socioeconomic classes to write a Russian constitution. But after much debate and frustration, the cause was abandoned. Fresh off the failure of her enlightenment-centered goals, Catherine changed tact and instead focused on expanding the grandeur of Russia. In 1768, she went to war with the Ottoman Empire. The Russians and Ottomans had been enemies for centuries, so the Russian people were enthusiastic about the conflict. Things were looking good after Russia won a significant naval battle. But on the home front, trouble was brewing. First, a plague broke out in Moscow. The sickness compounded the hardships of living in a country at war. People were agitated, and in 1773, a man named Yemelyan Pugachev seized on their dissatisfaction to bolster his attempt to overthrow Catherine's rule. Yemelyan pretended to be the dead emperor Peter. He was one of many royal pretenders throughout Catherine's reign. He gathered followers in the Ural region and then throughout Russia's southeastern provinces. In June of 1774, his troops prepared to march on Moscow. On the international front, Russia had succeeded in beating the Ottomans, so Catherine called back her troops in order to end the domestic rebellion. The uprising was crushed, and its leader beheaded the following year. The revolt changed the way that Catherine thought about her people. Beforehand, she saw them as people to be pitied and freed. Afterwards, they were to be feared and kept in chains. Rather than freeing the serfs, she actually strengthened the system that kept them enslaved. She gave lands that were previously owned by the crown to people she liked. Peasants living on those lands became the new owners' serfs. All that unpaid labor helped to finance Catherine's immense economic, military, and cultural projects. She built more than 100 new towns and expanded others. She developed a spectacular royal court that was visited by great minds from across Europe. She organized provinces under a new administrative reform plan, and trade flourished. She also founded schools, wrote literary reviews, and invested in the sciences. She greatly expanded the Russian Empire. In 1774, the same year Russia defeated the Ottomans, a man named Grigory Potemkin became Catherine's lover and was appointed minister. In 1783, the duo decided to annex Crimea from the Ottoman Turks. Occupation of that region gave Russia access to the Mediterranean. As Catherine's perspective on power became more inclined towards the despotic, the sentiment in certain parts of Europe was moving the other direction. It was the time of the French Revolution, and despite Catherine's earlier belief in Enlightenment ideals, she, like many other royals of Europe, disdained the actions of the French. When the people of Poland attempted to follow the French example and develop a liberal constitution, Catherine sent in troops and annexed most of western Ukraine as a threat. After an uprising in 1794, Catherine went so far as to wipe Poland off the map. She divided the territory between Russia, Prussia, and Austria. On November 16th, 1796, Catherine died of a stroke. By the time of her death, Russia was 200,000 square miles bigger than it had been before her ascension to the throne. She's a source of pride for some, particularly in Russia, and a symbol of authoritarianism for others. Regardless, she's remembered for defining the era Tune in tomorrow for the story of another leader. This week of Encyclopedia Wamanica is brought to you by HelloFresh. It's hard to be a good leader if you're not well fed. HelloFresh makes it easy. As you may have heard yesterday, I'm trying to cook more in 2020. In the past, my biggest challenge was carving out time to find recipes, go to the grocery store, prep, and cook. Then I tried HelloFresh. The recipes are delicious and fun to make. I don't have to worry about finding recipes or going to the grocery store because everything I need is delivered. Plus, I feel good about the fact that the packaging is almost entirely made from recyclable and or recycled materials. HelloFresh now starts at just $5.66 per serving. Go to hellofresh.com slash encyclopedia 10. That's hellofresh.com slash encyclopedia 10 and use code encyclopedia 10 during HelloFresh's New Year's sale for 10 free meals, including free shipping. Special thanks to my favorite sister and co-creator Liz Kaplan. Talk to you tomorrow.
SPEAKER_03: Do you hear it? The clock is ticking. It's time for the new season of 60 Minutes. The CBS News Sunday Night Tradition is back for its 56th season with all new big name interviews, hard-hitting investigations, and epic adventures. No place, no one, no story is off limits, and you'll always learn something new. It's time for 60 Minutes. New episode airs Sunday, September 24th on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
SPEAKER_06: Did you learn anything fun today? Yeah, I went to the jungle and learned a bunch of new words from an iguana. That's cool. And then I went to a farm and got to read with some pigs. Sounds like you're learning a lot. Watch your child's reading skills soar this summer when you use the Good and the Beautiful's all-in-one Reading Booster Kits for kids kindergarten through second grade. Reading cards, books, games, and a free compatible app are all included. Go to readingbooster.com to order yours today and bring home a love of learning. Order now at readingbooster.com.
SPEAKER_05: AT&T and Verizon lure you in with their best phone offers, only to lock you into a three-year phone contract, not at T-Mobile. Now, with T-Mobile's best Go 5G plans, upgrade when you want. Every year or every two, you decide. Visit tmobile.com to take charge of your upgrades.
SPEAKER_00: Get two-year financing on Go 5G Plus and Next. One-year upgrade on Go 5G Next requires financing a new qualifying device and upgrading in good condition after six plus months with 50% paid off. Upgrade ends financing in any promo credits. See tmobile.com.
