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Russia Engages the World, 1453-1825
1453 Through the Reign of Ivan the Terrible (1533-1584) The Time of Troubles to the First Romanovs (1598-1682) Peter the Great and His Legacy (1682-1762) The Age of Catherine the Great (1762-1801) The Reign of Emperor Alexander I (1801-1825)

                                     

Explore this Section:

The Age of Catherine the Great: A Summary of Russian History
Russia Symbol Introduction
Russia Symbol The Husband
Russia Symbol The Enlightened Absolutist Monarch
Russia Symbol Catherine's Foreign Policy
Russia Symbol Paul I
The Age of Catherine the Great: A Summary of World History
Introduction
The Americas
Eurasia


Russia's Globalization:
A Key

Events marked Russia Symbol are specific to Muscovy/Russia's internal development.
Those marked World Symbol are important world historical or cultural events.
Engagement Symbol indicates specific points of sociocultural or military engagement between Muscovy/Russia and foreign powers or individuals.




















 

 

 
 Catherine Receives the Ottomans
 
   Photographic Services & Permissions
  Jean Louis de Veilly (fl. 1759–63)
Engraving depicting the reception of the Ottoman Turkish embassy
[St. Petersburg], ca. 1764; printed 1857
NYPL, Slavic and Baltic Division

This engraving shows Catherine the Great, seated, receiving an embassy from Sultan Mustafa III (r. 1757–74) in October 1764 in St. Petersburg’s Winter Palace. Elegantly dressed ladies- and gentlemen-in-waiting stand beside the throne. The reception took place during a period of peace between the two rival empires. A major conflict with Russia (1768–74) ultimately wrested the Crimean peninsula from the Ottoman sultans’ protection and influence. A second Turkish war (1787–92) enabled Russia to reach what it considered its natural boundaries in the south.



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