Elizaveta Petrovna Empress of Russia
Added 2022-09-22 04:17:08 +0000 UTCThe second-eldest daughter to Peter the Great reigned as Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. Her rule was obtained by overthrowing the infant emperor Ivan VI. Her government saw the opposition to Prussian Influence, the distribution of power to the nobles, the construction of palaces such as the Winter Palace, and leading Russia through the Seven Years' War. Her court became the most luxurious in Europe. However, she was notoriously vain and probably swindled with young lovers (probably secretly marrying a handsome Ukrainian chorister). Elizabeth passed various decrees intended to make herself stand out. According to historian Tamara Talbot Rice, "Later in life, her outbursts of anger were directed either against people thought to have endangered Russia's security or against women whose beauty rivaled her own".
