In 1774, Catherine’s reign was threatened from four sides. There is a war with Turkey, which could turn into a successful peace or a crushing defeat for Russia. In addition, in Paris in the hands of fugitive Poles and French adventurers is an important trump card against Catherine – Elizaveta Tarakanova, the self-styled daughter of Elizabeth Petrovna. In the south of Russia, the peasant uprising of Emelyan Pugachev, another impostor, who declared himself Peter III, flares up. Finally, danger is
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