...Catherine the Great is born. Greatness to come later, she was born Princess Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg on the 2nd of May 1729 in Stettin, Pomerania. At this point, Stettin, is in Prussia, part of the Roman Holy Empire. Today it is know as Szczecin which, you may already know, is in Poland. Her native tongue was German, but she became fluent in French, essential for hob-nobbing with the elite of 18th century Europe. She first met her second cousin, Peter, when she was 10 and found him loathsome. Peter later became Peter III of Russia. Despite Princess Sophie's dislike of Peter and that fact that Peter's mother (The Empress Elizabeth of Russia) disliked Sophie's mother, the Empress took a shine to Princess Sophie. The Princess had worked hard to master the Russian language and converted to the Eastern Orthodox church in 1744 and took on the name Ekaterina Alekseyevna. She married Peter in 1745 . Peter succ...