Catherine the Great was a westernizing monarch.

1. Cathrine the Great westernized Russia by making it a more educated state.

1.1. She started the Smolny Institute in 1764 and was Russia's first state funded school.

1.2. She wrote a guide for the education of young women in 1764.

1.3. She made the wealthier classes have a greater income so they could afford education.

1.4. Counter: Cathrine the Great was not the one who made Russia a more educated state, Peter the Great was.

2. Catherine the Great expanded her land to help westernize Russia.

2.1. Peter the Great had already gained land on the baltic sea and founded saint petersburg there, but catherine the great wanted more so she expanded even more into the black sea to develop a permanent presence there. This greatly improved trading for Russia.

2.2. In 1768 the Russo-Turkish wars began and as a result of this war Russia gained much of Crimea.

2.3. The Russo-Turkish war and three partitions of Poland caused much of the modern Ukraine to fall under the rule of Russia, these victories enabled Russia to create a Black Sea fleet. This expanded her ruler westward and is now able to trade with eastern Europe.

2.4. Counter: Cathrine the Great was not the one to want to westernize Russia by expansion, she was only caring out what Peter the Great was trying to do.

3. Cathrine the Great tried to introduce western culture into Russia.

3.1. she made the wealthier classes have a greater income so they could afford western habits.

3.2. She wanted supplant western habits and thought onto the russian gentry.

3.3. Counter: Cathrine the Great did not introduce western culture into Russia, it was brought to Russia through trade.