The Saxon diplomat Georg Gelbig, who was on business in St. Petersburg at the court of Catherine II, in 1787, together with the empress, went on a journey to the distant Crimea. Upon his return, he anonymously wrote an article in the German magazine Minerva, in which he said that the villages he had seen on the way were supposedly only painted on boards. These painted villages were built by Prince Potemkin. Since that time, there has been a stable expression "Potemkin villages" in the meaning of window dressing, deceit. But were Catherine and the faces accompanying her so stupid that they did not notice the deception?
The Saxon diplomat did not like Russia. He did not like living in her, her customs and orders. He was not at all delighted with the rapprochement of Russia with the West and annoyed that this peasant country in a short time managed to defeat Turkey, conquered vast territories in the south, went to the sea and managed to build a military fleet there. An uneducated power could threaten an enlightened Europe. And who is Potemkin? Yes, he is none other than the "prince of darkness", embezzler, bribe-taker, liar, who created the scenery on the route of the imperial carriages.
In the article, Gelbig also wrote that, according to his observations, during the Empress's trip, the inhabitants of one village and their cattle were driven to another in order to show those who were traveling that the villages were inhabited, the inhabitants had meat, milk, and means of subsistence. Gelbig launched the myth of the "Potemkin villages" into international circulation. And this myth, with his submission, began to be interpreted as a reality. In the later published book-pamphlet "Potemkin Tavrichesky", in the Russian translation of its name "Pansalvin-Prince of Darkness", Gelbig painted his impressions, which later caused great discontent in Russia.
In fact, it was completely different. The Empress and her favorite, Prince Grigory Potemkin, had planned a trip to Crimea back in 1780. Catherine really wanted to see new lands, especially Little Russia, Taurida, Crimea. She dreamed of seeing the Black Sea, cypresses, oleanders breathe the air. Prince Potemkin talked about the wonderful warm climate, about fruit trees, fruits and berries growing in abundance. He shared his extensive plans for the transformation of this region, the construction of new cities, settlements, fortresses from the raids of the Turks. Catherine II agreed with him, allocated funds, and Potemkin began work. He was an indefatigable person, he grasped for a lot, not everything turned out as he wanted, but still he managed to found several cities that developed according to plan and were filled with newcomers.
In 1785, Count Kirill Razumovsky, the last Ukrainian hetman, went south. He visited Kherson, founded by Potemkin in 1778, examined the fortress and the shipyard, then visited a military fortification (the future city of Nikolaev), also founded by Potemkin in 1784, which was to become a powerful naval and shipbuilding base of the Russian fleet. He also visited Yekaterinoslavl on the Dnieper. This city, according to the empress's plan, was to become the third capital of the Russian Empire. Razumovsky noted that these cities amaze with their "leporostroystvo".
In the place of the former desert, villages appeared every 20-30 versts. Potemkin, having caught the desire of his mistress, tried to make Yekaterinoslav not just a provincial city, but similar to the metropolitan metropolis. He planned to build a university there, build a conservatory, and set up a dozen factories. He agitated people to go there, to develop new lands. And people went and mastered.
At the end of 1786, Catherine finally expressed her wish to go on a trip next summer. Potemkin had to hurry. He wanted to impress the empress with various achievements in the south. He devoted a lot of effort to strengthening the Black Sea Fleet. He created fortification settlements for the Russian army. Military and service people were sent to the places, new settlements and villages were created.
In the fall of 1786, Potemkin developed an approximate travel route: from St. Petersburg to Smolensk, from it to Chernigov and Kiev, then Yekaterinoslav, Kherson, Bakhchisarai, Sevastopol, Sudak, Feodosia, Mariupol, Taganrog, Azov, Belgorod, Kursk, Orel, Tula, Moscow and further to St. Petersburg. In total, the distance is approximately 5657 versts (about 6000 kilometers), of which 446 versts by water, including along the Dnieper. At the same time, the prince ordered the regiments of the Russian army to settle in the places of the travel route of the empress and the invited guests, thereby ensuring the safety of the movement of the imperial expedition and having soldiers in place to carry out certain preparatory work. Only near Kiev was the army concentrated under the command of P. A. Rumyantsev in the number of 100 thousand.
On January 2, 1787, the “imperial train” set off from St. Petersburg: 14 carriages drawn by many horses, 124 sleighs with wagons and 40 spare sleighs, 3 thousand people. Ahead rode tall Cossacks, accompanied by the "train" horse guards. The Empress herself sat in a carriage for 12 people, pulled by 40 horses. Among her distinguished foreign guests was the incognito Austrian Emperor Joseph II, a personal friend of the Russian empress and her ally. The Saxon diplomat Georg Helbig also went there.
As we approached to the south, small villages began to appear along the road, cleanly dressed peasants, peacefully grazing cattle nearby. Potemkin, of course, did his best. He showed only the best to the distinguished guests, so he traveled along the entire route in advance. He ordered the houses to be repaired, the facades to be painted, to decorate with garlands, to dress the peasants in a new wardrobe. And he asked everyone to smile and wave their handkerchiefs. But there were no popular constructions on the way.
The "imperial train" reached Crimea at the very end of May. A small palace was built in the Old Crimea especially for his arrival. Catherine and the persons accompanying her were met by the Tauride regiment, which saluted her and bowed his standards to her. Trumpets played all evening, timpani beat. After the fireworks and music, the empress was invited to drink tea in a special pavilion built in an oriental style with a fountain. The Austrian emperor could not restrain his emotions at the sight of such innovations: “- he said enviously. -
Joseph reflected the secret mood of many European monarchs who envied Russia, which managed to acquire such important territories, thereby increasing its power and political weight. Especially Catherine and her guests were struck by the view of the harbor city of Kherson, where vineyards bloomed, one could taste grape wine. Sevastopol admired even more, in the bay of which there was a sailing squadron of 15 large and 20 small ships. This was a clear proof that Potemkin cared about the development of the navy, really took on the transformation of the region.
Catherine's miles - monuments of history and architecture, road signs, built in 1784-1787. on the prospective route of Empress Catherine the Great.
After examining Crimea, many diplomats went home to tell about what they had seen. Prince Potemkin drove the empress to Kharkov, where he was to part with her. At parting the Empress expressed her gratitude to him for what he had done and awarded him the title of "Prince of Tauride".
Catherine arrived in St. Petersburg on July 11, 1787. In total, she was on the trip for 6, 5 months. None of the foreign guests accompanying the Russian empress expressed their displeasure. Everyone was interested in the questions: would the empress want to share such an abundance of land and would she not need an influx of labor from the West?
Catherine wanted a lot and planned a lot, but the political situation suddenly changed, alas, not for the better. Turkey, or rather the Ottoman Empire and its rulers, absolutely did not like this arrangement of Russia in the south. The rulers of Turkey were eager to regain the lands that went to Russia after the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774, including the Crimea.
And it was here that the Austrian Emperor Joseph II remembered the former hospitality of Catherine and took her side. Potemkin took over the role of the commander. In the same year, 1787, he had to collect troops, now to repulse the enemy, to expel him from the territories conquered with such difficulty.
The war ended in 1792 with the victory of Russia and the conclusion of the Yassy Peace. A significant role in the victory was played by the new villages and cities created by Potemkin: Kherson, Nikolaev, Sevastopol, Yekaterinoslav.
One of the most important achievements of Grigory Potemkin should be called the creation of a military fleet on the Black Sea, which was originally built in a hurry, from actually bad and even unusable material, but rendered invaluable services in the Russian-Turkish war. In addition, Potemkin rationalized the uniforms of soldiers and officers. For example, he eradicated the fashion for braids, bouclies and powder, introduced light and thin boots into the form.
Also, Grigory Aleksandrovich developed and implemented a clear structure of units in the infantry forces, which made it possible to significantly increase the maneuverability, speed of operations, and the accuracy of single fire. Potemkin was very fond of ordinary soldiers, since he stood up for the humanity of the attitude of officers to subordinates.
For example, the supply and sanitary standards for the rank and file improved, and for the use of soldiers in private work, which was almost the norm, the perpetrators were subject to the strictest, often public punishment. Thus, thanks to Grigory Potemkin, at least relative order began to be established in the Russian army.
