Dear Diary,
I feel as if my reign is almost over, I have tried my best but no matter what I do, I get criticized and terrible things result from everything I do these days. My people want me to abolish serfdom, once I refused something terrible happened. Pugachev, that pretender to the Russian throne, revolted against me with the peasants, they were all sick of the peasant slavery and he started a rebellion. Many people died during this war, the rebellion spread all over East-European Russia and moved towards Moscow. I was told that towns were destroyed, villages and manor houses went up in flames and innocent people died. If it weren’t for my loyal troops, I am afraid that I would have been over, luckily they captured Pugachev and ended the rebellion (brutally), they are now calling this, "Pugachev's Rebellion." Still, this is a huge historical mark that will affect all of my glorious accomplishments. I now need to maintain a stricter control on my people and prevent any further rebellions. To do this, I am introducing a new system of government, each province will be under the rule of a noble who will maintain law and order, and landlords MUST maintain a tighter control on their peasants. We can only wait and see what will happen.
Catherine
