With starting off with this topic, I had very limited knowledge about Russia and the era of Catherine the Great. However from the background information that we have covered in class on the topic, I have been able to pick my topic for the assignment. I have chosen to study Catherine the Great's influences from Voltaire and Rousseau to the Englightenment. I chose this topic because I am fascinated and intrigued by the englightened way of thinking and wish to gain a knowledge on what influenced Catherine to rule as she did. I look forward to learning more about the regimes and laws that Catherine the Great introduced into Russia and what brought her to introducing them. I have done some limited research so far on the topic and I hope to gather a lot more as the research process continues.