She is called the “wise mother of the fatherland” and Catherine the Great. Her reign is glorified as the “golden age” of the Russian Empire. Even from school we are taught that during her reign (1762-1796) there was an unprecedented rise in Russian statehood, an era has come the highest political and economic prosperity of Russia. But what is hidden behind the brilliant façade of Catherine’s reforms and state changes? One has only to take a closer look - and what catches the eye is blatant lawlessness and betrayal, baseness and depravity, murder and forgery of the most important state documents. In fact, Catherine’s “golden age” was an era of incredible lies and hypocrisy, a time of extreme lawlessness for the majority of the “Great Empress’s” subjects—tens of millions of serfs. It was under Catherine that the nation was split into privileged “Russian Europeans” and “Russian natives” who were in virtual slavery. Catherine’s “Golden Age” mutilated destinies and souls, completely corrupted the “elite” of the Empire, and broke the history of the country.