Empress of Russia (1741–62). She was the unmarried daughter of Peter I (the Great), a beautiful and extravagant woman who seized the throne from the infant Ivan VI. She was more interested in social life and the arts than in affairs of state and government was conducted mainly by her ministers. Russia increased its hold on Poland in the War of the Polish Succession and the Seven Years War. On her death Peter III immediately changed sides, thus making Frederick II’s ultimate victory possible.