In 1768, in the midst of a severe smallpox epidemic that killed every tenth inhabitant of the country, Empress Catherine II decided to set a personal example to her subjects: together with her heir, Tsarevich Pavel, she was the first to be vaccinated against the terrible disease and declared vaccination mandatory for everyone — despite court intrigues, peasant riots and the impending war with Turkey, This decree must be implemented at all costs, otherwise the deadly virus will claim even more lives.
In 1768, in the midst of a severe smallpox epidemic that killed every tenth inhabitant of the country, Empress Catherine II decided to set a personal example to her subjects: together with her heir, Tsarevich Pavel, she was the first to be vaccinated against the terrible disease and declared vaccination mandatory for everyone — despite court intrigues, peasant riots and the impending war with Turkey, This decree must be implemented at all costs, otherwise the deadly virus will claim even more lives.
