 In this romanticized biography, a small German principality s unexperienced princess, Catherine, becomes the bride of czarevitch Peter, the mad and abusive son and heir of the Russian czarina Elisabeth, from whom she learns the cynical ropes of wielding absolute imperial power at any cost, including sacrificing her lover, young guards officer Saltykov, who must give her an heir which Peter can t and is then send abroad. After Elisabeth s death, she quickly moves to seize power with military and courtier support and works to enlarge and modernize the empire, again putting statesmanship ahead of her lover, a military genius who defeats the Ottomans and governs the conquered territories for her.