Most historians today would agree that Catherine's legacy was decidedly mixed. On the one hand, she drove her country deep into debt for the first time in its history and created more serfs than ever before. This led to the greatest Russian uprising ever before the 1917 Revolution. On the other hand, during her rule of 34 years-one of the longest in Russian history-she attempted to reform many aspects of Russian life, and this gained her huge support. Not long after her death, a Russian historian wrote that "virtually all (Russian) would agree that Catherine's (reign) was the happiest for Russian citizens; virtually all would prefer to have lived then than at any other time.