Rasputin Essay, Research Paper

Folklores are tales shrouded in mystery and mysticism, often depicting a time and an era long since dead, but there is a story of a man, not to long ago which entertains all the traits of a tall tale. Nobody in recent Russian history commands as much villainy, sainthood and mystery as the charismatic and often elusive Grigory Efimovich Rasputin. This saint who sinned # played a constructive role in the disruption of the Romanov family, the political upheaval of Russia and the eventual fall of the Tsar and his family. There were some that believed him a messenger of god, but in truth Rasputin was a just man, a man who had the incredible ability to deliver people from the confinements of their minds to the righteousness of faith. As past tales have shown, the religious or revolutionary awakening of an individual or a nation results in an irrevocable disruption of the current foundation. Whether Rasputin was the political mastermind or just a humble monk who believed in the pleasures and gratuity of occultism, he changed Russia in a way that will never be repeated or repented.

Tsar Nicholas II son Alexei the only male produced by the royal couple, was the foundation of Rasputin s bond with the Tsars. On the second meeting with the tsars, Rasputin requested to meet their son. # He asked for their consent to relieve the child s suffering with a prayer.# Alexei had not been able to fall asleep, beleaguered by his last attack of Hemophilia.# The eccentric peasant approached the crib and began to pray.# Before the tsars themselves, the boy began to grow tranquil and peacefully fell asleep. He awoke healthy the next morning, and it was called a miracle by the tsarina.# Rasputin had now become indispensable. # But Rasputin s behavior grew more out of control by the minute.# The monk boasted of his exploits with the Empress and her daughters, even claiming the Tsar was at his command.# Nicolas police informed him of these rumors and Rasputin was banished to the provinces.# No sooner had Rasputin left than another bleeding crisis almost killed Alexei.# Rasputin s influence over the boy guaranteed the monk s return to St. Petersburg.# His position in the imperial circle was never again challenged.#

Rasputin s greatest ally lay with the Alexandra Fydorovna, the tsarina of Russia. Alexandra had been, much in her life surrounded with mystics and prophetic ministers who prayed on her superstitious beliefs, this was not discontinued when she met and married Nicholas II.# During her first few years with the Tsar the pressure was on to produce a male heir which would lead her back to her old ways, looking for spiritual answers in the mystics. # These answers would be fed by an onslaught of holy men brought to the tsarina by the black princesses , Militsa and Anastasia, the Montenegrin princesses who had married into her company.# It was under the recommendation of the Grand Duchesses and Alexandra s good friend, Anna Vyrubova that Rasputin was summoned to appear before Alexandra. #

After healing Alexei on his second visit, Rasputin would become a very important to Alexandra.# The tsars now summoned him to the palace secretly, for Rasputin was warned by Militsa and Anastasia to not seek console with the tsars without them.# Rasputin defied them and began to visit the palace without seeking their permission.# This rebellious behavior by Rasputin began to cause a rift between the black princess and Alexandra.# The began to speak against Rasputin to the their very powerful husbands, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich and Grand duke Pyotr Nikolaevich.# Rasputin himself sent a note to the Grand Duke Nicolas offering to visit the troops to bless them, but the Grand Duke replied, Yes, do come. I ll hand you. # The royal family became divided over Rasputin relationship with the Tsarina.# This tension over Rasputin would lead to further separation from the Romanov s by the ever-drifting Alexandra.

The Tsarina had began to trust Rasputin so much that she not only seeked out his advice for her personal business, but also the course of action on state rule.# During the first few years of the war, the government had been reshuffled many times.# The government had had four Prime ministers, four war ministers, and six ministers of the interior.# Each appointment was seen as Rasputin working the royal family like marinates.# Rasputin s follower Boris Sturmer was appointed Prime Minister in 1916.# Sturmer loathed the idea of local government and wanted an end to war with Germany.# He also hold the position of Minister of Interior.# The rank of Minister of Foreign Affairs was held by Gregory Sazonov, who pushed to keep Russia in alliance with the allies.# However, on August 9, 1916 his position was taken over by Sturmer.# The second most powerful position of the state, Minister of Foreign Affairs, was given to Alexander Dmitrievich Protopopov. # The position was said to be a gift from Rasputin, who introduced him to the Tsarina.# who recommended him for the position.# Rasputin through the Tsarina, now had the government of the Russian Empire in his grasp.

Power of state has never lied solely in the government or in the monarchy, it is divided with the church that Rasputin was able to infiltrated, use and discard like the shell of an empty battery, powerless.

Rasputin s first landing onto the Petersburg holy scene was solidified by a letter of introduction from Chrysanthos, archimandrite of the Kazan eparchy to the rector of the Theological Seminary, Bishop Sergius.# This introduction would continue on till Rasputin had met many of the highest clergymen including the Tsars close religious advisor father Feofan, all of whom had already heard of the wonders of the wanderer.# A reputation proceeds a man wherever he is and Rasputin s by tale alone would captivate any conversation, but this illusion would soon fade, starting with the clergy. Skeptics of his righteous powers gained credibility when his drunkenness and adultery became as famous as his reputation and they would seek to discredit him, but by this point his spell was already cast on the Tsarina.# Some were bold enough to openly denounce Rasputin including his most trusted friend father Feofan, who after writing to the tsarina of Rasputin s escapades found himself transferred to the Crimea.# Such was the fate of those intellectuals who sought to unmask Rasputin, leaving nothing but cowering sympathizers or career orientated pastors in control. Rasputin was not wholly aware that as times got worse and Russia was entering the grips of war, he to would be fighting a three front war internally which would have an unhappy ending.

The eventual and almost predestined fall of the Tsar would happen like any other physical imbalance, first with a stiffening of the limbs followed by a friendly push. Alexandra had had all she could handle of reports depicting Rasputin s alleged debauchery , drunkenness and over all vulgar persona. In a conversation with Dmitri Pavlovich the tsarina stated Those who have offended god in the person of our friend [Rasputin] may no longer count on divine protection. .# Now the imperial limbs have stiffen in stubbornness, a very common thing amongst nobles, all that is needed is the push which would come in the form of a resignation. After continued harassment from the Tsarina and Rasputin Nicholas II relieved the Grand Duke Nikolai and took control as supreme commander of the Russian army, this would be a fatal twist toward the story s dark end.#

This Folklore hits its climax on the night of December 17th 1916 our friend is assassinated in the most defiant of ways, giving Rasputin a spot in martyrdom never to be forgotten.# His enemies had finally succeeded in ridding themselves of the entrenched holy man in a hope to return order to both the government and the nobles, this would prove to be fatal. Now Nicholas was worse than alone, under all other pressures of state and war he also stood in the religious shadow of Rasputin.# Rasputin dead was far worse than if he had been alive.# The Romanov irony declares itself once again, in the time of Rasputin s mourning the Tsar is closer to the people than ever before and yet never more distant in thought. In this moment of closeness the peasants began to breathe fowl play and the rumors of nobility plotting the great healers death cause an uproar.# A friend of Maurice Paleologue disclosed this thought to him, Rasputin has become a martyr. He was a man of the people; he let the Czar hear the voices of the people. He defended the people against the pridvornye, the noblemen. So the pridvornye killed him. That s what being said in all the izbas. # In death Rasputin plays the final role in the fall of the Tsar and his family. With his disruptions in family and in the government already in place, his death would cause the last and fatal disruption, with that of the people. Revolution!

Like all good folklore, the enigmatic Rasputin lives on through the mysteries he left behind. Many still believe him to have been more than a man; a devil in sheep s clothes. This evil monk # was a key factor in the disruption of the Romanov family, the political upheaval of Russia and the eventual fall of the Tsar and his family. The Siberian peasant Rasputin managed to influence the most important family in all of Russia. Through his charismatic charms and hypnotizing glare, he managed to change the course of history. But what Rasputin did not notice was that he had harvested an alliance of hatred all around himself.# Even his dreadful name had become too thoroughly a symbol of disaster. This mistake lead to the eventual down fall of Rasputin and the royal family. A magician Papus, wrote before his death Rasputin is a vessel like Pandora s box, which contains all the vices, crimes, and filth of the Russian people. Should the vessel be broken, we will see its dreadful contents spill themselves across Russia. # The box was broken. The blood of the Russian people would spill so immensely, even the moon rose red.

# Edvard Radzinsky, The Rasputin File, (New York: Doulbleday, 2000) pg.3

# Ibid., pg.76

# Ibid., pg.76

# Ibid., pg.76

# Ibid., pg.77

# Ibid., pg.77

# Ibid., pg.77

# www.ishipress.com/rasputin.htm

# www.eurohistoy.com/Rasputin.html

# Ibid.

# Ibid.

# Ibid.

# Ibid.

# Edvard Radzinsky, The Rasputin File, (New York: Doulbleday, 2000) pg.62

# Ibid., pg.62

# Ibid., pg.50

# www.eurohistoy.com/Rasputin.html

# Edvard Radzinsky, The Rasputin File, (New York: Doulbleday, 2000) pg.77

# Ibid., pg.78

# Ibid., pg.78

# Ibid., pg.51

# Ibid., pg.85

# www.eurohistoy.com/Rasputin.html

# Edvard Radzinsky, The Rasputin File, (New York: Doulbleday, 2000) pg.82

# www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk

# www.ishipress.com

# www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk

# www.ishipress.com

# Ibid.

# www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk

# Ibid.

# Ibid.

# Ibid.

# www.ishipress.com

# www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk

# Ibid.

# Edvard Radzinsky, The Rasputin File, (New York: Doulbleday, 2000) pg.47

# Ibid., pg.39

# Ibid., pg.84

# Ibid., pg.123

# Harrisone E. Salisbury, Black Night, White Snow: Russia s Revolutions 1905-1917, (New York:

Doubleday & Company Inc., 1977) pg.212

# Ibid., pg.271

# Ibid., pg.297

# Edvard Radzinsky, The Rasputin File, (New York: Doulbleday, 2000) pg.375

# Ibid., pg.375

# Ibid., pg.435

# Harrisone E. Salisbury, Black Night, White Snow: Russia s Revolutions 1905-1917, (New York:

Doubleday & Company Inc., 1977) pg.318

# Edvard Radzinsky, The Rasputin File, (New York: Doulbleday, 2000) pg.13

# www.ishispress.com

# Ibid.