Rasputin Essay, Research Paper
Rasputin had a significant impact on the royal family as well as Russia during the reign of Czar Nicholas II. Rasputin was a staret that worked his way into the royal family. The influence of Rasputin on Alexis, the heir to the throne, gave him great power. The power given to Rasputin had a notable impact among the Russian people as well as Russia. Grigory Efimovich, better known as Rasputin, was born in the town of Pokrovskoe in 1871. The name Rasputin means “dissolute,” for his tireless pursuit of girls, and “crossroads,” in which his town was located between. He had a dual reputation of “second sight” from the beginning. It was said that he could spot a horse thief in a crowd with one glance and predict the weather for farmers. This cast a religious glow of sanctity about him. These were all factors that led up to him presenting himself to the Imperial Palace in 1905. Besides gaining the friendship of Grand Duchess Militza and Anastasia, Rasputin also gained the trust of Anna Vyrubova, Empress Alexandra’s trusted companion. It was under the recommendation of the Grand Duchesses and Anna Vyrubova that Rasputin was summoned to appear before Alexandra. He showed up in crude country boots and a caftan. They saw that Rasputin was a very dirty man. He had a long, uncut beard, greasy hair that was slicked back, and terrible oral hygeine which is shown in the 3rd picture. Alexandra favored him and was obsessed with the man’s ability to heal so he became her servant. She thought of him as a representative of the people of Russia but closer to god as well. He soon became an important figure in the royal family. Alexis was born with a rare disease called hemophilia. This meant that when Alexis began to bleed he would bleed uncontrollably and it could not be stopped. Rasputin treated Alexis as if he were his nanny, reading him stories, curing his headaches, but most importantly, controlling his bleeding. It was said that all that Rasputin had to do was merely tell him that it will stop and somehow, without any explanation for the occurrence, the bleeding would stop. However Rasputin managed to stop Alexis’ suffering, the truth of the matter was that he gained Nicholas and Alexandra’s undivided support and it gave him immense power. Czar Nicholas listened to his wife so Rasputin began to tell Alexandra what is to happen in the country. She in turn listened to him and told her husband everything. Although Rasputin was nearly an uneducated man, he found a seat in the Duma and was elected in 1912. He became an important political figure. In1913, the Czar pushed towards rigid antagonism toward the Duma, Rasputin and the Czarina urged him to dissolve it altogether or at least take away all of its real power. 1913 was also the 300th anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty and the importance of the Duma was intentionally slighted. Rasputin, in an act of defiance, sat in a seat set aside for the Duma. The president of the Duma bodily threw him out of the Kazan Cathedral. The 1st image shows Rasputin as an evil influence with control over the Czar and Czarina. Czar Nicholas is shown with his simpering grin, symbolizing his lack of leadership, and Czarina Alexandra staring at her husband with a stern expression on her face, symbolizing her influence over him. Nicholas’s family, even his mother, desperately tried to have the monk removed from the imperial couple’s proximity. The Romanovs, never really fond of Alexandra, constantly approached the Czar and demanded that Rasputin be sent away. The Bolsheviks did not like Rasputin at all so he was murdered on December 26th 1916. His body was shot, stabbed, brutally beaten, and thrown into the Neva River. He was poisoned first but when they found it didn’t work they tried again. When this didn’t work they shot him 2 times in the chest only to find him still alive and chasing the assassin. He was finally tied up and thrown into the Neva River where he did not die of drowning but of Hypothermia. The Bolsheviks claimed that their motive was the patriotic desire to rid Russia of an evil influence. The fact that rumors had been spreading that Rasputin was having affairs with Alexandra as well as the couple’s four daughters. Czar Nicholas’s secret police quickly informed the Czar of these rumors. A penitent Rasputin was summoned to appear before the infuriated Czar, but Alexandra defended the staret. Nicholas punished Rasputin by sending him back to the provinces in 1912, but no sooner had Rasputin left when another bleeding crisis almost killed Alexis. Rasputin’s influence over the boy guaranteed the monk’s return to St. Petersburg. In the 2nd picture, Rasputin is shown groggy after having just drunk a glass of poison. As he stares at the cross in the picture, Prince Yusupov, who was loyal to the king, aims his gun to shoot at Rasputin. Rasputin was persistent in achieving his goals and did so to worm his way into the royal family. His power to heal Alexei and the belief of the Czarina in him ultimately led to the downfall of Russia. All in all Rasputin significantly altered the courses of events in Russia.
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