Different historical perspectives on Rasputin and his contribution to the downfall of the Romanovs

Letter from Tsarina Alexandra to Rasputin, 1912 “I kiss your hands and lay my head upon your blessed shoulders. I feel so joyful then. Then all I want is to sleep, sleep forever on your shoulder, in your embrace.”

Contemporary account – Father George Shavelskii, head chaplain Russian armed forces: “Rasputin played a tremendous and fateful role in the destiny of Russia.” His actions … “weakened the spiritual bond that unted the people with the tsar, and provided abundant nourishment for the enemies of the old regime who sought its downfall”.

Rasputin as the puppet master

Vladimir Purichkevitch – speech to the Duma, 19 November 1916 “…all this evil comes from those dark forces … from those influences headed by Grishka Rasputin…”

Orlando Figes "By 1916, Rasputin had become an important figure of the corruption of the Romanov court and its treacherous, unpatriotic behaviour.” "One idea was that he was a paid up German spy. It's doubtful. Rasputin was nothing if not indiscreet, and certainly talked to people with connections with the Germans.” http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/historian/hist_figes_01_rasputin.html

Norman Stone He's a lad of the village. Fancies himself with those, no doubt, emotionally and sexually frustrated ladies of the court. You can see the photographs of them all, with their big bosoms, their sentimental, rather soppy, stupid expressions – in some cases, a notable moustache – all getting sentimental about this great big Russian peasant, in the middle of the group photograph. And, he had obviously, a way of soaping up these ladies. And I think it made terribly bad publicity for the court. But in terms of actual policy, I don't think Rasputin was that important. http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/historian/hist_stone_03_rasputin.html

“Autocracy/ To Hold” Pornographic postcard c. 1917

Robert K. Massie "Rasputin was a man of two faces: he had this holy man persona; he is also enormously dissolute.” "He drank more than anybody else has ever drunk, and he was a great womanizer. He was very attractive to women who felt that he had special powers. St. Petersburg and the country knew about the dissolute side; they didn't know about the healing side. They saw this dissolute fraud going to the palace and seeing the Empress. This inevitably led to stories about the relationship between the two, which fed the belief that the monarchy was corrupt, that the Tsar was being cuckolded, that the whole thing was just sort of a cesspool of ineptitude and corruption. That was Rasputin's contribution. But at the root of what he was doing, was this hereditary disease hemophilia.“ http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/historian/hist_massie_01_rasputin.html

Melbourne Punch 5 April 1917

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