Rasputin

Itesm Campus Santa Fe
2nd semester
Joseph Delano
A01017816
History
January 19th, 2011
Rasputin: How did his influence over nobility led him to his death?
Index
• Introduction
• Background
• Rasputin’s Influence
• Rasputin’s mistakes
• Rasputin’s death
• Conclusion
• Works cited

Introduction

An evil monk, this would be the best description for Grigori Rasputin who indirectlydestroyed the Romanov family with his wit, profound look and unorthodox ways. He was born a nobody in deep Siberia in 1869, his parents were peasants and he was a violent alcoholic since his adolescent years. How he managed to control the very core of the Russian government and to use it in his own favor, not caring for his country or people, is what I will try to explain and discuss. However thereseemed to be other opinions and some people even came to worship him Also I will narrate his death and will elaborate a conclusion regarding the facts on what was exactly what made him so terrifying and yet influencing on people But first it is important to mention what was the situation surrounding Rasputin and what was what called him to power in Russia.

Background

Rasputin was born inSiberia in 1869 and was son to peasants. The situation in Russia at the time was, in general terms, all right; the Romanovs were in power with Alexander II as the Czar and the country had somewhat trouble with modernizing the country, but Russia was finally beginning to leave Feudalism behind. He thought of himself as someone with unnatural healing powers and called himself a monk. Eventually, hewas well-known for this and in 1902 he moved to Saint Petersburg (Czar Nicholas II was in power) wanting to prove these “God-given” powers. By 1906 he could call himself famous because in the Romanov’s palace, Alexandria, Tsar Nicholas II¨ wife, called upon him to cure her son’s mortal disease, hemophilia, which caused internal bleeding and, it seemed, nobody could cure. One morning Alexandria andAlexis were out riding the family’s horse when suddenly Alexis started to bleed and his mother started to panic. First thing she did was to telegram Rasputin. His reply was “God has heard your prayers and seen your tears, the little one will not die; tell the doctors not to bother him too much” (Rasputin, 1906). The next morning Alexis was healed. From this point on Rasputin had more influencethan Alexandra’s own husband in the Royal Family, the Romanovs. Alexandra and Rasputin became very close and some even say they were lovers, so whatever it was that Rasputin wanted to be done, this way or another was done. This would become an issue, not only among the family but among the whole empire of Russia.



Rasputin’s influence


Fig 1 Picture of Rasputin


As we can see infig. 1 Rasputin had an evil profound look; he seems to be making the cross with his hand, this means he wanted to be related with religion.
People argue that it was Grigori´s strange and mystical look which conquered people’s souls and used this influence to get what he wanted. Strangely enough, it was no secret that he was a cynical sinner who would not care for any scandals that resulted in hisacts nor did he care for other people’s wellness.
Tsar Nicholas II hated him and sometimes blamed him for all of Russia’s issues but he could not get rid of him, even though Rasputin was nothing but a “doctor” of some kind, even though he was with the emperor’s wife, he still managed to stay within the Romanov family.(La revolución rusa, 68).
I do not mean to over interpret but it seems veryclear, according to the Picture of Rasputin I feel safe to think that the reason why he had such influence in the aristocracy was purely because of his look which created fear and at the same time it was convincing and most importantly he was a preacher who, in his own way, represented God. And let’s not forget that the Church (Russian Church) has always been an imposing authority.
I sincerely...