Russia at the Time of Rasputin

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During the life of Rasputin, Russia seemed to be in a constant upheaval. As a nation, it was struggling to modernize and make itself a formidable power of the western and eastern world. In terms of rulers, Tsar Alexander III had passed on, his reign of an iron fist on the people of Russia was given to his son Nicholas, who was not as restrictive as his father before him (Purishkevich 1985: 16). As Russia moved into the future, Rasputin would be accepted into the courts of the Tsar and Tsarina, fomenting those surrounding the court towards action against the man who slowly, but effectively, held the Tsar and Tsarina, therefore all of Russia, in his hands. I argue that Rasputin’s murder was an unnecessary action due to over exaggeration in the mind of his killers, the nobility surrounding the thrown, and even by the Russian people.

Russia at the time of Rasputin was in a state of distress. As a nation, Russia has always had its issues due to its vastness and its backwardness economically and politically. In many areas of Russia, a famine had occurred in 1891, which pushed great numbers of farmers towards cities in hopes of finding a job in the newly growing industrial sector (Purishkevich 1985: 11). Although Russia was growing industrially, it was largely due to foreign investment and since it was largely owned by the state, the people were not benefitting very much by this boom. Russia was suffering economically in other ways as well. Russia had been suffering an economic slump since 1897, which continued to be exacerbated by poor harvests and Russia’s loss of the Russo-Japanese War (Purishkevich 1985: 20). Due to these economic stresses and the burgeoning industry in cities, a lot of people were in a small area under economic d...

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... have accepted and understood that Rasputin was a man who behaved scandalously, but ignored his life outside the palace for the sake of her very ill son.

What the Tsarina could overlook, those around her could not. Many attempts were made to end his association with the crown from many different areas, the holy man Feofan recanted his support of Rasputin, the Duma’s legislators spoke out against him and at times, he was even removed by the Tsar to save public opinion (Youssoupoff 1953: 214). Regardless, by 1914 Rasputin had returned and would not be removed again until he was removed from his mortal coil, in 1916.

Works Cited

Fuhrmann, Joseph T. "Rasputin: A Life." New York: Praeger Publishers, 1990.

Purishkevich, V.M. The Murder of Rasputin. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Ardis, 1985.

Youssoupoff, Prince Felix. Lost Splendor. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1953.

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