Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin Assassination

It must be concluded that although Rasputin did have an influence in the increasing discontent felt by many Russians and their loss of faith in Nicholas’ ability to rule, there were many other reasons for the downfall of the Romanovs. Among these were the fact Nicholas was not a strong leader to begin with this is proven by the defeat in the war, the Tsarina’s influence over him, his irrational decision to go fight in the war and is inability to provide social, economic and political instability for

The Grand Duchess Olga wrote in her journal: “…and he was wholly ignorant about governmental matters. Nicky had been trained as a soldier”. (Fiehn, T. 1996). Nicholas’ sister suggests that he was not ready due to his lack of training. Margot Tracey, daughter of a Russian industrialist declared in 1917, after Nicholas’ abdication “Everybody was fed up with the Tsar because they thought he was weak. When he abdicated there was great rejoicing everywhere. My parents opened champagne bottles and celebrated with friends.”.(White 1994 p.14) Margot shows her understanding of what was going on at the time and that Nicholas was very weak leader, although still a tyrant. Margot’s statement supports the hypothesis as it plainly says that the people did not like Nicholas as a leader due to how weak he was. Margot’s statement is further corroborated by Sergei Witte, a Russian Minister during Nicholas II rule “I pity the Tsar. I pity Russia. He is a poor and unhappy sovereign. What did he inherit and what will he leave? He is obviously a good and quite intelligent man, but he lacks will power, and it from that character that his state defects developed, that is, his defects as a ruler, especially an autocratic and absolute ruler.” (Russian Revolution Quotations 2015). These sources work together to support the fact that Nicholas II was responsible for his own downfall due to his weak character and that he was not properly prepared for the role. This caused

Various aspects of Nicholas II’s political decisions reflected his clear unsuitability for the role of Tsar, and these decisions form a preliminary basis for both his own legacy of incompetency & the eventual undoing of the Romanovs. In comparison to rulers preceding, Nicholas was ill-prepared for the role: his father, Alexander III, failed to adequately develop his son’s understanding of civil & state responsibilities before his death in 1894, under the guise that he would live long enough to teach Nicholas of these affairs. Upon his consecration as Tsar, Nicholas spoke in his diary of his apprehensiveness

However, Nicholas’s personality was not the sole reason why the Old Regime collapsed. Chubarov argues that “another Peter the Great could have saved the Romanovs and Imperial Russia. It is obvious though that the last tsar could not” . Nicholas’s lack of

Rasputin was a witch doctor. When the Russian ruler went to fight in the front

Nicholas II was born on May 18, 1868 in Pushkin, Russia. Nicholas inherited the throne when his father Alexander III died in 1894. Nicholas ascended the throne at the age of 26. He ruled an empire covering about one sixth of the Earth’s land area. Nicholas as tsar was ‘autocrat of all Russia’s’, and saw himself as chosen by God to fill the role. His empire was at peace and in the early stages of industrialization, ranked among the worlds great powers. Nicholas believed it was his duty to continue the autocracy that he inherited and stated, ‘I shall uphold the principle of autocracy as firmly and as undeviatingly as did my late father’. Nicholas was a conservative leader with few of the skills needed to effectively rule 132 million people. Nicholas was

Among the greatest mysteries of Russian history is the influence of the Mad Monk Grigori Rasputin. During his time in court 1907-1916, Rasputin developed a complex relationship with the ruling Romanovs and leading ministers due to his mystical ability to treat the hemophilia of the sole heir to the throne, Tsarevich Alexei.

Rasputin was a man who lived in sin. He believed that by doing so, one would obtain pardon by the almighty. He would drink, party through the night, and sleep with

Rasputin was seen as a symbol of the decay of the Tsarism

Alexandra had also reassured Nicholas to turn to Rasputin, a Serbian mystic to heal his son, Alexei who had inherited Haemophilia B. his success in healing their son saw Rasputin gain increasing influence over the Empress and therefor the Tsar.

Crime and Punishment, a Russian novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, is an engrossing story about an ex-student, Raskolnikov, who plans a murder against an innocent pawnbroker. Raskolnikov the main character and narrator of the story, is a very poor young man who lives on the top floor of a dilapidated apartment in St. Petersburg. Although his plan to kill the pawnbroker Alyona Ivanovna is obvious early on in Crime and Punishment, his reasoning behind committing the murder is a mystery. Through out the novel, Raskolnikov surfaces many different reasons as to why he killed Alyona, but all the reasons are proven false except for the last one he gives. Raskolnikov’s need for money to support his family, and his

The author argues that his book takes a more sympathetic interpretation towards the Russian leader than many Soviet or Western scholars do. Therefore, in his literary piece, Lieven focuses on the political and dynastic elements of Nicholas II’s reign as well as the social and political contexts in which Nicholas II was living. By doing so, Lieven demonstrates that Nicholas was not solely to blame for Imperial Russia’s collapse. While Lieven does believe that Nicholas II’s indecisive nature paired with his feelings of insecurity did influence the later revolution, he

Only three months past and Nicholas had Protopopov made the new minister of interior. Once again, Rasputin had his way. “ ‘God bless your new choice of Protopopov,’ Alexandra exclaimed. ‘Our Friend says you have done a very wise act in naming him’.” This quote is obviously tied to the themes of religion, politics AND manipulation. Rasputin manipulates Alexandra into believing what he does, and into telling Nicholas II that by listening to her (thus Rasputin) choice in political figures, the tsar was approved by God, an idea that Nicholas II could draw the conclusion that as long as he listens to his wife(a.k.a. Gregory Rasputin) he will always be right by the Church. It’s ironic that the author uses rather sophisticated language due to that Rasputin, though he appears to be a flamboyant monk with too much love for alcohol, is an intelligent, deceiving

He is just a good, religious, simple-minded Russian. –Tsar Nicholas II (Russian). Grigori Rasputin was that and more. Rasputin was a lot of different things to a lot of people. To the Tsarina Alexandra, Rasputin was a healer and a dear friend. To some of the nobles, he was a threat and should be killed. Despite having different opinions of Rasputin, everyone agreed that he could work miracles. The Czar’s son, Alexei, is proof of one these miracles. Besides preforming healing miracles, he also had influence in the court of the Tsar (Grigory). Rasputin

From declaring he wanted to become a Napoleon to wishing for financial independence to murdering for his own sake, he rattles off various motives, showing his obsessive rationalization (394-397). By presenting his conflicting intentions, Dostoevsky exhibits the chaos within Raskolnikov’s mind.