It can be argued that Grigory Rasputin was responsible for the fall of the Romanov Dynasty to an extent. There are many aspects that Rasputin was the cause for Nicholas and his family losing their powers over the people of Russia. It is believed that Rasputin was only the catalyst that brought about widespread revolt.
Rasputin played a very important role in the lives of the royal family, especially to the Tsar and Tsarina’s only son , Tsarevich Alexei, who was suffering a lot of pain from the disease Haemophilia. Rasputin was regarded as the last means to an end to cure the Tsar and the Tsarina’s haemophiliac son. They had tried to find a cure everywhere for their son and in 1905 ask the peasant healer to help. In 1908 when Alexei was seriously ill, Rasputin was called to Royal palace where he managed to stop the bleeding. From then on the Tsar referred to Rasputin as “our friend” displaying to the people the amount of trust they had in Rasputin.
Tsar Nicholas II couldn’t stop the progression of revolution as he came to rule at a difficult time. He was out of touch with his people and was known as a leader that was no good, weak, hesitant; and extremely hard-headed. Tsar Nicholas II was at the time mainly concerned with his family issues instead of being focused on the political issues. He was also not prepared to efficiently rule a country where there was a massive variety of people with different languages, race, religion; and culture. It is reported that during Nicholas’s earlier years while his father was still in power, that he found government meetings boring and was not interested in the affairs of state. The Tsar wanted the country to still be ruled as an autocracy where the peasants and the working class had extremely below average standard of living, while the royal family live in a life filled with riches and extravagances.
Tsar Nicholas undertook absolute command of the Russian army fighting on the
Bibliography: * Grigori Efimovich Rasputin [online] http://www.alexanderpalace.com/2006rasputin/index.html [accessed 19th March 2011] * Grigori Rasputin Biography [Online] http://www.biographybase.com/biography/rasputin_grigori.html [accessed 19th March 2011] * Gregory Rasputin: Biography. [Online] http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSrasputin.htm [accessed 19th March 2011] * Gilliard, P. Thirteen Years at the Russian Court. 2008 [Online] http://www.alexanderpalace.org/2006pierre/chapter_XII.html [accessed 19th March 2011] * The Decline and Fall of the Romanov Dynasty [Online] http://www.docshare.com/doc/162390/The-Decline-And--Fall-Of-The-Romanov-Dynasty [accessed 23rd March 2011] * Radzinsky, E. 2001, The Rasputin File. Anchor Books * Shukman, H. 2009, Rasputin: An Introduction. The History Press -------------------------------------------- [ 1 ]. Gregory Rasputin: Biography. [Online] http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSrasputin.htm [Date Accessed 18th March 2011]