Did Rasputin bring down the Russian monarchy?

[mathinspiration]

Was his evil and his belief that more bad he did, more good comes from it lead to Russia’s fall into communism?

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

The Romanov dynasty fell for many reasons. Russia couldn't sustain the war effort, as industrialised modern warfare required, systemic problems going back to the abolition of serfdom, simmering unrest, etc. Look at the Decembrists, or the 1905 uprisings. Russia had long struggled to maintain itself against internal discontent, which you can see in the Russian works of literature of the late 19th. Rasputin merely helped discredit the monarchy somewhat, but it was already tottering long before. Not that it might not have survived, but the stress of prolonged warfare was always problematic to the Tsarist system - especially if going poorly, as the Crimean war or the Russo-Japanese War also shows. WWI was simply too great a stressor for the monarchy to manage to keep ahead of the dissent, and the February Revolution proved incapable to control firebrand socialism leading to the October one. Rasputin makes a nice comic book villain, but he was merely a tick sucking the blood of an ailing Tsarist system.

 

[Resha Caner]

Rasputin makes a nice comic book villain, but he was merely a tick sucking the blood of an ailing Tsarist system.

Love that sentence. Russia has always been the odd superpower that isn't a superpower that wants to be a superpower.

It also seems to me western democracies fail to understand the fears that drive Russia to do things like occupy the eastern bloc.

 

[Bob Crowley]

...

It also seems to me western democracies fail to understand the fears that drive Russia to do things like occupy the eastern bloc.

When the Russians or Soviets occupied the Eastern bloc, they were already there due to the war with Nazi Germany. They had paid very dearly in that war- the Soviet Union lost more people, both military and civilians than anyone else, followed by China, and then Germany.

The Soviets lost somewhere between 8 and 10 million military personnel, and 24 million civilians.

Research Starters: Worldwide Deaths in World War II | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

Stalin was bent on world revolution, and as far as he was concerned, Eastern Europe was under Soviet control and could stay that way.

They also saw it as a buffer against future Western attacks. They didn't occupy Eastern Europe in a vacuum.

 

[Resha Caner]

They also saw it as a buffer against future Western attacks. They didn't occupy Eastern Europe in a vacuum.

This is what I was referring to. Both the Russians and the Chinese have a history of defending long, open, easily accessible borders, and it makes them nervous. They both have a long-standing tactic of dominating the people living on those borders to create a buffer. So, when someone like the U.S. starts messing around in Poland, it makes the Russians very nervous. For them it's not about self-determination of a sovereign people. For them it's a matter of national security.

 

[Kate30]

Was his evil and his belief that more bad he did, more good comes from it lead to Russia’s fall into communism?

Rasputin did seem to have mystical and healing powers that seem to come from another realm. Especially when it came to the health of Czar Nicholas’s only son. Alexei suffered from hemophilia. Rasputin did always seem to keep the child in good health and was very much trusted by Czar Nicholas and his wife Alexadra. He may have been some popular with the ladies and enjoyed his wine very much but as to politically influencing the Czar there is not much evidence that he ever did. And some did make dead sure of that in the end anyway. What caused the Romanov dynasty. monarchy to fall. Certainly not Rasputin. That came with funding from Europe and America along with their hired hands. Trotsky via New York and Lenin from Europe.

 

[Albion]

Rasputin can be said to have played an important part in the downfall of the Czar, but he was not the only factor. However, the question of whether this translates into a certain victory for the Bolsheviks thereafter is tougher to answer. I am inclined to say no to that.

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

Rasputin did seem to have mystical and healing powers that seem to come from another realm. Especially when it came to the health of Czar Nicholas’s only son. Alexei suffered from hemophilia. Rasputin did always seem to keep the child in good health and was very much trusted by Czar Nicholas and his wife Alexadra. He may have been some popular with the ladies and enjoyed his wine very much but as to politically influencing the Czar there is not much evidence that he ever did. And some did make dead sure of that in the end anyway. What caused the Romanov dynasty. monarchy to fall. Certainly not Rasputin. That came with funding from Europe and America along with their hired hands. Trotsky via New York and Lenin from Europe.

There are a lot of theories on how Rasputin treated the Tsarevich. One I find plausible, is that he stopped his pain meds when he came or was in favour, as he told doctors not to 'bother him' but they should have faith. One of these was probably Aspirin, an anti-platelet agent, so that would make his Haemophilia B get better each time. This would account for why whenever the Empress brought him into favour, even if he wasn't present with the royal family, young Alexei would improve.

 

[Kate30]

There are a lot of theories on how Rasputin treated the Tsarevich. One I find plausible, is that he stopped his pain meds when he came or was in favour, as he told doctors not to 'bother him' but they should have faith. One of these was probably Aspirin, an anti-platelet agent, so that would make his Haemophilia B get better each time. This would account for why whenever the Empress brought him into favour, even if he wasn't present with the royal family, young Alexei would improve.

Quid est Veritas I’m not sure but Rasputin was a well traveled man having spent time in Greece and the middle East prior to becoming a favoured practitioner and spiritual guide amongst the Romanov family he may have gained some knowledge of medical remedies there as well. I always thought aspro made our blood thinner but I shall look into that more. And as you said he did express much faith in God too. I’m not sure why people place him the category of a very evil man as I can’t remember him murdering anyone. It may have been because of his drinking binges and because of his exilirating personality and the hypnotic powers he had with the ladies that made many jealous as well. Maybe he was just like Solomon half Saint and half heathen at times.. Or as Bony M did sing. Oh those Russians Something had to be done about such a naughty one : )

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

Quid est Veritas I’m not sure but Rasputin was a well traveled man having spent time in Greece and the middle East prior to becoming a favoured practitioner and spiritual guide amongst the Romanov family he may have gained some knowledge of medical remedies there as well. I always thought aspro made our blood thinner but I shall look into that more. And as you said he did express much faith in God too. I’m not sure why people place him the category of a very evil man as I can’t remember him murdering anyone. It may have been because of his drinking binges and because of his exilirating personality and the hypnotic powers he had with the ladies that made many jealous as well. Maybe he was just like Solomon half Saint and half heathen at times.. Or as Bony M did sing. Oh those Russians Something had to be done about such a naughty one : )

Aspirin is an anti-platelet agent, so while having analgesic properties, it does 'thin the blood' in making it less likely to clot. That is why Aspirin is prescribed chronically in strokes and such.

Look, there is a lot of misinformation around Rasputin and we simply don't know. He wandered around as a religious pilgrim, but was decidedly outside the pale of Orthodoxy. He was loosely associated with the Khlysty, though how closely is conjecture, that taught that to be free from sin and truly repent, one must first have experienced it. Thus he was rumoured to have engaged in brutality, sexual orgies, and many such things. Regardless of the truth of this or not, his use of his influence with the Empress shows a shrewd and calculating political player, not a disinterested pilgrim he presented himself as. Everyone will face God eventually, and Rasputin at least did lip-service to religious ideas. My impression is generally a self-obsessed charlatan, but neither side, White nor Red, has ever been kind to him - Remember, everything we know of him was written by his enemies. I can only go on the authority of my sources, which show a deeply flawed figure. We can whitewash him if you wish, but that will always be conjectural and needing to excuse a lot of negative accounts by appealling to the motive of the accusers. It is one of the pitfalls of reading history, I am afraid, that we can only know the person represented by our sources, rather than the 'real' one.