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Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin was born in Tobolsk, far away from the Imperial Capital of St. Petersburg, in 1871. In the years he remained within the Imperial court, witnesses, including doctors, concluded he possessed some extraordinary healing power over the czarevich and his deadly illness, haemophilia. Rasputin's mysterious ability to heal Alexei convinced the Tsarina Alexandra that Rasputin must have been sent by God himself. In her mind he was he the answer to her prayers for God to save her son. His influence over the Imperial government has been debated for decades. Rasputin's rise to political influence was due to his close relationship with the Czarina. During World War I, with the Czar at the front, the Czarina was in command of the Imperial government. With Alexandra, a German born Princess, in control of the Russian government at a time when Russia was at war with Germany, the Russian people held a horrible hatred towards her. There is no doubt among historians that Rasputin gave his advice on government affairs freely to the Czarina. But Rasputin's power was more illusion than reality. Any and all ministry recommendations he may have gave to the Czarina were ultimely approved of and backed by Nicholas, who more or less accepted the Czarina's decisions even against his own wishes. Rasputin, in the end, for the Russian people, became a scapegoat of a failed empire.
Rasputin's original rise to the Imperial court began as Russia attempted to establish a constitutional monarchy. Nicholas had appointed a new Prime Minister, Peter Stolypin after the October Manifesto. Stolypin was Russia's last hope at intelligent government. His tenure saw major advances in industry and agriculture. Russia, under Stolypin, prospered. However, to the Czarina, Stolypin was evil. Her hatred for this man who had done so much to preserve Nicholas' throne, was rooted in that Stolypin had had the courage to take on Rasputin. Stolypin repeatedly told the Czar that he needed to distance himself and his family from Rasputin. At one point, Stolypin brought to the Czar documented proof of Rasputin's wild antics. Alas, the Tsar ignored Stolypin, not wanting to take away from Alexandra the one man she believed could save her sons life. Alexandra's deep hate for Stolypin ended on September 5, 1911, when a revolutionary, not happy that Stolypin's industrial efforts had thwarted revolution, assassinated him at the Kiev Opera House, right in front of the Czar.
Any number of highly respected men in the Russian Orthodox Church fell for Rasputin soon after his appearance at the Imperial court. A holy man he called himself, which in itself was a fallacy, for Rasputin was neither a monk nor a priest. He was, in fact, a starets, an unordained, wandering holy man. Eventually, these supporters turned on him and attempted to send him away from St. Petersburg. But Rasputin knew how to deal with enemies in the church. If a monk, or even a Bishop, opposed him, they might find themselves suddenly sent to a remote assignment. Rumours swirled that Rasputin had seduced the Empress, the Grand Duchesses, and Anna Vyrubova, a close friend of the Czarina whom Rasputin had miraculously raised from a coma following a terrible train accident. These rumours, which reached the highest circles of society where they were immediately repeated by Alexandra's foes, drove Nicholas to near insanity. The remoteness and isolation of the Imperial Family at the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo allowed for the people to believe any rumour. People began to believe Rasputin had hypnotic control over the Czar and the Czarina.
In 1911, only a few months before his assassination, Stolypin made yet another attempt to convince the Czar of Rasputin's evil activities. The Tsar read his report, and said nothing. Stolypin decided to take action. He ordered Rasputin to leave St. Petersburg, outraging the Czarina. Rasputin though, left St. Petersburg, beginning a journey to the Holy Land of Jerusalem. But this self imposed banishment from St. Petersburg was short lived.
For in October of 1912, while the Czar and his family were at their hunting lodge in Spala, Alexei fell on the side of a bathtub. Bruising and bleeding, Alexei was in terrible pain. The doctors could do nothing for him, and Alexandra spent ten days without sleep at his bedside. A notice was drawn up announcing the death of the heir. Desperate, the Tsarina telegramed Rasputin. "God has seen your tears," Rasputin wired back. "Do not grieve. The Little One will not die." Within hours of receiving this telegram, the bleeding had subsided and Alexei began to recover. This incident regained Rasputin to full favour within the Imperial family.
In the spring of 1915, at the urging of Alexandra (and Rasputin), the Czar took total command of the Russian army fighting in World War I, from his relative, the Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaievich. Nicholas did this despite protests from within the Imperial government. This, while it boosted morale at first, eventually helped lead to the downfall of the Romanovs, for it was at this time, when Alexandra let Raputin's advice lead Russia towards revolution.
Finally, by late 1916, Vladimir Purishkevich, a member of the Duma, denounced Rasputin before his colleagues. It soon became apparent Purishkevich belonged to a aristocratic plot to murder Rasputin. In December, a group of aristocrats, including the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich (a cousin of Nicholas), decided that Rasputin's influence on the Imperial government had grown too great and that he had to be killed in order to save the monarchy, and Russia. They lured him to the Yussupov Palace on the impression that Prince Felix Yussupov (another relative of the Tsar) would introduce Rasputin to his beautiful wife.
Rasputin was led to the cellar and fed cakes and wine laced with poison, but these had no affect on him. Yussupov then shot Rasputin at point blank range and Rasputin collapsed on the floor. When Yussupov went to tell his fellow conspirators Rasputin was dead, they sent him back to make sure. On returning to inspect the body, Rasputin suddenly regained consciousness. The Prince fled the cellar, screaming for help. When Yussupov and Grand Duke Dmitri returned, Rasputin was gone. They found him in the yard crawling towards the gate and proceeded to shoot and bludgeon him. They then bound him and tossed him into the Neva river. When Rasputin's body was found the next day, his ties were broken and his lungs were filled with water, showing that he didn't actually die until he was submerged in the frozen waters. Rasputin was dead, but, it was too late, for the monarchy was dead as well.
