Grigori Rasputin was a Russian peasant and self-proclaimed holy man who gained influence over Tsarina Alexandra and access to the Russian royal family through his ability to help relieve the symptoms of the Tsarevich Alexei's hemophilia. However, Rasputin's controversial lifestyle, influence over government appointments, and rumors of an affair with the Tsarina undermined the reputation of the Romanov dynasty and contributed to revolutionary sentiment in Russia. In December 1916, Rasputin was assassinated by royal family members and aristocrats seeking to end his influence and damage to the Tsarist regime.

1. Rasputin & Alexandra
Learning Objectives: Explain how did Rasputin contribute to a revolutionary
situation?
Key Terms, Events,
Names:
• Staret,
• Kylysty sect,
• Tsarina
• Alexandra,
Tsesarevich
• Alexei,
• Prince Felix
Yusupov,
• Grand Duke
Dmitri Pavlovich

2. What type of person was
he?
LO: Explain how did
Rasputin contribute to
a revolutionary
situation?
What can we learn from the source about the type of man
Rasputin was?

3. What type of person was
he?
LO: Explain how did
Rasputin contribute to
a revolutionary
situation?
Who are the people caricatured in the cartoons? What is the
message of the cartoons? Who is the intended audience? Why
might we question the reliability of these sources?

4. Sex Manic or Holy Man?
LO: Explain how did
Rasputin contribute to
a revolutionary
situation?
DISCUSS: In the context of the time, was it believable that he was a
“holy man”?
‘It does not matter what the truth about Rasputin was. People like to
believe scandal and rumours, especially about royalty. It was the
effect all this had on the reputation of the Tsar and Tsarina that
mattered.’

5. Who was Grigori
Rasputin? 1
LO: Explain how did
Rasputin contribute to
a revolutionary
situation?
 Grigory Efimovitch aka Rasputin
(name means ‘disreputable one’.
 Staret (holy man) and suspected
member of Kylysty sect
(religious fulfilment through
sexual experiences).
 Eyewitness reports refer to
transfixing gaze, a lack of
hygiene and an insatiable
sexual appetite (involving
actresses, prostitutes and wives
of the nobility?)

6. Who was Grigori
Rasputin? 2
LO: Explain how did
Rasputin contribute to
a revolutionary
situation?
• Rasputin’s presence in the Winter Palace
in 1916 and his meddling in political
affairs helped to discredit the
Romanovs and the concept of autocracy
itself.
• A peasant of strange appearance, poor
personal hygiene and dubious social
activities, Rasputin was considered to be
a monk or starets ('holy man') though he
had no religious training.
• He married at a young age, two years
later travelling by foot on a pilgrimage to
Greece & the Holy Lands.

7. Loved by some!
LO: Explain how did
Rasputin contribute to
a revolutionary
situation?
• In 1904 he heard reports about the illness
suffered by the young Tsarevich Alexei,
before being invited to bless the prince by
one of the Tsarina's confidantes.
• So effective were Rasputin's methods in
comforting Alexei that he was repeatedly
invited back, whenever the tsarevich was in
pain or suffering a haemophiliac bleed.
• The tsarina believed his influence to be
holy in nature.
• Some historians believe he may have
comforted the boy with hypnosis, though
evidence about this is limited.

8. Hated by others!
LO: Explain how did
Rasputin contribute to
a revolutionary
situation?
WHY?
• For many conservatives the idea of
immorality shocked them at that time.
• Professional jealousy amongst senior
ministers, e.g. Stolypin
• Resentment of his influence over
Tsarina, especially during WWI
• Tsar censored critical reports in the
Press

9. Magic & Occult
LO: Explain how did
Rasputin contribute to
a revolutionary
situation?
• Rasputin remained a regular visitor to the Romanov palaces
until his death in 1916.
• Although this seems odd given his habits, it was not unusual
for the royal family to receive visitors or delegations of
peasant backgrounds; this formed something of a
ceremonial practice of the tsar 'regularly meeting the
people'.
• Rasputin had competitors for the Romanov's attention:
rival priests, faith healers and fortune tellers (magic and the
occult were all the rage among some St Petersburg
nobility).

10. Alexandra’s Rule
LO: Explain how did
Rasputin contribute to
a revolutionary
situation?
• Tsarina Alexandra referred to
Rasputin as "our friend" regularly
in her correspondence.
• She began to trust in Rasputin, not
just about her son but about
spiritual, personal and political
matters.
• When the tsar left St Petersburg for
the war front in September 1915,
Alexandra was effectively left
with the responsibility of
domestic government.
• Rather than rely on the advice
offered by her ministers, she
turned more frequently to
Rasputin.

11. Rasputin’s Influence
LO: Explain how did
Rasputin contribute to
a revolutionary
situation?
• Given this responsibility, the self-proclaimed holy man gave
advice on everything from cleaning the cities to battle tactics
in the war.
• Often his advice was self-serving: Rasputin had several
drinking partners in the nobility and his advice to the tsarina often
benefited them, particularly the sacking and appointment of
ministers, which she did frequently.
• Between September 1915 and February 1917 Russia went
through four prime ministers, three war ministers and five
interior ministers.
• The ministerial government was, due to frequent turnover,
inexperienced and unstable - not that Alexandra followed its
advice much anyway.
• Rumours spread all through Russia about Rasputin sleeping with
the Tsarina, and the Tsar being a fool. People said there was a
‘dark circle’ or ‘dark powers’ at the top of the Russian state.

12. Rasputin’s Murder 1
LO: Explain how did
Rasputin contribute to
a revolutionary
situation?
• Rasputin's meddling whispers into
Alexandra's ear and his activities around St
Petersburg, which were better publicised,
were both damaging to the regime.
• Within aristocratic circles and factions inside
the Duma, word begin to spread about an
assassination attempt on the faith healer.
• Led by Prince Felix Yusupov, a small group
plotted his murder to protect the Romanovs
from further damage.
• They killed Rasputin in December 1916,
though by this stage the damage had been
done and revolution was just weeks away.

13. Rasputin’s Murder 2
LO: Explain how did
Rasputin contribute to
a revolutionary
situation?
• Two patriotic Russians, Prince Felix
Yusupov and Grand Duke Dmitri
Pavlovich, decided to get rid of
Rasputin by assassination.
• On December 16, 1916, he was lured
by Felix Yusupov under the pretence
that his wife Irina needed ‘healing’ at
Moika Palace.
• He was served massive amounts of
cyanide (enough to kill an elephant).
• The cyanide failed to kill him, so he
was shot several times, and his body
was dumped into the Neva River.

14. Impact of Rasputin
LO: Explain how did
Rasputin contribute to
a revolutionary
situation?
TASK: Imagine you are working for a Tsarist
secret police (the Okhrana) in December 1916.
Write an official report about the death of
Rasputin trying to keep an ‘objective’
perspective. Include the following points:
 The circumstances in which he died
 His background and rise to prominence
 The controversies surrounding his life
 The views of contemporaries both for and
against
 The impact he had on the Tsarist regime