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1905-1917 (murdered late December 1916)Reputable source · 2 sourcesWell documented

Rasputin and the unraveling of the monarchy's authority

A self-proclaimed holy man's grip on the empress over her hemophiliac son drags the crown's reputation down with him.

On the timeline · around 1905-1917 (murdered late December 1916) · War and Collapse, 1914-1917War and Collapse, 1914-1917The Year of Two RevolutionsRasputin and the unraveling of the monarchy's authority19161917

Quick facts

Access gained through
Treating Tsarevich Alexei's hemophilia
Murdered
Late December 1916
Body found
Early January 1917

What happened

Grigori Rasputin, a Siberian peasant and self-proclaimed holy man, gained access to the Russian court because he appeared able to ease the suffering of Tsarevich Alexei, the heir to the throne, who had hemophilia. Empress Alexandra came to trust him completely and he became, in World History Encyclopedia's words, a seemingly indispensable part of the royal entourage. Rumors of drunkenness and sexual scandal surrounded him, and once Nicholas II left to personally command the army in 1915, Alexandra ran the government at home with Rasputin as her adviser, a period marked by a rapid churn of ministerial appointments that critics said were bought and sold. A group of royalist conspirators murdered Rasputin in late December 1916; his beaten and shot body was found in a river in early January 1917.

Why it matters

Historian T. Hasegawa's judgment, cited by World History Encyclopedia, is direct: more than anything else, the Rasputin affair contributed to the catastrophic erosion of the autocracy's prestige. By the time he was killed, the damage to the monarchy's legitimacy was already done, just weeks before the February Revolution swept the dynasty away entirely.

How we know

World History Encyclopedia's account of Nicholas II's reign covers Rasputin's rise, his role during the war years, his assassination, and cites the historian Hasegawa's assessment of the affair's impact on the monarchy's standing.

Sources

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