Latest / The Romanov Dynasty: Rise, Power, and Bloody End — Fexingo History / Nicholas II and the Rise of Rasputin
Transcript
- Lucas: So today we're going to talk about the beginning of the end for the Romanovs. And it's impossible to do that without talking about one of the most controversial and misunderstood figures in Russian history — Grigori Rasputin. Luna: Rasputin. The 'mad monk.' I feel like I've heard so many wild stories about him. Lucas: Right, the legends are crazy — he was a womanizer, a healer, a political manipulator. But to understand why he mattered, we have to start with Nicholas II and his coronation in 1896. It was a disaster. Lucas: The traditional coronation festivities included a public celebration on Khodynka Field, a huge open area outside Moscow. Free food, beer, and souvenir cups were promised. Hundreds of thousands of people showed up. But the field was poorly prepared — there were ditches and holes hidden by the crowd. Luna: Oh no. I've heard about this — a stampede? Lucas: Exactly. A rumor spread that there weren't enough gifts, and the crowd surged forward. People fell into the ditches and were trampled. Over 1,300 people died, and thousands were injured. It was a horrific start to his reign. Lucas: And here's where Nicholas made a terrible impression. His advisors told him he should still attend the ball that evening at the French embassy, to show solidarity with France. He went. The nobility danced while the bodies were still being collected. It made him seem heartless. Luna: That's awful. But I guess it set the tone for his whole reign? Lucas: It did. Nicholas was a deeply private, family-oriented man. He loved his wife, Alexandra, and their five children. But he was also stubbornly convinced that he was an autocrat chosen by God. He resisted any move toward constitutional government. Lucas: And Alexandra was even more intense. She was a German princess, granddaughter of Queen Victoria. The Russian court never fully accepted her. She was shy, prone to anxiety, and deeply religious. And she had a terrible burden: her only son, Alexei, had hemophilia. Luna: Hemophilia — the bleeding disorder. And that's where Rasputin comes in, right? Lucas: Exactly. The Romanovs kept Alexei's condition a state secret. But they were desperate. Doctors couldn't do much. Alexandra turned to prayer and mystics. Enter Rasputin: a Siberian peasant who claimed to be a holy man, a starets. Lucas: He was first introduced to the imperial family in 1905. By 1907, he was called in when Alexei had a severe bleeding episode. And remarkably, the boy recovered. We don't know exactly what Rasputin did — maybe he used hypnosis, maybe his calm presence stopped Alexandra's panic, which helped Alexei relax. But the empress believed he was a miracle worker. Luna: So he gained her absolute trust. That's how he got such influence. Lucas: Yes. Alexandra became convinced Rasputin was a saint sent to save her son. She wrote him letters calling him 'beloved teacher.' And Nicholas, though more skeptical, went along with it because it kept his wife calm. By 1914, Rasputin was a regular visitor at the Alexander Palace. Lucas: But his behavior outside the palace was scandalous. He drank, he womanized, he was seen in public with prostitutes. The press, which was partially free at the time, ran sensational stories about him. And yet, the empress refused to believe any of it. She thought it was slander by enemies of the throne. Luna: How did he get involved in politics? That's the part I'm fuzzy on. Lucas: It started during World War I. In 1915, Nicholas made a disastrous decision: he went to the front to personally command the army. He left Alexandra and Rasputin in charge of domestic affairs. And Alexandra, guided by Rasputin, began firing competent ministers and replacing them with corrupt yes-men. Lucas: This period was called 'ministerial leapfrog.' In 1916 alone, there were four prime ministers, three war ministers, and two foreign ministers. The government was in chaos. Rasputin would recommend people based on their loyalty to him, not their ability. Luna: So the war was going badly, and the government was falling apart. And everyone blamed Rasputin. Lucas: Rightly so. By late 1916, even conservative monarchists were convinced Rasputin had to go. A plot formed among a group of nobles led by Prince Felix Yusupov, a young aristocrat married to the tsar's niece. They lured Rasputin to Yusupov's palace in St. Petersburg on the night of December 16, 1916. Lucas: What happened next is famous and grisly. They fed him cakes and wine laced with cyanide — but it didn't seem to affect him. So Yusupov shot him. Rasputin fell, but then supposedly got up and attacked Yusupov. The other conspirators shot him again. They beat him, tied him up, and threw his body into the Neva River. Luna: The autopsy showed he drowned, right? So he was still alive when they threw him in. Lucas: That's the claim — that he had water in his lungs. The whole thing fed the legend of his supernatural resilience. But in reality, he was dead. The murderers were not punished; they were exiled to their estates. But the damage was done. The monarchy had lost its connection to the people. Lucas: Two months later, in February 1917, food shortages in Petrograd sparked protests. The army refused to fire on the crowds. The Duma, the parliament, demanded Nicholas abdicate. And on March 2, 1917, he did. The Romanov dynasty, after 300 years, was over. Luna: And Rasputin's influence really accelerated that collapse. Lucas: He was a symptom as much as a cause. The autocracy was already brittle. But Rasputin was the face of everything wrong: a corrupt mystic controlling the government while the country bled in the war. His murder didn't save the monarchy — it just showed how desperate the elite were. And it was too late. Lucas: There's a postscript. After the February Revolution, the bodies of Rasputin and the imperial family were eventually exhumed. The Romanovs were executed by the Bolsheviks in July 1918. Rasputin's body was dug up and burned. But his influence lingered in the popular imagination as a symbol of the decay of Old Russia. Luna: It's fascinating how one person could have such an outsized impact. Even if he wasn't the sole cause. Lucas: Exactly. And that's what makes it such a compelling story — the collision of private tragedy, fanaticism, and political folly. Next time we'll talk about the Bolsheviks and the end of the Romanovs.