How Rasputin bewitched Tsar Nicholas II | EUROtoday
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Fromon one facet an omnipotent emperor, inheritor to an extended dynasty, locked in his palaces who reigns over 150 million topics. On the opposite hand, Grigori Elfimovitch, an illiterate Siberian, from a distant village, who will proclaim himself a medium and miracle employee and seduce the tsar. They ought to by no means have crossed paths and but their assembly will shake up History, as recalled in a brand new, well-documented biography by Alexandre Jevakhoff, Nicholas II and Rasputin (ed. Perrin), which meticulously dissects these two romantic and profoundly Russian destinies, swept away within the upheavals and imperial tragedy…
If Rasputin manages to seduce Nicholas II and his spouse Alexandra, it’s to start with as a result of each are deeply pious, an nearly mystical couple versed in spirituality: an unshakeable religion the place all the things is the desire and signal of God, lived in Orthodox rites and customary prayers. Before Rasputin, there was one other mage, Master Philippe, a Lyonnais magnetizer and healer who grew to become acquainted to the imperial couple in 1901: he was launched to them by the Montenegrin princesses, two sisters who married Romanovs, and who share by conviction and ambition the mysticism of Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra.
Well versed in spiritualism and the supernatural, the sisters noticed in Philippe an distinctive grasp, an opinion shortly shared by the imperial couple. They spend evenings conversing, they pray and commune collectively, notably with a view to acquiring an inheritor. The magnetizer, additionally a medium, guarantees them a son quickly – Alexandra solely has daughters. “Friend Philippe”, already aged, leaves for France with 400,000 rubles and a white lacquered torpedo.
Church help
He dies for the time being when Rasputin enters the scene: the arrival of the therapeutic moujik corresponds to a pivotal interval for Russia, within the midst of upheaval. The tsar lastly has an inheritor however he misplaced the conflict towards Japan, a defeat which tarnishes the imperial coat of arms, and should handle a primary revolution which calls into query the autocratic character of the regime – a Parliament is ready up. The Siberian starets, an impressive preacher, then obtained the help of the Church, through Archimandrite Theophane, near the Montenegrin sisters… This extraordinary enhance will enable him to enter palaces the place he may by no means have hoped to set foot in the future.
“Why is Theophane appearing like this? » rightly asks the historian Alexandre Jevakhoff. “It is all of the extra stunning since Rasputin has no coaching, neither canonical nor theological. Theophanes undoubtedly thought that this mystical character, from the individuals, would serve the picture of the Orthodox Church, convey new blood, a brand new, much less institutional discourse, and convey the individuals nearer to their tsar. But he most likely additionally acted out of non-public ambition, a profitable wager since Théophane will turn into the empress’s confessor and put on the episcopal miter…”
Here is the mage Grigori introduced into the high Russian aristocracy. The first meeting between the emperor and the “man of God” dates from November 1905, around a cup of tea with the Montenegrin sisters, again them. From then on, their destinies are linked: the madré Rasputin very quickly becomes indispensable to the imperial couple, struck by illness. We know that the heir Alexis suffers from hemophilia, and the healer, by treating him on several occasions through his prayers or the laying on of hands, will obtain the absolute trust of the tsar. But Alexandra is also constantly in pain, suffering from recurring discomfort, psychologically fragile, not to mention her heart problems, ailments that starets will also soothe. She is very quickly convinced that God speaks to them through this man who is both raw and supernatural, with a flowery vocabulary, from the people.
“A great comfort”
Nicholas II, of a shy and indecisive character, also sees in him a true friend, whom he treats as such. The moujik ends up having access to the palace as he pleases, becomes a familiar, shares concerns and secrets of the family, to the great dismay of the courtiers and advisors – he meets the emperor almost as much as his Prime Minister Stolypin in 1909. “It is a great comfort to see him and listen to his conversation,” wrote Nicholas II in his diary. Rasputin reads the Bible to Alexandra, naturally converses with the Tsar, locked in his palaces, and convinces him that he is surrounded by deceivers who deceive him and distract him from the truth.
An ascendant who sees the healer’s life change completely: he lives in an apartment regulated by the imperial cassette, his daughters study in a private school, internal security protects him – and monitors him – closely, while the worst slanders are spread about him… In fact, he directly advises Nicholas II, intervenes in the appointment of ministers or generals, pushes the tsar to personally take command of the troops in 1915, in the middle of the First World War, a fatal decision which will bring the weight of defeat to the highest of the empire. Staying with Alexandra, the mage gets involved in everything and almost dictates his conduct and judgment to her, as in “Faustian pact”, writes Alexandre Jevakhoff. “He is always behind Alexandra: she acts as his spokesperson four times out of five, in a crucial period for Russia…”
To Discover
Kangaroo of the day
Answer
We know what occurred subsequent: a conspiracy, led by Grand Duke Dimitri Pavlovich and Prince Yussoupov, organized the assassination of Starets in December 1916 in Saint Petersburg – his physique was discovered riddled with three bullets below the ice of little Nevka. The imperial couple is devastated by the lack of their information. “My dear martyr, give me your blessing, so that it constantly follows me on the painful path that remains for me to travel here on earth,” wrote the Empress in a letter that she positioned inside her coffin. Less than two years later, the imperial household was assassinated by the Bolsheviks.
Nicholas II and Rasputin, a Russian story, by Alexandre Jevakhoff, editions Perrin, 25 euros.
https://www.lepoint.fr/histoire/comment-raspoutine-a-envoute-le-tsar-nicolas-ii-15-11-2025-2603136_1615.php