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The Rise of Rasputin: The Mad Monk Who Ran Russia

Khalid Elhassan March 3, 2025 18 min

9. Russia’s Rulers Turned to a Barely Literate Peasant for Advice

Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra at a 1903 ball. Izba Arts

Rasputin told Tsarina Alexandra that she and her husband should see him more often and place their absolute trust in him. He also told her that to him, the imperial couple were like God. As such, he would never lie to them, and would always tell them the truth. He contrasted his self-declared honesty with the Tsar’s ministers, who, according to Rasputin, were dishonest and did not care about the people or their tears. Rasputin’s words moved Alexandra, and she came to believe that he had been sent by God to help her family and protect the imperial dynasty. At the time, Tsarist rule was coming under increasing pressure as the imperial system started crumbling because of structural flaws and incompetent governance. Tsar and Tsarina began turning to Rasputin, confiding in him and seeking the comfort of his assurances that God was watching over them.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.