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The Rise of Rasputin: The Mad Monk Who Ran Russia

Khalid Elhassan March 3, 2025 18 min

1. A Scandalous State of Affairs That Only Ended With Rasputin’s Assassination

Rasputin - Contemporary poster, depicting Rasputin as Russia's true ruler — Contemporary poster, depicting Rasputin as Russia’s true ruler. Pinterest

The scandalous state of affairs made the Tsarist government a laughingstock and brought it into low repute. The seriousness was exacerbated by the hardships of WWI, in which Russian forces suffered many humiliating defeats. After Nicolas took personal command of the armies, the responsibility for military reversals could no longer be shunted from the crown, but was laid directly at the Tsar’s feet. Despite the gravity of the situation, the Tsarina remained protective of Rasputin, refusing to hear any criticism of the faith healer, let alone heed advice to banish him. The impossible impasse finally came to an end when a group of aristocrats, led by a Prince Feliks Yusupov, husband of the Tsar’s niece, finally assassinated Rasputin on the night of December 30^th, 1916, in order to rid Russia of his malign influence.

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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading

Fuhrmann, Joseph T. – Rasputin: The Untold Story (2012)

History Collection – 10 Historic Government Systems That Shaped Russia

Massie, Robert K. – Nicholas and Alexandra: An Intimate Account of the Last of the Romanovs and the Fall of Imperial Russia (1967)

Radzinsky, Edvard – The Rasputin File (2000)

Wilson, Colin – Rasputin and the Fall of the Romanovs (1964)

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.