and They Left Their Home the Only World They Knew to Begin Again in a New Land in a New Way
When people hear the name Grigori Rasputin, their minds almost immediately brainstorm to wander. The stories told most this so-called "Mad Monk" suggest he possessed some magical powers, or that he had a special connection to God.
Simply they too suggest he was a sex-crazed bedlamite who used his position of power to seduce women and engage in all sorts of sins that would exist considered terrible now and unspeakable back and then.
Other tales indicate he was a man who went from being a poor, nameless peasant to one of the Tsar's most trusted advisors in a matter of just a few short years, peradventure more proof he possessed some special or even magical powers.
Nonetheless, many of these stories are merely that: stories. It'due south fun to believe they are true, but the reality is that many of them are non. Merely not everything we know about Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin is fabricated upwards.
For example, he was known for having a potent sexual appetite, and he did manage to go exceptionally shut to the imperial family for someone of such a apprehensive groundwork. Yet his healing powers and political influence are gross exaggerations.
Instead, the self-proclaimed holy man was but in the correct identify at the correct time in history.
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Why, and so, are there so many legends about this exceptionally unimportant Russian mystic? Well, he rose to prominence in the years leading up to the Russian Revolution.
Political tensions were loftier, and the country was very unstable. Different political leaders and members of the nobility were looking for ways to undermine the Tsar's power, and Rasputin, an unknown, rather strange religious homo who came out of nowhere to go shut with the regal family proved to exist the perfect scapegoat.
As a result, all sorts of stories were thrown about meant to tarnish his proper noun and destabilize the Russian government. Just this destabilization was already underway before Rasputin emerged onto the scene, and within a yr of Rasputin's decease, Nicholas II and his family unit were murdered and Russian federation was inverse forever.
Still, despite the falsity of many of the stories surrounding Rasputin, his story is still an interesting one, and it'due south a great reminder of how just how malleable history tin be.
Rasputin Fact or Fiction
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Due to his closeness to the royal family, as well every bit the political situation at the time, public knowledge of Rasputin is the issue of rumors, speculation, and propaganda. And while it's true we still don't know a lot most Rasputin and his life, historical records have immune us to distinguish between fact and fiction. Hither are some of the more famous tales about Rasputin:
Rasputin Had Magical Powers
Verdict: Fiction
Rasputin made a few suggestions to the Tsar and Tsarina of Russia almost how to care for their son Alexei'due south hemophilia, and this acquired many to believe he possessed special healing powers.
However, information technology's far more likely he simply got lucky. Merely the mysterious nature of his relationship with the royal family led to lots of speculation, which has warped our image of him to this day.
Rasputin Ran Russian federation From Behind the Scenes
Verdict: Fiction
Shortly after arriving in Petrograd, Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin made some powerful friends and somewhen became very close to the imperial family. Yet, equally far equally we can tell, he had little to no influence over the political decision-making process. His role in courtroom was express to religious practice and also to assist with the children. Some rumors swirled about how he was helping Alexandra, the Tsarina, collaborate with her abode country, Frg, to undermine the Russian Empire, just there is likewise no truth to this merits whatsoever
Rasputin Could Not Be Killed
Verdict: Fiction
No one can escape death. However, an attempt was made on Rasputin's life before he was finally killed, and the story about his actual death helped propagate the idea that he could non exist killed. But it's more probable these stories were told to help spread the idea that Rasputin was associated with the devil and had "unholy" powers.
Rasputin was a Crazy Monk
Verdict: Fiction
Showtime, Rasputin was never ordained as a monk. And every bit for his sanity, we don't really know, although his rivals and those seeking to either undermine or support Tsar Nicholas II certainly worked to position him as crazy. Some of the written records he has left behind suggest he had a scattered encephalon, but it's likewise only as likely that he was poorly educated and lacked the power to conspicuously express his thoughts with written words.
Rasputin Was Sexual activity-Crazed
Verdict: ?
Those who sought to damage Rasputin'due south influence certainly wanted people to think this, so it's probable their stories are exaggerated at best and invented at worst. However, stories of Rasputin'south promiscuity started surfacing equally soon as he left his hometown in 1892. But this idea that he was sex-crazed was likely the outcome of his enemies trying to employ Rasputin as a symbol for everything that was incorrect in Russian federation at the time.
The Story of Rasputin
As you lot tin can see, most of the things we consider to be true about Rasputin are really false or at the very to the lowest degree exaggerated. Then, what practise we know? Unfortunately, not much, but here's a detailed summary of the facts that do exist about the famously mysterious life of Rasputin.
Who Was Rasputin?
Rasputin was a Russian mystic who lived during the final years of the Russian Empire. He rose to prominence in Russian gild starting around 1905 considering the royal family at the time, led by Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, Alexandra Feodorovna, believed he possessed the ability to heal their son, Alexei, who suffered from hemophilia. Eventually, he fell out of favor amid the Russian elite equally the land experienced considerable political turmoil leading up to the Russian Revolution. This led to his assassination, the gory details of which have helped brand Rasputin one of the most well-known figures in history.
Babyhood
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was built-in in Pokrovskoye, Russia, a small town in the northern province of Siberia, in 1869. Like many of the people in the area at the time, he was born to a family of Siberian peasants, merely beyond that, Rasputin's early life remains mostly a mystery.
Accounts exist that claim he was a troublesome male child, someone who was prone to fighting and had spent a few days in jail due to his violent behavior. But there is trivial validity to these accounts every bit they were written after the fact by people who likely did not know Rasputin equally a child, or by people whose stance had been swayed by their opinion of him every bit an adult.
Part of the reason nosotros know and so little about the early twelvemonth of Rasputin'southward life is that he and those effectually him were about probable illiterate. Few people living in rural Russia at the fourth dimension had access to formal instruction, which led to low literacy rates and poor historical accounts.
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However, we practice know that at some point in his twenties, Rasputin had a wife and several children. But something happened that caused him to all of a sudden need to get out Pokrovskoye. Information technology's possible he was running from the law. There are some accounts that he left to escape penalty for stealing a equus caballus, but this has never been verified. Others claim he had a vision from God, yet this has also not been proven.
As a effect, it'southward equally possible he merely had an identity crunch, or that he left for some reason that remains entirely unknown. But despite the fact we don't know why he left, we practice know that he set out on a pilgrimage in 1897 (when he was 28), and this conclusion would dramatically modify the form of the balance of his life.
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Early Days as a Monk
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It'due south believed that Rasputin first left dwelling for religious and or spiritual purposes around 1892, but he returned frequently to his hometown to attend to his familial obligations. However, after his visit to the St. Nicholas Monastery in Verkhoturye in 1897, Rasputin became a changed man, according to accounts. He began to continue longer and longer pilgrimages, possibly reaching as far south every bit Greece. Even so, it'southward important to signal out that the 'holy man' never took vows to become a monk, making his name, "The Mad Monk," a misnomer.
During these years of pilgrimage towards the finish of the 19th century, Rasputin began to develop a small following. He would travel to other towns to preach and teach, and when he returned to Pokrovskoye he allegedly had a small group of people with whom he would pray and perform ceremonies. Withal, elsewhere in the country, peculiarly in the upper-case letter, St. Petersburg, Rasputin remained an unknown entity. But a series of fortunate events would change that and propel Rasputin to the forefront of Russian politics and religion.
The self proclaimed 'holy human being' was a mystic and had a powerful personality, i that hands immune him to affect those around him, unremarkably making them feel quite at ease and safe around him. Whether or not he was truly a human gifted with magical talents is a matter for the theologians and philosophers to debate near, but it tin can be said that he commanded a certain aura of respect when he walked the globe.
Russian federation at the Fourth dimension of Rasputin
To understand the story of Rasputin and why he has become such an of import effigy in Russian and globe history, it'due south best to understand the context in which he lived. Specifically, Rasputin arrived in Leningrad at a time of tremendous social upheaval in the Russian Empire. The Tsarist regime, which ruled as an autocracy and upheld a system of bullwork that dated back centuries, was start to crumble. The urban middle classes, which were developing equally a result of the slow process of industrialization that had taken place throughout the 19th century, equally well as the rural poor, were beginning to organize and seek out culling forms of government.
This, plus a combination of other factors, meant that the Russian economic system was in steady decline by the beginning of the 20th century. Tsar Nicholas II, who was in ability from 1894-1917, was insecure nearly his ability to rule what was obviously a crumbling land, and he had made many enemies amongst the nobility who saw the state of the empire as an opportunity to aggrandize their power, influence, and condition. All of this led to the formation of a constitutional monarchy in 1907, which meant that the Tsar, for the first time ever, would need to share his ability with a parliament, as well as a prime minister.
This evolution seriously weakened the ability of Tsar Nicholas Two, although he retained his position as head of the Russian state. However this temporary truce did little to resolve the instability going on in Russia, and when World War I broke out in 1914 and the Russians entered the fight, revolution was imminent. Just one twelvemonth afterward, in 1915, 9the war had taken its cost on the weak Russian economy. Food and other crucial resource became scarce, and the working classes grew weak. Tsar Nicholas Ii took control of the Russian ground forces, but this probably made the state of affairs worse. And so, in 1917, a series of revolutions, known as the Bolshevik Revolution, took place, which ended the Tsarist autocracy and paved the style for the formation of the United Soviet Socialist States (USSR). While all this was taking identify, Rasputin managed to become close to the Tsar, and he somewhen became a scapegoat for his political rivals as they sought to weaken Nicholas II and improve their own position in club.
Rasputin and the Imperial Family
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Rasputin first arrived in the Russian capital, Petrograd, in 1904, afterwards receiving an invitation to visit the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery thanks to a letter of recommendation written by well-respected members of the church elsewhere in Russia. However, when Rasputin arrived to Leningrad, he would accept found a city in disrepair, which was a reflection of the land of the Russian Empire at the time. Interestingly, Rasputin's influence and reputation preceded him in Saint petersburg. He was known to be a heavy drinker and somewhat of a sexual deviant. In fact, earlier arriving at St. Petersberg, there were rumors that he had been sleeping with many of his female followers, although there is no definitive proof this was happening.
These rumors later led to accusations that Rasputin was a member of the Kyhlyst religious sect, which believed in using sin as the master means of reaching God. Historians still debate whether this is true or non, although there is considerable bear witness that Rasputin enjoyed engaging in activities that one could allocate as depraved. It's quite possible Rasputin spent time with the Kyhlyst sect and so equally to effort out their method of religious practice, but in that location is no evidnece he was an bodily member. However, information technology's also but every bit likely that political enemies of the Tsar, and Rasputin, exaggerated behavior typical of the time then as to impairment Rasputin's reputation and diminish his influence.
Afterward his initial visit to St. Petersberg, Rasputin returned dwelling house to Pokrovskoye simply began to make more frequent trips to the uppercase. During this time, he began making more strategic friendships and congenital a network within the aristocracy. Thank you to these connections, Rasputin met the Nicholas II and his wife, Alexandra Feodorovna, for the start fourth dimension in 1905. He managed to see the Tsar several more times, and at 1 point, Rasputin met the Tsar and Tsarina's children, and from that point on, Rasputin became much closer to the royal family largely because the family was convinced Rasputin possessed the magical powers needed to cure their son Alexei's hemophilia.
Rasputin and the Royal Children
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Alexei, the heir to the Russian throne and a immature boy, was rather sick due to the fact that he had incurred an unfortunate injury to his foot. Furthermore, Alexei suffered from hemophilia, a illness characterized by anemia and excessive bleeding. After several interactions between Rasputin and Alexei, the royal family unit, especially the Tsarina, Alexandra Feodorovna, became convinced that Rasputin alone possessed the powers needed to go along Alexei alive.
He had been asked on several occasions to pray for Alexei, and this coincided with an improvement in the boy's condition. Many believe this is why the imperial family became and then convinced Rasputin had the power to heal their sick child. Whether or not they thought he had magical powers is unclear, but this conventionalities that Rasputin had some special quality that made him uniquely capable of healing Alexei helped boost his reputation and fabricated him both friends and enemies in the Russian court.
Rasputin as a Healer
One of the theories as to what Rasputin did was that he simply had a calming presence around the boy that acquired him to relax and stop thrashing about, something that would accept helped terminate the bleeding brought on past his hemophilia.
Another theory is that when Rasputin was consulted during a peculiarly serious moment when Alexei had suffered a hemorrhage, he told the imperial family to keep all doctors away from him. Somewhat miraculously, this worked, and the regal family attributed this to Rasputin'south special powers. Even so, modern historians now believe this worked considering the nearly common medicine used at the fourth dimension was aspirin, and using aspirin to end bleeding doesn't piece of work considering it thins the blood. Therefore, by telling Alexandra and Nicholas 2 to avoid doctors, Rasputin helped Alexei avoid taking medicine that probably would take killed him. Another theory is that Rasputin was a trained hypnotist who knew how to calm the male child enough so that he would stop bleeding.
Again, though, the truth remains a mystery. But what nosotros practice know is that after this betoken, the royal family welcomed Rasputin into their inner circle. Alexandra seemed to trust Rasputin unconditionally, and this allowed him to become a trusted advisor of the family unit. He was even appointed equally the lampadnik (lamplighter), which immune Rasputin to calorie-free the candles in the majestic cathedral, a position that would have given him daily access to Tsar Nicholas and his family.
The Mad Monk?
As Rasputin got closer and closer to the center of Russian power, the public grew more than and more suspicious. The nobles and aristocracy inside the courts began to view Rasputin with envy due to the fact that he had such easy access to the Tsar, and, seeking to undermine the Tsar, they tried to position Rasputin every bit a mad homo who was controlling the Russian government from behind the scenes.
To do this, they began to exaggerate some aspects of Rasputin's reputation which he had carried with him since he commencement left Pokrovskoye, mainly that he was a drinker and a sexual deviant. Their propaganda campaigns even went and then far equally to convince people that the name "Rasputin" meant "debauched i," despite the fact that it actually meant "where 2 rivers join," a reference to his hometown. Furthermore, it was around this time that accusations of his associations with the Khylists began to intensify.
It should exist noted, though, that some of these accusations were grounded in truth. Rasputin was known for taking many sexual partners, and he was also known for parading around the Russian majuscule showing off the silks and other textiles that had been embroidered for him by the majestic family unit.
Criticisms of Rasputin intensified afterward 1905/1906 when the enactment of the Constitution granted the press considerable more freedom. They targeted Rasputin more than mayhap because they withal feared to attack the Tsar direct, choosing instead to assail ane of his advisors.
Notwithstanding, the attacks did not only come from the enemies of the Tsar. Those who wanted to maintain the power structures at the time also turned against Rasputin, largely because they felt the Tsar'southward loyalty to him hurt his human relationship with the public; almost people bought into the stories virtually Rasputin, and it would have looked bad if the Tsar was keeping a relationship with such a human being, even if nigh every aspect of the stories were exaggerations. As a result, they wanted to accept out Rasputin then that the public would stop worrying well-nigh this supposed crazy monk who was secretly decision-making the Russian Empire.
Rasputin and Alexandra
Rasputin's human relationship with Alexandra Feodorovna is another source of mystery. The prove nosotros have seems to suggest that she trusted Rasputin greatly and cared for him. At that place were rumors that they were lovers, but this has never been proven to be true. Withal, as public opinion turned confronting Rasputin and members of the Russian courtroom began to encounter him as a trouble, Alexandra made certain he was permitted to stay. This caused more tension as many people'south imaginations continued to run wild with the thought of Rasputin was the real controller of the majestic family. The Tsar and Tsarina made things worse by keeping their son's health a surreptitious from the public. This meant no one knew the real reason why Rasputin had get so close to the Tsar and his family, creating more than specualtion and rumors.
This shut connexion shared between Rasputin and Empress Alexandra further degraded Rasputin'southward reputation, every bit well equally that of the royal family unit. For instance, by the outbreak of Earth State of war I, most people in the Russian empire assumed Rasputin and Alexandra were sleeping together. Soldiers spoke about it at the front as if it were common noesis. These stories got even more grandiose when people began speaking nigh how Rasputin was really working for the Germans (Alexandra was originally from a German royal family) to undermine Russian power and cause Russian federation to lose the war.
An Attempt On Rasputin's Life
The more time Rasputin spent around the regal family unit, the more than it seemed people tried to tarnish his name and reputation. As mentioned, he was labeled as a drunkard and a sexual deviant, and this eventually led to people calling him a wicked man, a crazy monk, and a devil worshipper, although we now know these to be not much more than attempts to make Rasputin a political scapegoat. However, opposition to Rasputin grew enough that an try was made to take his life.
In 1914, every bit Rasputin was in transit to the postal service office, he was accosted by a adult female disguised every bit a beggar and stabbed. Only he managed to escape. The wound was severe and he spent several weeks in recovery after surgery, but he eventually returned to total health, something that would be used to continue to shape public stance about him even subsequently his death.
The woman who stabbed Rasputin was said to be a follower of a man named Iliodor, who had been the leader of a powerful religious sect in St. Petersburg. Iliodor had denounced Rasputin as an antichrist, and he had previously made attempts to try and carve up Rasputin from the Tsar. He was never formally defendant of the crime, but he did flee St. Petersburg shortly after the stabbing and earlier the police had the risk to question him. The woman who actually stabbed Rasputin was deemed insane and was not held responsible for her actions.
Rasputin'southward Existent Role in the Government
Despite the fact that so much was fabricated of Rasputin'southward behavior and his relationship to the royal family, very little if whatsoever evidence exists that proves Rasputin had any existent influence over the affairs of Russian politics. Historians agree he did the imperial family a great service by praying with them and profitable with the ill children and giving communication, but about also agree that he had no real say in what the Tsar did or did not exercise with his ability. Instead, he proved to exist a proverbial thorn in the side of the Tsar and Tsarina as they tried to deal with an increasingly unstable political situation that was rapidly descending into upheaval and overthrow. Perchance, for this reason, Rasputin'southward life was even so in danger immediately following the commencement attempt made against his life.
Rasputin'south Death
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The actual murder of Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin is a widely disputed and heavily fictionalized story involving all sorts of crazy antics and stories almost the homo'southward ability to evade death. As a result, it has been very difficult for historians to discover the actual facts surrounding Rasputin's death. Furthermore, he was killed behind closed doors, which has made information technology even more difficult to decide exactly what happened. Some accounts are embellishments, exaggerations, or only consummate fabrications, but nosotros tin can never really know for certain. However, the most common version of Rasputin'southward death goes like this:
Rasputin was invited to dine and enjoy some wine at the Moika Palace by a group of nobles led by Prince Felix Yusupov. Other members of the plot included Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich Romanov, Dr. Stanislaus de Lazovert and Lieutenant Sergei Mikhailovich Sukhotin, an officeholder in the Preobrazhensky Regiment. During the party, Rasputin allegedly consumed a copious amount of vino and food, both of which had been heavily poisoned. However, Rasputin continued to eat and beverage as if nothing had happened. After it became clear that the poisonous substance was not going to impale Rasputin, Prince Felix Yusupov borrowed the revolver of the Grand Knuckles Dmitri Pavlovich, the czar's cousin, and shot Rasputin multiple times.
At this point, Rasputin is said to have fallen to the basis, and the people in the room thought he was dead. But he miraculously stood up over again afterwards only a few minutes of being on the floor and immediately made for the door so as to endeavor and escape the men who wanted to impale him. The balance of the people in the room reacted, finally, and several others drew their weapons. Rasputin was shot again and he barbarous, just when his attackers approached him, they saw he was still moving, which forced them to shoot him once more. Finally convinced he was expressionless, they arranged upward his corpse into the one thousand duke'due south car and drove to the Neva river and dumped Rasputin'southward corpse in the cold waters of the river. His body was recovered iii days later.
This whole functioning was hurriedly conducted in the wee hours of the forenoon as the 1000 Duke Dmitri Pavlovich feared repercussions if he was found out by the regime. According Vladimir Purishkevich, a politician at the time, "It was very belatedly and the Grand Duke drove quite slow as he evidently feared that great speed would concenter the suspicion of the police."
Until he murdered Rasputin, Prince Felix Yusupov lived a comparatively bumming life of privilege. One of Nicholas II's daughters, also named Grand Duchess Olga, worked equally a nurse during the war and criticized Felix Yusupov's refusal to enlist, writing to her father, "Felix is a 'downright civilian,' dressed all in brown…nearly doing nothing; an utterly unpleasant impression he makes – a homo idling in such times." Plotting Rasputin'south murder gave Felix Yusupov the opportunity to reinvent himself as a patriot and human being of activity, determined to protect the throne from a malign influence.
For Prince Felix Yusupov and his co-conspirators, the removal of Rasputin could give Nicholas Ii one terminal chance of restoring the reputation and prestige of the monarchy. With Rasputin gone, the arbiter would be more open up to the advice of his extended family, the nobility and the Duma.
None of the men who were involved in this incident faced criminal charges, either because at this point Rasputin had been deemed an enemy of the state, or considering it simply didn't happen. Information technology's possible this story was created as propaganda to further tarnish the name "Rasputin," for such an unnatural resistance to expiry would accept been perceived equally the work of the devil. But when Rasputin's trunk was found, it was evident that he had been shot iii times. Across this, though, we know almost nothing for certain about Rasputin's death.
Rasputin'south Penis
The rumors that were started and spread about Rasputin'south love life and relationship to women have led to many more than tall tales about his genitals. 1 of the stories surrounding his death is that he was castrated and dismembered after beingness murdered, most likely as a punishment for his immoderacy and excessive sin. This myth has led many people to claim they at present "posses" Rasputin's penis, and they have fifty-fifty gone and then far as to claim that looking at it will help cure impotency bug. This is not only absurd but incorrect. When Rasputin'due south body was found, his genitals were intact, and every bit far as nosotros know, they remained that way. Any claim to the reverse is most likely an try to use the mystery surrounding Rasputin'south life and decease every bit a manner to brand coin.
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Decision
While Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin's life was a foreign and filled with many odd stories, controversies, and lies, it is equally as important to note that his influence was never really as great as the world around him made it out to be. Yes, he had sway with the Tsar and his family unit, and yes, in that location was something to be said nigh the fashion his personality could put people at ease, simply the reality is that the homo was nothing more than a symbol to the Russian people. A few months later, matching a prediction that he had made, the Russian Revolution occurred and the entire Romanov family unit was brutally massacred in an uprising. The tides of political alter tin can exist very powerful, and few people in this world can truly end them.
Rasputin'southward daughter Maria, who fled Russia after the Revolution and became a circus lion tamer billed as "the daughter of the famous mad monk whose feats in Russia astonished the world," wrote her ain book in 1929 that condemned Yussupov'southward actions and questioned the veracity of his account. She wrote that her father did non like sweets and never would have eaten a platter of cakes. The dissection reports exercise non mention toxicant or drowning simply instead conclude that he was shot in the caput at close range. Yussupov transformed the murder into an epic struggle of skillful versus evil to sell books and bolster his own reputation.
Yussupov's account of Rasputin's murder entered pop culture. The lurid scene was dramatized in numerous films virtually Rasputin and the Romanovs and fifty-fifty fabricated it into a 1970s disco hit by Boney M., which included the lyrics "They put some poison into his wine…He drank it all and said, 'I feel fine.'"
Rasputin will forever alive on in history equally a controversial figure, to some a holy human, to some a political entity, and to others a charlatan. But who actually was Rasputin? That is probably the biggest mystery of them all, and it's 1 nosotros may never be able to solve.
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Sources
Five Myths and Truths About Rasputin: https://fourth dimension.com/4606775/5-myths-rasputin/
The Murder of Rasputin: http://history1900s.most.com/od/famouscrimesscandals/a/rasputin.htm
Famous Russians: http://russiapedia.rt.com/prominent-russians/history-and-mythology/grigory-rasputin/
First World War Biography: http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/rasputin.htm
Rasputin's Murder: https://www.theguardian.com/world/from-the-annal-blog/2016/dec/xxx/rasputin-murder-russia-december-1916
Rasputin: https://world wide web.biography.com/political-figure/rasputin
Fuhrmann, Joseph T. Rasputin: the untold story. John Wiley & Sons, 2013.
Smith, Douglas. Rasputin: Faith, power, and the twilight of the Romanovs. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016.
Source: https://historycooperative.org/mad-monk-grigori-rasputin-story/
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