Rasputin Grigori, a mystical monk from the Tyumen district of Siberia, was a personal friend of both the Tsar and Tsarina. He allegedly possessed special powers to heal. The Tsar's own son, Tsarevich Alexei, who sufferered from a blood disease historians believed to have been haemophilia, was meant to have been healed by Rasputin. When the Tsar became Commander-in-chief, he left his wife, Alexandra and Rasputin, in charge of the country.
This was a political mistake; Rasputin was not trusted by the people or by other members of the Romanov family and Tsarina Alexandra was German and was already unpopular because of this. The war's disasterous outcome when the Tsar left for the eastern front, only made the pair even more unpopular.
People upset at the war, simply blamed them as they did not wish to challenge the Tsar. Rasputin's stranglehold over the Romanovs needed to be removed and court security on the 16th December 1916, murdered him. The myth surrounding the death are legendary and historians are divided upon the truth of them.
Russian History [Continue]
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Allegedly, Rasputin was fed poisoned food, which he ate but did not die, following this he was shot from point blank range, he fell to the floor. As the guard went upstairs to report the death, he was ordered to return and make sure. On his arrival downstairs he found Rasputin struggling to rise to his feet. Rasputin then attempted to crawl through the courtyard, as he did he was shot and bludgeoned. He was then thrown into the Neva River.
When he floated to the surface, it was discovered he had drowned and so had not died before he had entered the water despite the series of gunshots and injuries he recieved. Rasputin's death meant that the Tsar had no scapegoat to take the brunt of his failures. And because the Tsar was still unwilling to make concessions to the people, they still wished to revolt against his authority.
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