Grigory Rasputin today is a legendary and incredibly "promoted" personality. In fact, it is the same “brand” of Russia as vodka, caviar, pancakes and nesting dolls. In terms of fame outside our country, only the classics of the great Russian literature and some modern politicians can compete with Rasputin. Rasputin is the hero of many novels, comics, films, songs and even cartoons. The attitude towards him abroad can hardly be called unambiguously negative. The image of a "mighty Russian peasant" who, after an orgy in a bathhouse, goes to the Tsar's palace, from there to a restaurant, where he drinks until the morning, turned out to be extremely attractive to the average man in the street, who, after reading a comic strip or watching another movie, can only sigh enviously: “We lived but in faraway and barbaric Russia such supermachos are heroes, not us. " As a result, Rasputin is often perceived as a great psychic, on the one hand, and as a forerunner of the sexual revolution, on the other. Restaurants, shops and spirits began to be named after him (which is quite indicative: imagine a restaurant "Ayatollah Khomeini" in the center of New York or an advertisement on all TV channels for a whiskey called "Osama bin Laden"). Rasputin's killers, despite all their many years of trying to look like heroes, in the publications of some Western authors appeared not as patriots, but as a bunch of pitiful homosexuals who were unable to satisfy a woman and committed a crime based on an elementary inferiority complex. In the publications of Russian authors of the first wave of emigration, Rasputin usually appears as a figure of apocalyptic proportions, a representative of the demonic forces that pushed Russia towards a national catastrophe. “Without Rasputin there would be no Lenin,” wrote, for example, A. Kerensky. For Soviet historians, Rasputin was primarily an illustration of the thesis about the "decay" of the tsarist regime. Rasputin himself in these works appears as a cunning charlatan, a spiritually insignificant person, an ordinary womanizer and drunkard. In the new Russia, there were also supporters of a very exotic view of Rasputin - as a holy ascetic, slandered by the enemies of the royal family and revolutionaries.
So who, after all, was the “people's saint and miracle worker” Grigory Rasputin? Russian Cagliostro? Evil incarnate? Or an ordinary crook who had an unprecedented chance to play on the nerves of spoiled high society fools? Director of the Police Department S. P. Beletsky recalled that "Grishka the seer was at once ignorant, eloquent, hypocrite, fanatic, saint, sinner, ascetic, and womanizer." Professor, Doctor of Medical Sciences A. P. Kotsyubinsky believes that Rasputin was a "hysterical psychopath." A characteristic feature of this type of personality is demonstrativeness, self-focus and the desire to be in the center of attention. And since “those around them, including the highest-ranking persons, in that troubled era did not have a firm certainty about what they wanted more - a frighteningly unknown“constitution”or a centuries-old“sevryuzhina with horseradish”- Rasputin had to be a“saint”too, and "the devil" at the same time "(A. and D. Kotsyubinsky).
But let's start from the beginning: at the age of 24 (the moment of "spiritual enlightenment"), the behavior of the dissolute village peasant Gregory suddenly changed: he stopped eating meat and alcohol, began to pray a lot and observe fasting. According to some reports, he led such an abstinent lifestyle until 1913. At the same time (in 1913) Rasputin suddenly stopped speaking in everyday language - the interlocutors themselves had to interpret his incoherent and mysterious phrases: "The more incomprehensible to a person, the more expensive" - he said once in a moment of frankness. At the beginning of his "spiritual" career, his fellow countrymen laughed at him, but the dramatically changed way of life and extraordinary abilities did their job, and gradually a rumor spread around the district that a new prophet-healer appeared in the village of Pokrovskoye, a man of holy life, Gregory.
Rasputin's extrasensory abilities, apparently, should be told separately. The first manifestations of the ability to heal in Grigory Rasputin appeared in early childhood, when he discovered in himself a talent for treating sick cattle. Interestingly, the boy's father considered these abilities to be a gift not from God, but from the devil and made the sign of the cross after each such "miracle". Later, Gregory began to apply his suggestive abilities to people. The first patient turned out to be the daughter of the merchant Lavrenov, who "now sits in a sitting position, then yells at the top of her lungs." Rasputin recalled: “The sick one came out, she was walking, she was roaring like a beast. I quietly took her by the hand, sat her down, stroked her head. I look into her eyes, I keep my eyes on her. And she quietly so she says with tears: "Mammy, this is my savior came." Three weeks later, the little girl was healthy. From that time on, a lot of conversation started about me. They began to call him a healer and a prayer book. Everyone began to pester with questions: "What is the healer?" And even then I realized that the more incomprehensible to a person, the more expensive it is. And to all the questions he answered: "Neither grass, nor water, but in words I fly" "(Rasputin's story). Further more. Rasputin healed a peasant who had not gotten to his feet for two months before. From that time on, “the people began to bow at my feet … And great glory went about me. Especially women spoke about me”. However, it should be said that in the event of a visit to Pokrovskoye of persons from the closest tsarist entourage, Rasputin did not really hope for his popularity and preferred to play it safe. At the beginning of 1912, while waiting for Vyrubova, he turned to his fellow villagers: “A friend of the Queen-Mother is coming to me. I will gild the whole village if they give me honor. " The result surpassed all expectations: "Only we have moved, and there are many women and girls and men, throwing themselves at our feet:" Our Father, Savior, Son of God! Bless! " He even went crazy himself. " In St. Petersburg, Rasputin in 10 minutes cured the son of a wealthy merchant Simanovich, who suffered from a disease known as the "dance of St. Vitus", Rasputin himself "encoded" Simanovich from playing cards. However, Rasputin's success in treating Tsarevich Alexei, a patient with hemophilia, is most impressive. It has been proven that at least four times (in 1907, in October 1912, in November 1915 and at the beginning of 1916) he literally saved the heir to the throne from death. The court doctors could not explain these cases except by a miracle. It has now been found that the use of hypnosis or simple distraction of attention significantly reduces bleeding in patients with hemophilia. Rasputin anticipated this discovery: “Those whose blood beats like that, they are very nervous, anxious people, and in order to calm the blood, they must be reassured. And I could do it. " Nicholas II also appreciated the psychotherapeutic and suggestive capabilities of Rasputin, who told his entourage: "When I have concern, doubt, trouble, it takes me five minutes to talk with Grigory to immediately feel strengthened and reassured … And the effect of his words lasts for weeks."The famous Felix Yusupov assured State Duma deputy V. Maklakov that “Rasputin possesses the strength that can be met once in hundreds of years … If Rasputin is killed today, in two weeks the empress will have to be hospitalized for the mentally ill. Her state of mind rests exclusively on Rasputin: she will fall apart as soon as he is gone. " The Minister of Internal Affairs A. Khvostov stated: "when I saw him (Rasputin), I felt complete depression." Chairman of the III and IV Duma MV Rodzianko sensed in Rasputin "the incomprehensible power of enormous action." But on the hieromanach Iliodor and on the equestrian of the court, Lieutenant General P. G. Kurlov, Rasputin's receptions had no effect.
Rasputin was by no means the first folk "saint and wonderworker" to visit the secular salons and grand ducal palaces of St. Petersburg. Hieromonk Iliodor wrote in his famous book "The Holy Devil" that he could "write more books" About Holy Mother Olga (Lokhtina) "," Blessed Mitya "," About Barefoot Wanderer Vasya "," About Matronoshka Barefoot "and others." However, in order to attract attention in the capital, some suggestive abilities and external signs of piety were not enough: you will only come to the palace when they are called, and on the way you will also bow to any court rag-tag. To become the "great and terrible" Grigory Rasputin, one has to punch the tsar's table with full swing so that the dishes fall on the floor, the emperor turns pale with fear, and the empress leaps out of her chair. And then put the frightened crowned heads on their knees and make them kiss their hand, which was not washed on purpose, with dirty nails. "One should speak with kings not with reason, but with spirit," Rasputin instructed Hieromonk Iliodor, "They do not understand reason, but they are afraid of the spirit."
“Rasputin entered the royal palace as calmly and naturally as he entered his hut in the village of Pokrovskoye. This could not but make a strong impression and, of course, made one think that only true holiness could put a simple Siberian peasant above any subservience to earthly power, Yusupov admitted in his memoirs.
“He (Rasputin) behaved in aristocratic salons with impossible rudeness … treated them (aristocrats) worse than with lackeys and maids,” testifies A. Simanovich, a merchant of the 1st guild.
In his native village Pokrovskoye, the “elder” didn’t stand on ceremony with the high society fans either: “In Siberia I had a lot of fans, and among these fans there are ladies who are very close to the court,” he told IF Manasevich-Manuilov. They came to me in Siberia and wanted to get closer to God … You can get closer to God only by self-humiliation. And then I took all the high society people - in diamonds and expensive dresses - took them all to the bathhouse (there were 7 women), undressed all of them and made me wash”. And in order to "pacify the pride" of Anna Vyrubova, Rasputin brought cooks and dishwashers to her, forcing the Empress's maid of honor to serve them. However, in the event of a rebuff, Gregory usually got lost and showed fear. It is quite characteristic that Rasputin received rebuffs mainly from merchants and bourgeois women.
Rasputin's first visit to St. Petersburg dates back to 1903. The capital made an unpleasant impression on the wanderer: “Everyone wants to curry favor … they have no idea … Hypocrites. " Before the visit to the tsar's confessor and inspector of the Theological Academy, Theophan Rasputin, they were advised to change clothes, because "the spirit from you is not good." “And let them smell the peasant spirit,” replied Grigory. It was such a “man of God” and “a righteous man of the people” that made a pleasant impression on both Archimandrite Theophan and the then-famous preacher John of Kronstadt. Later Feofan wrote that “in his conversations, Rasputin then discovered not his literary erudition, but an understanding of subtle spiritual experiences gained by experience. And insight reaching the point of insight. " And here is how Rasputin himself recalled that meeting: “They took me to Father Feofan. I went up to him for a blessing. We glared into the eyes: I into him, he - into me … And so it became easy in my soul. "Look, - I think you won't look at me … You will be mine!" And he became mine. " Theophanes was imbued with such sympathy for the Siberian pilgrim that he even introduced him to the wife of Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich Militsa (who had the funny title of doctor of alchemy). Rasputin quickly grasped the situation: "He (Theophan) took me as a bird of paradise and … I realized that they would all play with me as a peasant." Gregory was not averse to playing with the gentlemen, but only according to his own, and not according to someone else's rules.
As a result, on November 1, 1905, Militsa and her sister Stana introduced Rasputin to the emperor, to whom the "elder" predicted the imminent end of the "troubles" of the First Russian Revolution. In 1906, in Znamenka, Nicholas II met Rasputin again, as evidenced by the entry in his diary: “We had the joy to see Gregory. We talked for about an hour. " And in October 1906, Rasputin met the tsar's children. This meeting made such an impression on the emperor that three days later he recommended to Prime Minister PA Stolypin to invite the "man of God" to his daughter, who was wounded during an attempt on her father's life. And in 1907 it was time for return visits: Militsa visited Rasputin in his native village of Pokrovskoye. Soon Rasputin will become so accustomed to the imperial palace that he will oust the autocrat's closest relatives from there, and the sisters, along with their husbands, will become the worst enemies of the “holy man Gregory”. At the end of 1907, Rasputin, without touching Tsarevich Alexei, with one prayer stopped the bleeding of the heir to the throne, suffering from hemophilia, and Alexandra Feodorovna for the first time called him "Friend". From that time on, the meetings of the imperial family with Rasputin became regular, but for quite a long time they remained a secret. Only in 1908 did vague rumors reach the high society of St. Petersburg: “It turns out that Vyrubova is friends with some peasant, and even with a monk … And what is even sadder that both the peasant and the monk visit Vyrubova with the Tsarina when she visits Vyrubova”(Entry in the diary of General's wife Bogdanovich, November 1908). And in 1909, the palace commandant Dedyulin informs the head of the security department Gerasimov that “Vyrubova has a peasant, in all likelihood a revolutionary disguised,” who meets there with the emperor and his wife. The first reaction of the "high society" of St. Petersburg was curiosity. Rasputin became popular and was received in a number of salons in the capital. About Rasputin's visit to the salon of Countess Sophia Ignatieva, there are poems by the satirist-poet Aminad Shpolyansky (Don-Aminado), popular in those years:
There was a war, there was Russia, And there was the salon of Countess I., Where is the newly minted Messiah
Bread French au.
How well the tar intoxicates, And women's nerves invigorates.
- Tell me, can I touch you? -
The hostess says.
- Oh, you are so extraordinary, That I cannot sit
You are a supernatural secret
Should, probably, own.
You have the quintessence of erotic
You are a passionate mystic in mind, Having folded your mouth into a pipe, The Countess reaches out to him.
She flutters like a butterfly
In the snares of the set nets.
And the countess's manicure shines
Against the background of mourning nails.
His plastic poses -
Out of etiquette, out of the shackles.
The smell of tuberose mixed
With a vigorous scent of trousers.
And even to poor cupid
Look awkward from the ceiling
To the titled fool
And a vagabond man.
In this case, the author confused the chronology a little: this episode could have occurred no later than 1911. Then the attitude of the St. Petersburg secular society towards Rasputin changed, and a war began, in which the victory, as a rule, remained with the "elder", who "on behalf of the disenfranchised peasantry took a farewell historical revenge from the morally worn out "breed" of masters "(A. and D. Kotsyubinsky). It should be emphasized that the negative attitude towards Rasputin was formed not from below, but from above. The "elder" aroused active rejection mainly among the aristocracy offended by the tsarist attention to the "muzhik" and the wounded hierarchs of the Church. To the disenfranchised estates, stories about how high society ladies lick the fingers of the "old man" smeared with jam and pick up crumbs from his table, rather impressed. In contrast to the eccentric and exalted aristocrats, the peasant and artisan people had little faith in the holiness of "The dissolute Grishka". And since there is no trust, there is no disappointment. The common people treated Rasputin in about the same way as they treated Ivan the Fool from their grandmother's tale: an illiterate and unremarkable peasant came on foot to the capital of the great kingdom-state and fooled everyone there: the countess made the floors to be washed in his house, the king in sheep he bent the horn, and took the queen as a lover. How not to admire such a character: "even a scoundrel, but a fine fellow." Before the eyes of the people, loyal monarchists and far-right deputies full of the best intentions created a new tale about a cunning Siberian peasant, a stupid tsar and a dissolute queen, not realizing that, exposing the imperial family to universal ridicule, destroying respect for the sacred person of the Russian autocrat, they sign a sentence to a three-hundred-year monarchy, and to ourselves. Here is how N. Gumilev wrote about Rasputin:
In the thickets, in huge swamps, By the tin river
In shaggy and dark log cabins
There are strange men.
To our proud capital
He comes in - God save me! -
Enchants the queen
Boundless Russia
How they did not bend - oh woe! -
How did not leave the place
Cross on the Kazan Cathedral
And Isaac's cross?
In 1910, Prime Minister P. Stolypin met with Rasputin, who, presenting the "elder" with the compromising materials collected on him, invited him to "voluntarily" leave St. Petersburg. After this conversation, Stolypin tried to convey his concerns to Nicholas II. The emperor's response was simply discouraging: "I ask you never to tell me about Rasputin," said Nicholas II, "I still can't do anything." As the last trump card, the Prime Minister laid out information that Rasputin goes with women to the bathhouse: “I know - he preaches the Holy Scriptures there too,” the tsar replied calmly.
In 1911, the situation with Rasputin acquired the character of a state scandal. Few knew about the illness of Tsarevich Alexei, and the extraordinary closeness of Rasputin to the imperial couple in secular society began to be explained by the sexual relationship between him and Alexandra Fedorovna. Life-doctor ES Botkin rightly remarked that "if it were not for Rasputin, then the opponents of the royal family would have created him with their conversations from Vyrubova, from me, whoever you want." Indeed, at first there were rumors about the unnatural connection of the unloved empress with Vyrubova, then about her close relations with General Orlov and the captain of the imperial yacht Shtandart NP Sablin. But then Rasputin appeared and overshadowed everyone. A romance between the granddaughter of the famous Queen Victoria of Great Britain, the Empress of All Russia, and a simple Siberian peasant, a former whip, a thief and a horse thief! Such a gift to the haters of the imperial couple could only dream of. These rumors and gossip should not be underestimated: "Caesar's wife should be above suspicion," says the old wisdom. The comical ceases to be scary, and if the family of the absolute monarch becomes the object of ridicule and backbiting, only a miracle can save the monarchy. It should be said that the empress and, in part, the emperor, are themselves to blame for the situation. Any unbiased researcher can easily discover many parallels in the behavior of Alexandra Feodorovna and Queen Marie Antoinette of France. First of all, both of them became famous for evading their court duties. Marie Antoinette left Versailles for the sake of Trianon, where not only dukes and cardinals, but even her husband, King Louis XVI of France, had no right to enter without invitation. And Alexandra Feodorovna arranged the last costume ball in the Winter Palace in 1903. The result in both cases was the same: secular life moved to the salons of the frustrating aristocrats, who were glad of any failure of the monarchs who neglected them. Suffice it to say that the joke that the Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, who was blown up by Kalyaev (whose head was on the roof of the Senate) "was brainwashed for the first time in his life," was born not on the outskirts of the workers, but in the salon of the Moscow princes Dolgoruky. The ancient tribal aristocracy gradually passed into opposition to the emperor and empress. Even the mother of Nicholas II, Empress Dowager Maria Feodorovna, could not understand what prevented her daughter-in-law from smiling and saying a few kind words during the reception, because "to shine and charm is the empress's social duty." But Alexandra "stood like an ice statue and only the blind did not see how she was burdened by the official ceremonies." Even the modern researcher A. Bokhanov, who is very close to Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna, is forced to admit in his monograph about Rasputin: “Her public“solo part”of the wife of Nicholas II was unsuccessful: not only did she not deserve applause, but her number was flooded and shouted long before how the curtain fell. " As a result, according to the testimony of the daughter of the physician E. S. Botkin, “there was not a single self-respecting person in the capital who did not try to hurt in some way, if not His Majesty, then Her Majesty. There were people, once favored by Them, who asked for an audience with Her Majesty at an obviously inconvenient hour and, when Her Majesty asked to come in the next day, they said: "Tell Her Majesty that then it will be inconvenient for me." Such "heroes" and "daredevils" were enthusiastically received in the best houses of Moscow and St. Petersburg. In 1901, even before Rasputin's appearance, to the proposal received through Diaghilev to continue the series of imperial and grand-ducal portraits, V. Serov replied with a telegram: "I no longer work for this house (of the Romanovs)." On the other hand, even the intimate friends of the Family lost respect for the reigning persons. Thus, the famous Anna Vyrubova became so insolent that in 1914 Alexandra Fyodorovna had to complain in a letter to her husband: “In the morning she was again very unfriendly to me, or rather, even rude, and in the evening she appeared much later than she was allowed to come, and behaved strangely with me … When you return, do not let her flirt with you rudely, otherwise she becomes even worse. " Nicholas II considered his main responsibility to retain the title of sovereign and autocratic monarch. It was his unwillingness to part with illusions that ruined the family of the last crowned heads. The unfortunate emperor did not even suspect that he had never been a formidable and sovereign autocrat. His orders were often ignored, or not carried out at all as ordered. Moreover, both the highest officials of the state and the palace servants allowed themselves to do this. The wife of Nicholas II felt this and constantly urged her husband: "Be firm, show your hand in power, this is what the Russian needs … It's strange, but such is the Slavic nature …". Quite indicative is the protracted disregard for the emperor's personal orders to expel from St. Petersburg Bishop Hermogenes and Hieromonk Iliodor, who on December 16, 1911, staged a savage lynching against Rasputin. This order was carried out only after the hysterics arranged by the "autocrat" to the director of the police department A. A. Makarov. The emperor then "stamped his feet" and shouted: "What kind of autocratic king I am if you do not carry out my orders." And here is how the order of Nicholas II on the protection of Rasputin was carried out. The chief of the gendarme corps Dzhunkovsky and the director of the police department Beletsky at different times received this order from the emperor. Instead, they, as if by agreement, organized surveillance of the "Friend of the Family" entrusted to their care. The resulting compromising material immediately fell into the reliable hands of the implacable enemies of the emperor and empress. And the Minister of Internal Affairs and the commander of the gendarme corps A. Khvostov (who received this post through the efforts of Rasputin and Alexandra Fedorovna), under the guise of organizing security, began to prepare an attempt on his benefactor, but was betrayed by Beletsky. Rasputin's security was so poorly organized that the "Friend of the Family" was beaten several times with the complete connivance of his bodyguards. The guards considered their main responsibility to identify the guests of their ward, and to keep track of the time he spent with them. Usually police officers sat on the front staircase, the back door was not controlled, which was the reason for the death of Rasputin.
But let us return to 1912, at the beginning of which, thanks to AI Guchkov (founder and chairman of the Octobrist Party), rumors of the Empress's adultery are documented: in the salons and on the streets, they greedily read copies of a letter addressed to the Empress to Rasputin: “My beloved and an unforgettable teacher, savior and mentor. How painful it is for me without you. I am only at peace, rest when you, teacher, are sitting next to me, and I kiss your hands and bow my head on your blessed shoulders … Then I wish me one thing: to fall asleep, to fall asleep forever on your shoulders and in your arms. " Having got acquainted with this letter, the owner of the influential capital's salon AV Bogdanovich writes in her diary on February 22, 1912: “All Petersburg is excited by what this Rasputin is doing in Tsarskoe Selo … With the tsarina, this person can do anything. Such people tell horrors about the tsarina and Rasputin, which is ashamed to write. This woman does not love either the king or the family and destroys everyone. " The letter that caused so much noise was stolen from Rasputin by his former supporter, and later by his worst enemy, Hieromonk Iliodor. Later Iliodor wrote the book "The Holy Devil", in the work on which he was assisted by the journalists A. Prugavin and A. Amfitheatrov, as well as the writer A. M. Gorky. This book, of course, added a few juicy touches to the portrait of the Friend of the Tsar's family, but it did not contain anything fundamentally new: approximately the same was told in Russia at all corners and was printed in all newspapers. However, this book was banned for publication in the United States on the grounds that acquaintance with it could harm the moral health of the American people. At present, some researchers (for example, A. Bokhanov) express doubts about the authenticity of the documents quoted by Iliodor. However, the cited letter should still be recognized as real. According to the memoirs of the Prime Minister of Russia V. N. Kokovtsev, at the beginning of 1912 the Minister of Internal Affairs A. A. Makarov reported that he had managed to confiscate the letters of the queen and her children to Grigory Rasputin from Iliodor (only 6 documents). After the meeting, it was decided to hand over a packet of letters to Nicholas II, who “turned pale, nervously took the letters out of the envelope and, looking at the empress’s handwriting, said:“Yes, this is not a fake letter,”and then opened his desk drawer and in a sharp, completely unusual he threw an envelope there with a gesture. " Moreover, in a letter to her husband dated September 17, 1915, the empress attested the authenticity of this letter: "They are no better than Makarov, who showed my letter to our Friend to strangers." So was there really a connection between Alexandra and Rasputin? Or was their relationship platonic? The question, of course, is interesting, but not fundamental: all strata of Russian society were convinced of the presence of a shameful connection, and the empress was able to wash away this shame only with her own blood. And what did the Tsar's daughter write to Rasputin? After all, very indecent rumors circulated about their relationship with the "elder". Olga, for example, shares her intimate feelings with him: “Nikolai drives me crazy, my whole body is shaking, I love him. I would have rushed at him. You advised me to be more careful. But how can you be more careful when I can’t control myself”. Here, perhaps, the story of the unhappy love of this princess should be told. She fell in love with some ordinary nobleman from Poland. Parents, of course, did not want to hear about such a misalliance, the young man was sent away, and Olga fell into a deep depression. Rasputin managed to cure the girl, and Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich was appointed as her fiancé. However, Rasputin, through his own channels, managed to get evidence of the grand duke's homosexual relationship with Felix Yusupov. As a result, Dmitry Pavlovich did not receive Olga's hand, and Yusupov was deprived of the opportunity to serve in the guard (the future murderers of Rasputin, as we see, had reasons to hate the "elder"). In revenge, Dmitry dismissed a rumor in high society salons about Olga's sexual relationship with Rasputin, after which the unfortunate girl tried to commit suicide. This was the moral character of one of the most brilliant (if not the most brilliant) representatives of the "golden youth" of St. Petersburg.
But let us return to the quoted letter from Olga. The awakening sexuality torments the girl, and she considers it quite natural to ask for advice from the man whom her parents introduced to her as a saint and sinless. Olga is unaware of scandalous rumors and gossip, but the child's parents are well aware of them. Warnings are pouring in from all sides: from Stolypin, from the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, and from many others. Yet gentle parents allow the hopelessly compromised person to have close contact with their teenage daughter. Why? Nicholas II at times experienced some doubts (“he hardly obeys me, worries, he is ashamed,” Rasputin himself admitted), but he preferred not to aggravate his relations with his beloved wife. In addition, Rasputin really helped the sick Tsarevich, and it was not at all easy to refuse his services. There was a third reason - the weak tsar was afraid to once again show his weakness: "Today they demand Rasputin's departure," he said to the Minister of the Court VB Fredericks, "and tomorrow they will not like anyone else, and they will demand that he leave too." As for Alexandra Feodorovna, she immediately and unconditionally believed in the infallibility of the intercessor and mentor sent to her by heaven, and seriously compared Rasputin with Christ, who was defamed during life and was lifted up after death. Moreover, the empress seriously said that Rasputin is dearer to her the more they scold him, because she "understands that he leaves all the bad there in order to come to her cleansed." Maria Golovina, a fanatical admirer of the “holy elder”, once told F. Yusupov: “If he (Rasputin) does this (is depraved), then with a special purpose - to temper himself morally”. And another admirer of Rasputin, the notorious OV Lokhtin, stated: “For a saint, everything is sacred. People commit sin, and by the same it only sanctifies and brings down the grace of God. " Rasputin himself at an arbitration court with the participation of church authorities (1909) declared that "every Christian should caress women," for "affection is a Christian feeling." It should be said that the majority of modern researchers are very skeptical about the sexual "exploits" of Grigory Rasputin. It draws attention to the fact that the worst enemy of the "elder" hieromonk Iliodor (Sergei Trufanov) in his book "The Holy Devil" counted only 12 cases of "carnal copulation". In the polemical fervor, Iliodor got somewhat excited: the famous Anna Vyrubova, for example, turned out to be a virgin, the nanny of the Tsarevich Maria Vishnyakova, whom Rasputin allegedly managed to deprive her of her virginity in a dream, was recognized as mentally ill, etc. Modern researchers A. and D. Kotsyubinsky believe that the point here is not in the chastity of the "elder", but in the disorders of the sexual sphere, which made it difficult to full-fledged contact with women. “Not for the sake of this sin, which rarely happens to me, I go to the bathhouse with women,” Rasputin himself assured his interlocutors. Very interesting is the report of a police agent about Rasputin's visit to a prostitute: "As it turned out, when he came to the first prostitute, Rasputin bought her two bottles of beer, did not drink himself, asked to undress, examined the body and left." Impotent Rasputin, of course, was not, but the famous song of the group "Boney M" about the "love machine" is hardly true. However, Rasputin nevertheless found a brilliant way to compensate for the lack of supernatural sexual abilities: many admirers of the "elder" claimed that, without entering into a "carnal" relationship with them, he nevertheless gave them pleasure that they had never experienced with others men. VA Zhukovskaya ("The Bee") testifies: "This was the kind of affection about which he spoke:" I am only half and for the spirit, "and with which he caressed Lokhtina: bringing her to a frenzy, he put her to prayer." Rasputin himself said: "These are the erniks who are lying, that I live with the queen, but that goblin do not know that there are a lot of affection more than that." As for alcoholic excesses, Rasputin explained them to the Empress in the following way: being sober, he sees everything "human insides" and experiences such pain from the imperfection of people that he has to get drunk in order to get rid of this torment.
At the beginning of 1912, the name of Rasputin was first heard in the State Duma. AI Guchkov, already mentioned by us, made an inquiry about the activities of Rasputin and the forces that stand behind him: “By what means did this man reach this central position, having seized such an influence before which external carriers of state and church power bow down. Just think: who is the boss at the top, who turns the axis that drags both the change of direction and the change of faces … But Grigory Rasputin is not alone: isn't there a whole gang behind him, a motley and unexpected company that took over him personality, and his charm?.
Let's find out how real the influence of the "elder" was. Edward Radzinsky, for example, believes that over the years Rasputin was only guessing the thoughts and moods of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. However, he admits that at the end of his career, the "Elder" achieved unprecedented power: "Since the time of the Russian empresses of the 18th century, the favorite has not reached such strength. And the large Romanov family, and the court, and the ministers confronted him on the sly, hoping only for a secret conspiracy - they did not dare to speak openly. " And Doctor of Medical Sciences A. P. Kotsyubinsky, having analyzed historical documents, came to the conclusion that Rasputin “treated the tsars … a certain channel, as well as, to a certain extent, shaping their moods and thoughts. " Historians have calculated that at least 11 people owe their rise to him: one of them (Sturmer) became prime minister, three - ministers; two - the chief prosecutors of the Synod, one - the assistant (deputy) minister, one - the assistant chief prosecutor of the Synod, one - the metropolitan, one - the manager of the inland waterways and highways, one - the governor of the Tobolsk province. A lot or a little - decide for yourself. The most interesting thing is that Rasputin himself had an extremely low opinion of his protégés: “The people whom Mama and I (that is, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna) are installing in the place of ministers are either a scoundrel over a scoundrel, or a venal skin. What a vile people … And from whom to choose the best? And so, as I can see, there are only two of us in Mom who are faithful to her in heart: Annushka (Vyrubova) and me. What kind of rulers we are”. “As for what I’m bringing to the House, I don’t know myself,” Rasputin confessed. “One thing is true, that I have always wished them well. And what is good? Who knows? "In response to the accusations that “I am like a bone in the throat to everyone, the whole nation is against me,” Rasputin replied: “Never in any century can one person be the cause of such a fire. For a long time, somewhere embers have been smoldering … But either I, or someone else … We, perhaps, will only inflate this ember with our breath."
What was the intellectual level of the person who exerted such a deep and lasting influence on the couple of Russian autocrats? It is known that Rasputin had a bad memory, read poorly and slowly, and could only count up to a hundred. But together he could not be denied a practical peasant mind. The famous doctor and adventurer, godson of Alexander III, P. Badmaev, said that Rasputin was "a simple man, uneducated, and he understands things better than educated ones." The commander of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes P. G. Kurlov agrees with him, who admitted that Rasputin had a "practical understanding of current events, even on a national scale." “He offered me very original and interesting views in our conversation,” former Prime Minister S. Yu. Witte recalled his meeting with Rasputin. The famous specialist in religious sects and a prominent Bolshevik VO Bonch-Bruevich called Rasputin “an intelligent, talented man”. On the eve of the decision on the famous Stolypin reforms, the Saratov Bishop Hermogenes begged Rasputin to persuade the Tsar “not to approve a law that is harmful to the people's life” and received the answer: “Dear Vladyka! Do not worry, I am enforcing the law. He is good". It is difficult to say how real Rasputin's assistance was in this case, however, there is no doubt that the "elder" turned out, if not an ally, then at least not an enemy of Stolypin. But after a few years Rasputin realized what a terrible explosive force the Decree of November 9, 1906 carries and changed his attitude to the reforms: “Petrusha decided to buy a peasant … to cover his mouth with earth. The allotments were assigned to the peasants. And this fixing is INTO kerosene on the hay. Such a fire broke out in the village: brother against brother, son against father with an ax. One shouts: "I want to sleep on the ground", and the other - "I want to put on a drink!" The peasant's bone is cracking, and the fist, like a bug, is sucking blood. " Rasputin's negative attitude to the Black Hundred organizations is known: "I do not like them … They do bad things … Bad is blood." Rasputin was a fierce opponent of the European war, believing that Russia should not meddle in other people's affairs, but "put things in order in the house." It is to Rasputin's influence that many researchers attribute Russia's restrained reaction to the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary. The only opponents of the impending war then turned out to be irreconcilable enemies - Stolypin and Rasputin. It is interesting that S. Yu. Witte considered Rasputin's contribution to be decisive: “Undoubtedly, the fact that the Balkan war did not flare up, we owe the influence of Rasputin,” the former prime minister testifies. One way or another, the war did not take place, and the newspapers were amicably writing about the "diplomatic Tsushima." During the Balkan War of 1912-1913. Rasputin again did not allow the jingoistic patriots to "protect the Slav brothers." “Brothers are just pigs, because of whom it is not worth losing a single Russian person,” he said to the banker and publisher A. Filippov.
“During the Balkan war, he was against the intervention of Russia,” A. Vyrubova testifies.
“He asked the Tsar not to fight in the Balkan War, when the entire press demanded that Russia speak out, and he managed to convince the Tsar not to fight,” says P. Badmaev.
Subsequently, Rasputin repeatedly argued that if in June 1914 he was in St. Petersburg, he would not have allowed Russia to enter the World War. While in the Tyumen hospital (after the assassination attempt of Khionia Guseva), Rasputin sent 20 desperate telegrams to the emperor, urging "not to let the insane triumph and destroy themselves and the people." After receiving the most decisive and categorical of them, Nicholas II wavered and canceled the already signed decree on mobilization. But in this position, the weak emperor could not resist and allowed himself to be persuaded by the great prince Nikolai Nikolaevich, who was thirsty for military exploits. When Rasputin was handed a telegram about Russia's entry into the war, "in front of the hospital staff, he fell into a rage, broke out in abuse, began to tear off his bandages, so that the wound opened again, and shouted threats against the tsar." Returning to St. Petersburg, Rasputin found that the emperor had partially escaped his influence and was under the control of militarist circles of society, reveling in "popular support for a just war" and "unprecedented unity with the people." With grief, Grigory began to drink so much that for a while he lost his healing power (she returned to him after the train accident, which Vyrubova fell into). It was from this time that the legendary scandalous adventures of the "elder" in the restaurants of Moscow and St. Petersburg began, and it was then that a circle of "secretaries" was formed around him, who began to trade in the influence of the "Friend" of the royal family. But Rasputin did not change his attitude to the war. In 1915, he wrote to the Empress: "You whisper to him (Nicholas II) that waiting for victory means losing everything." This year, Russian society has already said goodbye to illusions about an imminent and victorious end to the war. The high military command hastened to explain its own mistakes and failures on the fronts by the activities of German spies and saboteurs. This move should be considered extremely unsuccessful, since the result of the spy mania that engulfed all strata of society was the accusations of the "German" Alexandra Fedorovna and Rasputin of working for the German General Staff, which destroyed the last remnants of the prestige of the Romanov dynasty. In fact, we could only talk about the participation of the empress in the so-called probes - unofficial negotiations on the conditions for a possible conclusion of an armistice between Russia and Germany. In 1916, rumors about the betrayal of Rasputin and the Empress became so widespread that Rasputin's son Dmitry decided to ask his father a question: was he a German spy. Rasputin replied: “War is a fierce matter … And there is neither truth nor beauty in it … This is because the generals and the priests need more crosses and salaries, but they won’t add more land to you, they won’t build a hut … The German is smarter than us. And he understands that it is impossible to fight in a house (in fact, Russian territories), and therefore the simplest thing is to finish … We need to end the war. And then her soldiers are in the war, and the women here - will finish off. " This is exactly what happened! The well-known playwright and publicist E. Radzinsky wrote that the Bolsheviks won because they realized "the bright idea of the dark forces - to make peace." As an opponent of the war, Rasputin, nevertheless, offers a number of ideas that, in his opinion, are capable of improving the situation on the fronts and in the rear. “Our Friend finds that more factories should produce ammunition, for example, candy factories,” writes Alexandra Feodorovna to the Emperor on August 15, 1915. In order to increase the stability of the state system, the “elder” proposes to raise salaries to officials through additional taxation of “capitalists”. Rasputin was also capable of certain sacrifices. Neither he nor Nicholas II had any reason to treat well the deputies of the State Duma who were ruthlessly criticizing them, nevertheless, in February 1916, which was difficult for Russia, Rasputin persuaded the emperor to visit parliament. The deputies were so touched by the attention of the monarch that until the fall they behaved in a rather restrained manner towards the government. The “hunting season” was opened with the famous speech of P. Milyukov, known as “Stupidity or treason?”. “And what is Rasputin doing? Through the Empress he persuades Nicholas II to award the Chairman of the State Duma Rodzianko with the Order. I must admit that when studying the documents of that era, the thought occurred to me more than once that Rasputin was unlucky with his place of birth. If he was born in a wealthy family and received a good education, this article could be devoted not to the notorious semi-literate depraved man, but to the famous and respected Russian politician.
The famous assassination attempt on Rasputin demonstrated, above all, the insignificance of his high society opponents. The Russian nobility lost its passionarity, and for a long time was no longer capable of serious action. Alexei Orlov, without much emotion, could order Shvanovich to strangle Emperor Peter III and then behave in the royal palace in such a way that Catherine II trembled with fear at the mere sight of her benefactor. It cost nothing to inflict "an apoplectic blow with a snuffbox in the temple" to Paul I Nikolai Zubov. And already Kakhovsky could not kill Nicholas I: instead, he shot at General Miloradovich, who sympathized with the Decembrists. Other leaders of the uprising took the soldiers obedient to them to Senate Square, held them all day in the cold, and then calmly allowed them to be shot at point-blank range with grape-shot. It's scary to imagine what he could do, having under his command several thousand guardsmen of some Mirovich! And at the beginning of the twentieth century, in order to cope with one man, it took the joint efforts of five refined representatives of the high society of St. Petersburg. Four high-profile homosexuals decided to "crush the reptile" (the best tennis player of Russia, Prince Felix Yusupov, participant of the 1912 Olympic Games, Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, officer of the Preobrazhensky regiment S. M. Sukhotin, military doctor, and part-time - English spy, S. S. Lazovert) and the extreme right-wing deputy of the State Duma V. M. Purishkevich who joined them. However, according to the latest information, there was also a participant in this action: a cold-blooded Englishman from the Secret Intelligence Service, who controlled the situation and, having personally convinced himself of the worthlessness of the high-profile killers, apparently killed the “holy old man”. The initiator of the murder of Rasputin was F. Yusupov, who at first decided to "remove" him with the hands of "revolutionaries" in search of whom he turned to State Duma deputy V. Maklakov (not to be confused with his brother - N. Maklakov, Minister of Internal Affairs). However, the deputy was forced to disappoint the prince: “Don't they (the revolutionaries) understand that Rasputin is their best ally? No one did the monarchy as much harm as Rasputin; they will never kill him. " I had to do everything myself. Of course, it was not possible to keep the secret: rumors about the upcoming assassination of Rasputin, in which Yusupov and Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich will take part, reached diplomatic salons (see memoirs of British Ambassador Buchanan) and the editorial offices of some newspapers. However, the security of "Drug" was disgustingly organized, and no additional security measures were taken. The nerves of the performers were at their limit. As a result, V. Maklakov, who promised to provide high-society killers with poison, wavered at the last minute and gave them aspirin instead of potassium cyanide. Unaware of this, Lazovert, in turn, replaced the aspirin with some other harmless powder. Thus, the attempt to poison Rasputin was deliberately doomed to failure. A tire burst in the car on which Lazovert was supposed to pick up Purishkevich. Purishkevich, who left the building of the State Duma in the middle of the night, spent a lot of time on the street and almost came back. They forgot to open the gate through which Purishkevich and Lazovert had to pass to the Yusupov Palace, and they entered through the main entrance - in front of the servants. Then Lazovert fainted, and Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich proposed to postpone the murder for another time. From a distance of 20 cm, Yusupov missed Rasputin's heart, as a result, the "elder" unexpectedly "came to life": according to Purishkevich's recollections, Yusupov then vomited, and he was in a deranged state for a long time. The door to the courtyard was not closed, and the wounded Rasputin almost ran away from the conspirators. Further more. Immediately after the murder, Purishkevich suddenly remembered his descendants and decided to “stake out” his place in history: he called the policeman S. Vlasyuk and told him that he, a member of the State Duma Vladimir Mitrofanovich Purishkevich and Prince Yusupov had killed Rasputin, and then asked him to keep this information in secret. Having got rid of the body of the murdered with great difficulty (they forgot about the prepared weights and threw them into the water after the corpse), the conspirators again gathered in the Yusupov palace and got drunk elementary. At about 5 o'clock in the morning, the drunken killers decided to confess to the Minister of Internal Affairs A. A. Makarov. Before clarifying the circumstances, he asked Yusupov, Purishkevich and Dmitry Pavlovich to sign not to leave St. Petersburg. Slightly sobering up, the conspirators came to the conclusion that "it is not safe to stay in the capital … they decided to leave … and only Dmitry Pavlovich was decided to stay in the capital" (Purishkevich's Diary). Only Purishkevich managed to escape. Investigator for especially important cases at the Petrograd District Court V. N. Sereda later said that "he saw many crimes of smart and stupid, but such stupid behavior of accomplices, as in this case, he has not seen in all his practice." The conspirators did not have a clear plan of action: for some reason they thought that after the murder of Rasputin they themselves would begin to develop in the right direction. Meanwhile, everyone expected decisive action from them. The officers of the guards regiments offered Dmitry Pavlovich to lead the night campaign to Tsarskoe Selo, but he refused. At that time, Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich expressed regret in his diary that Felix and Dmitry Pavlovich "did not finish the extermination that had begun … Shulgin - that he would be useful."
The weak tsar also showed his weakness in this matter: the law of the Russian Empire stated that in the case of a group case, all participants are judged by the instance in whose jurisdiction the accomplice occupying the highest position is located. There was no special court for members of the imperial family in Russia: the tsar alone decided their fate. The empress demanded that the murderers be shot, but Nicholas II limited himself to a purely symbolic punishment.
