Rasputin discredited the regime, as he was seen to be a peasant himself, and his behaviour did not show that of someone who was working for the tsar. Rasputin believed that the more sins you commit the more you can be forgiven, and therefore the more likely you are to go to heaven, these views caused his pleasures to include drunkenness, stealing and womanising, and on top of all this, he claimed to be a holy man. People of Russia had little respect for him and many questioned why someone like the tsar, who was supposed to be in control of the country would have a person like Rasputin living in freedom around the him and his family. This perhaps jeopardise the stability of the tsar’s government as Rasputin was displaying disrespectful acts for all to see and these reflected back onto the tsar and his government.
Although both Stolypin and Rasputin effected the tsar’s government in many negative ways they also had some positive effects upon it, for example, Stolypin wanted to improve tsarism through reform. Theoretically, as a result of this the tsar’s government would have preserved as no major changes would have been made, also the fact that no revolution was in question the majority of people in Russia who had any influence over the government were kept happy. Although Rasputin seemed like a very irresponsible figure in the tsar’s government he wasn’t completely negligent as he advised the tsar to improve the medical facilities and the supplies of food that the army was getting, this therefore improved their strength in the war thus helping Russia to remain a strong country.
Both Stolypin and Rasputin had major influences over what happened in Russia as the tsar himself found it very difficult to conclude his own judgments. For example, both had a major impact on what happened in the Duma, ultimately they were the tsar’s advisors, what they told the tsar to do is usually what happened. However due to the tsar taking into account both their thoughts caused much conflict as Stolypin and Rasputin had differing views on how Russia should be run. A prime example of this is when Stolypin got Rasputin banished from Russia. Even though the tsar was in need of Rasputin, due to his son having haemophilia, at Stolypin’s word he was no longer allowed to be present.
Although from this it seems it was Stolypin that had a greater influence over the tsar and his authority, an example of Rasputin having a tremendous amount of power was when he advised the tsar to join his army during WW1, he claimed he had had a revelation and that the tsar taking personal responsibility over his army was they only way in which they would succeed. This was potentially a good idea as it showed that the tsar was taking direct control of his country, however, there was a problem behind Rasputin’s idea, however probably not viewed as one by Rasputin. The tsar going to join the army would have meant that Rasputin and the tsarina were left to govern Russia, this could have been seen as bad enough, however on top of this the tsarina was German, and the fact that a German princess was ruling over Russia with a ‘simple peasant’ caused much disturbance in the government.
Due to the tsar’s absence, Rasputin managed to convince the tsarina to put his own supporters into important positions in the government, in consequence giving him more control and as a result perhaps causing the tsar’s government to become weaker.
Due to Stolypin wanting reform, not revolution, he clamped down on revolutionary groups and so many people were hung because of it that the noose became known as ‘Stolypin’s neck tie’. The fact he had so many people put to death would have perhaps made the people of Russia respect the tsarist regime more, although out of fear rather than anything else, which is perhaps not the best way to go about it. Nevertheless respect was still achieved thus causing the tsar’s government to become more stabilised, as there were less revolutionaries around to threat it’s authority.
Land reform was another thing Stolypin believed should be done in Russia. This would have stabilised the government, as the people of Russia would have been seeing change however it would have not been anything revolutionary. In theory this was a good idea, however Stolypin stated himself that for any effect to be shown it would have taken twenty years, and due to many factors, like the war and Stolypin’s assassination, the effects were never seen.
In conclusion both Stolypin and Rasputin affected the stability of the tsar’s government and good and bad ways, however, Stolypin seemed to cause the government to stay how the tsar would have ideally wanted it to be, he strove for reform and not revolution, he wanted to protect tsarism and went to many lengths to make sure it was stable. Both Stolypin and Rasputin had control over the Duma, however, unlike Stolypin, who tried to change it in favour of the tsar, Rasputin went to much effort to change it in the favour of himself. He also showed up the tsar with his irresponsible behaviour.
Overall, Stolypin seemed to be the person that tried to stabilise the government and make it the best it could have been under the circumstances, for example the backwardness of Russia, whereas Rasputin although perhaps meaning well some of the time, tended to hinder rather than help the stability of the tsar’s government.