Rasputin was a holy man from Siberia. He was a member of the Kylysty set, a religious group that believed that religious ecstasy was achieved through the senses. They self-flagellated themselves and sometimes engaged in sexual acts.
The relationship shocked the government and higher society; most importantly, however, it destroyed the relationship between the Tsar and his most able minister Stolypin. Stolypin was modernising Russia so it was producing food faster and introducing faster machinery in mines and railways. He did however make enemies, but he dealt with this by hanging his opposition, a practice which earnt him a reputation and lead to the gallows being referred to as Stolypins necktie. Stolypin banished Rasputin from St Petersburg, much to the annoyance of the Tsarina, but after Stolypins assassination in 1912 Rasputin returned and his influence increased. In 1912 there was an incident in which Alexis was very ill but Rasputin was not in St Petersburg. Hearing of Alexis’ illness, Rasputin sent a telegram back which said that Alexis would recover on the next day and, it appears, he did.
In 1915 the Tsar made a terrible mistake, he took charge of the Russian army. This caused problems for the Tsars reputation. All defeats in the war were blamed on him; he left Alexandra in charge of Russia. The Russians didn’t trust her because of her German heritage and they thought she was spying for the Germans. The idea’s of Rasputin’s set and his closeness with the Tsarina fuelled rumours by revolutionaries that Rasputin was having an affair with Alexandra, and her two daughters. There is little evidence that this was true and any evidence was presented by the revolutionaries and is very likely to have been tampered with and taken out of context. There is, however, a lot of evidence that Alexandra loved her husband. In the media Rasputin was presented as a ladies man when some of the evidence like Source 4 (page 28 Russia &USSR 1905-1941) appears innocent but it’s the attribution “A photograph of Rasputin surrounded by ‘ladies of the aristocracy’… suggesting this was Rasputin’s aristocratic harem.” The media also criticised the way the Tsar was handling the war, they spread rumours about the Tsarina spying as well as the relationship between Rasputin and Alexandra. Whilst this propaganda was damaging to the Tsar’s reputation, the relationship between Alexandra and Rasputin was not the only problem facing Russia. For example, Nicholas’ decision to take on the reasonability of the army meant that any failures were directly blamed upon him.
The Tsarina discredited the ruling of the country; she dismissed the old Duma and replaced all the ministers with friends of Rasputin or people who would do as they were told. Rasputin had great influence over who was promoted and who was fired. Alexandra and Rasputin hired and fired men freely meaning nothing was well organised because there was no permanent government. The railway system collapsed and trainloads of food, already in short supply, were left rotting in sidings. No-one was organizing fuel and other supplies.
The winter of 1916 was very bad, the railway was icy meaning that little fuel and food could get into Petrograd, prices for food and other necessities were massively increased but wages were not increased. They were also continuing to do badly in the war. Both of these factors contributed to loss of public trust in the leadership of the country.
It seems no-one knows how Rasputin made Alexis better because they are no historical sources available which give a clear explanation, however, some believe he had hypnotic powers. Even Stolypin, who hated him said; “I did realise that the man possessed great hypnotic power.” (Source 3, Page 27, Russia & THE USSR 1905-1941)
When the Tsar heard of the rumours about Rasputin he had a conflict with the Duma and had all articles about Rasputin censored leading to yet more rumours about their relationship. Understandably, this served only to increase the rumours about the supposed affair, causing yet more problems for Nicholas II. Thus, it was not only because of Rasputin’s presence in the court that there were problems, it was also the way Nichols reacted to the rumours that led to a lack of respect and fuelled dissatisfaction for the Tsar’s rule.
Rasputin’s presence in the politics of Russia did cause problems for Tsar Nicholas II because he was not respected, being a holy man from Siberia. Rasputin’s low birth and rural origins meant that ministers became aggravated by his quick ascension into power and influence over major decisions. Although Rasputin appears to have helped prolonged the life of Alexis, his association with the Tsarina caused yet more problems for Nicholas. Rumours and anti-Tsarist propaganda stemmed from this relationship but Nicholas’ reaction caused as many problems as the rumours originally did. There were also many problems in Russia preceding Rasputin’s involvement as the 1905 revolution demonstrates. In the aftermath of the Russo-Japanese war and Bloody Sunday, and with a nationwide famine and dreadful living conditions for those working in the cities, the level of dissatisfaction would have inevitably led to further problems in Russia regardless of Rasputin’s involvement.