Rasputin and the Downfall of the Romanovs
About this episode
The episode explores the influence of Grigori Rasputin on the Romanov dynasty and the events leading to their downfall.
When Russia's Dowager Empress was pregnant with the future Tsar Nicholas II in 1868, she dreamed that a peasant would one day kill her son. The idea terrified her, and for the rest of her days she lived under the fear of this prophecy. It may have come true with the arrival at court of a mysterious, barely literate wandering monk from Siberia, Grigori Rasputin. He had a pale face, long hair and penetrating eyes gave him an almost hypnotic quality. Though he had no official position at court, Rasputin’s hold over the Romanovs became the stuff of legend. Exaggerated accounts of political and financial corruption swirled around him, to say nothing of the stories of his debauchery with the Empress and even her daughters. The consequences of the rumor and conspiracy theories were devastating—when the February revolution broke out in 1917, hardly a sword was raised in the Tsar’s defense. Today's guest is Antony Beevor, author of Rasputin: The Downfall of the Romanovs . We look at how Rasputin was able to wield such power, mostly by tricking the Royal Family into thinking he could heal Tsarevich Alexei’s hemorrhages. We also look at his legendary assassination…
People in this episode
Host: History Unplugged
Guest: Antony Beevor
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Bolsheviks
Books & works: Rasputin: The Downfall of the Romanovs
More episodes of History Unplugged Podcast
- How 10 Whalers Survived Three Years Shipwrecked in the South Pacific
- The Nobels Built Russia’s Oil Industry, Invented Dynamite and the Oil Tanker, But Were Still Crushed by the Bolshevik Revolution
- The American Revolution Went Way Outside of America, Pulling in Caribbean Colonies, African Forts, and Chinese Trading Houses
- Ford’s Auto Domination Came From a 1909 Race Across America Through Mud-Choked Roads
- Al Capone’s Missing $100 Million, and the TV Journalist Who Embarrassed Himself to Find It
- How the Dollar Created America (Part 2)
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the History Unplugged Podcast podcast page.