One Year at the Russian Court: 1904-1905

by Renée Gaudin de Villaine Maud

The Tzar did not like Rasputin, but he tolerated him. His Majesty generally possessed a clear judgment, but never had quite the courage of his opinions; and unluckily his courage stopped short of sending the rascal away.

Among the friends of Rasputin must be mentioned Protopopoff, Minister of the Interior, and Boris Sturmer, who thanks to the former’s intrigues had been appointed Prime Minister of Russia. Both were known to be pro-German.

The “monk’s” empire at the Court became so great that through the intermediary of the Empress those who had been remiss to him in any particular lost important posts, and he also caused his unworthy “protégés” to be given the highest appointments. This grew to such an extent that he really came to out-Emperor the Emperor himself, and he knew it—that shameless rascal who endeavoured to make himself look like the picture of Christ.

He had also powerful enemies, among whom was Stolypin, an honest man, and then one of the most powerful men in the Empire. When in 1906 the New Russian Imperial Duma assembled for its first session, the question of the redistribution of land became at once the chief topic of the debates. The second Duma took it up also, and after the dismissal of the second Duma the Government considered the same question again. Monsieur Stolypin, who was Prime Minister at the time, introduced his very much discussed Land Reform Bill, which provided to a great extent for the distribution of State and Crown land to the peasantry; but this land reserve was big and would not have been exhausted for a long time. The chief object of Monsieur Stolypin’s land reform was to break up the communal ownership. There was no appropriation of private owner’s land and no private owner was forced to sell his property. As a result, 2,000,000 new farms sprang up in different parts of Russia. Later on, he also paid for his honesty, like so many others, by perishing from a bomb explosion at Kief.

But the enemy Rasputin feared most of all others was Grand Duke Nicholas, who had learnt a great deal about the so-called “Saint” and esteemed him accordingly; Rasputin knew this and was consequently not free from anxiety. I have been assured that at a ball given at the Palace since the War, the Grand Duke Nicholas, assisted by young Grand Duke Dmitri Paulovitch, seized the mock monk, who naturally was there, the pupils of his eyes more charged with magnetism than ever, and tearing off the pious emblems with which he was covered—one more fascination—administered the most severe chastisement after having thrown him outside.

Soon after the commencement of hostilities Grand Duke Nicholas was appointed by the Tzar Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armies on the German frontier. Later on, he was appointed Viceroy of the Caucasus and the Tzar took the full command of the Western front upon himself. It was an established fact that the Grand Duke’s transference—which became a burning question—was brought about entirely by the influence of the pro-German group by which the Emperor was surrounded, these intriguers finding the presence of the Grand Duke a great obstacle to the realization of their dark plans.

A great sportsman, the Grand Duke had the best pack of hounds in the Empire; his borzois were unrivalled in beauty, strength and speed, and he possessed wonderful shooting preserves in the Caucasus and elsewhere.

Following on the Tzar’s abdication, it was decided by the existing Government to reinstate the Grand Duke Nicholas as Commander-in-Chief of the army, in which post he had so greatly distinguished himself at the beginning of the war; and he was actually on the point of leaving for head-quarters when the Committee of the Workers’ Delegates and the Committee of the Soldiers’ Deputies, egged on by the Socialists, protested against the measure. The Labour Party were alarmed that the great popularity of the Grand Duke with the army might be the cause of their proclaiming him Tzar of Russia; therefore they insisted on the revocation of his appointment, and Kerensky upheld them, threatening to resign from the Cabinet should the Grand Duke assume the Chief Command.

From the appearance of Rasputin, Germany was on the watch, realizing what an easy prey Russia might become, and soon the pockets of the “Saint” were bulging over with German gold. Surrounded by pro-German friends, they began to plot for Germany to such an extent, and so successfully, that Rasputin was sent for to Berlin by the Kaiser, who it may be imagined did not waste his time. Rasputin, installed in a fine house near the Moika, saw his religion develop every day; then it was that Grand Duchess Olga, the eldest daughter of the Emperor, became one of his most fervent “sister disciples,” and on his return from his clandestine journey to Germany, in 1916, he began cleverly to insinuate to his admiring female listeners that a separate peace would be very profitable to the great Russian Empire.

It was in vain that Grand Duke Nicholas and others informed the Empress what Rasputin really was, and told her of his depraved life and his false miracles, it was in vain that they told her that he and his friends would destroy Russia—all these efforts of persuasion were of no avail.