How did Grigori Rasputin influence the 20th century?

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1. Delin Colón says

   I agree with everything you've said about the period and problems. I don't know why you even mention my book, as I never claim that he had anything to do with the revolutions – and I absolutely agree that he is a minor footnote. I am sure you have not read "Rasputin and The Jews" wherein all I discuss is his advocacy for the oppressed Jews and, like you, speak of how little influence he had on the Tsar. I may not be a historian, but I am a researcher and have done so professionally. One need not be a historian to know how to do research and put together information. By your own standard, if you're not a historian, who are you to critique my book which has received glowing reviews from book reviewers (5 stars on Amazon), including historians and attorneys (who are used to finding the holes in stories). What are your credentials? I have seen this same dissertation (without the nasty stuff about my book) cut and pasted into the reply for every question asked about Rasputin. I absolutely agree with your point of view and have never said anything contrary to it, so your venom is a bit baffling to me.

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2. chana devora says

   Most of what you'll find in books about Rasputin is the sensationalist gossip that was spread by the aristocracy. Read "Rasputin and The Jews: A Reversal of History". As stated on Amazon:

   "This book is a well-documented account of Rasputin as a healer, equal rights activist and man of God, and why he was so vilified by the aristocracy that their vicious rumors became accepted as history. For nearly a century, Grigory Rasputin, spiritual advisor to Russia's last Tsar and Tsarina, has been unjustly maligned simply because history is written by the politically powerful and not by the common man. A wealth of evidence shows that Rasputin was discredited by a fanatically anti-Semitic Russian society, for advocating equal rights for the severely oppressed Jewish population, as well as for promoting peace in a pro-war era. Testimony by his friends and enemies, from all social strata, provides a picture of a spiritual man who hated bigotry, inequity and violence. The author is the great-great niece of Aron Simanovitch, Rasputin's Jewish secretary."

   Also see the article about this book and the website on it.

   But, to answer your question, he had virtually no influence on the 20th century, except perhaps to the families who sprang from those he saved from being murdered in pogroms (the government sanctioned raids on Jewish villages where all were tortured and murdered) or from unjust imprisonment.

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