How did rapsutin contribute to the downfall of the imperial family?

Question by Nicolas: Rasputin and the downfall of the imperial family question?
how did rapsutin’s character and his influence within the court lead to the downfall of the imperial family?
Answers and Views:

Answer by Toki
Rasputin was able to help the king’s son and calm his mother down. He liked to drink excessively and was basically a peasant, uncouth, scruffy etc. He was not welcome in the royal court but the Czarina insisted he stay there to help her son. Many resented the presence of Rasputin amongst them.

Rasputin was seen as a threat because his relationship to the czarina became quite close and she called on him as an advisor. She in turn would advise the Czar in political decisions. Russia at the time had a government but the Czar ruled. So, Rasputin having a strong influence over the czarina meant he could influence government policies.

Thus, poor decisions that were made by the Tsar during the time of Rasputin’s influence and the hatred that his presence inspired in the people probably contributed significantly to the fall of the Tsar in the last days of the dynasty. People lost confidence in their ruler at a time of grave crisis. Russia was fighting in World War I and losing badly. There were severe shortages of food and supplies at home. As public confidence lapsed, the revolutionary ideas fermenting in Russia for 50 years began to come to the surface. Finally, shortly after Rasputin’s death, the Russian Revolution swept away Nicholas and his family forever.

Rasputin made an ominous prediction that if he should be killed the Russian royal family would die soon after. After his death, the Russian revolution started and the czar and his family were taken into custody and eventually shot. Their bodies were burned in a wood and dumped down a small mine shaft near by.

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