have been Regent of the Empire in case the Czar had died before the Heir
to the Throne had reached his majority, and she determined to make use
of the opportunity which had arisen to vent her bad feelings on a man in
whom she saw a rival to the claims of her own son. She induced Nicholas
II. to deprive the Grand Duke of his fortune as well as of his civil
rights, and to make out of him a ward in chancery. The scandal was
immense, and it did not procure any friends for Alexandra Feodorowna.
In the mean while the Cesarewitsch sickened again, and the frantic
mother implored Anna Wyrubewa to write to Raspoutine and to implore the
latter to work a miracle of some kind in favor of her son. The “Prophet”
replied that he would pray with all his heart for the child, but that he
doubted very much whether this would avail, because the Empress had
neglected her duties in regard to the Almighty and forgotten to continue
the practices of mortification and of devotion she had been wrapped up
in the whole time he had been near her to urge her to go on with them.
Alexandra Feodorowna could not stand this last reproach, and she
forthwith started to implore the Czar to recall the “Prophet.” But
Nicholas II. had been warned against him quite recently and refused to
grant her request. This brought about a renewal of tears and hysterics
on the part of the Czarina, and at last, one day that she was alone with
Anna, she unburdened her soul to the latter, exclaiming that she knew
her beloved boy was going to die and that it would be her fault, ending
her confession with the agonized cry:
“My son! I must save my son!”
Madame Wyrubewa saw that the poor creature was in such an over-excited
state that she might really be facing a collapse of her reason. She then
proposed to the infatuated Alexandra to have recourse to a bold measure,
which consisted in bringing back Raspoutine quite secretly to St.
Petersburg, where he could stay at her house without any one getting to
hear of it. If, then, his prayers brought about the amelioration
required in the state of health of the little Alexis, the Empress would
be able to tell the Czar what she had done, and perhaps to convince the
latter of the efficacy of the holy man’s intervention and intercession
on behalf of their boy.
The Czarina caught eagerly at the idea, and after long negotiations,
which very nearly failed because Raspoutine did not yield at once to the
entreaties sent to him, he at last consented to return to St.
Petersburg. He was secretly introduced into the room where the Heir to
the Russian Throne was lying, in what every one thought were already the
throes of death. He prayed for the child, he prayed for the Empress, and
he urged the latter to submit to certain mysterious passes which he
proceeded to perform over her head. A few days after this secret
interview Alexis suddenly began to improve; not only this, but he became
stronger and brighter than he had been for a long time.
Alexandra Feodorowna was radiant, and one day when Nicholas II. was
rejoicing at the happy change which had taken place in the condition of
their son she informed him of what she had done and begged from him
permission to bring Raspoutine to him and to allow him to remain in the
vicinity of the Court in the future. Nicholas II. was convinced and
granted the necessary authorization. After this the question of
Raspoutine’s return to Siberia was not raised again, and he never left,
except for short vacations, the Sovereigns who had at last been
persuaded to give to him their complete confidence.
He refused, however, to take up his abode in Tsarskoye Selo, and showed
himself very discreet in his demeanor. He was admirably advised, and he
prepared himself in silence for the part it was intended for him to play
in the future. But at stated intervals, and upon
[Illustration:
Copyright by Underwood & Underwood
THE PALACE OF TSARSKOYE SELO]
stated days, he used to see the Empress, either in her own rooms or,
most frequently, at the house of Anna Wyrubewa, when he evoked for her
the spirit of Colonel Orloff and transmitted messages which he was
supposed to have received. Alexandra Feodorowna believed him, and this
new understanding, which she firmly thought had, thanks to the prayers
of the “Prophet,” established itself between her and the man who had
possessed her heart, proved to her the greatest consolation she had
known. It induced her to come out of her retirement and to begin to take
part in the management of public affairs, which she insisted upon the
Czar communicating to her. The time was coming when it would become
known in Russia that if the Sovereign was a weak man his Consort was
trying to show herself a strong woman, and comparisons between Alexandra
Feodorowna and Catherine the Great began to be heard in the yet small
circle which affected to admire the new qualities it prided itself upon
having discovered in the young Empress.
XVIII
ANOTHER WAR
The years which followed upon Raspoutine’s triumphant return to
Tsarskoye Selo were most eventful ones for Russia as well as for the
Imperial Family. Europe, too, went through political convulsions which
were the preliminary of the disaster that was to sweep over it in 1914,
but in which very few people in 1912 were able to discern danger. I am
referring to the annexation by Austria of Bosnia and Herzegovina and to
the two Balkan wars. When Servia was threatened by Bulgarian ambition
there existed a powerful party in Russia which would have liked the Czar
to interfere on her behalf, and to lend her his aid against King
Ferdinand, on one side, and the Austrian spirit of conquest, on the
other. Popular feeling was very much in favor of a Russian
demonstration, and for some weeks St. Petersburg was the scene of a
violent agitation which, in the opinion of many people, was destined to
end in a war with the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. It was not a secret
that the Servian Government would not have objected, had such a
contingency presented itself, and during the whole of the summer and
autumn of 1913 different Servian politicians came to Russia to discuss
the situation. In Moscow, as well as in St. Petersburg, they applied
themselves to the task of awakening in favor of their country the
sympathies of all the Russian Slavophils. At one time it seemed as if
they were going to succeed and as if the Czar would be compelled to
yield to the general wishes of his subjects.
Here Raspoutine interfered, and, thanks to his influence over the
Empress, he contrived to prevent the spread of a conflagration which
threatened to extend itself far beyond the Balkan Peninsula. It must not
be assumed, however, that in doing so he was actuated by any patriotic
motives. He was a man for whom the word “patriotism” had absolutely no
meaning. But his friends, as well as himself, were plunged head foremost
in financial schemes which a war would in all probability have wrecked,
and therefore he applied himself with all his energy to set hindrances
in the path of the chauvinists who tried to induce the Emperor to assert
the might of his Empire, to rush to the rescue of those Slav
nationalities that had refused to conform themselves to the anti-Russian
policy which Bulgaria had been pursuing ever since King Ferdinand had
been put in control of her destinies.
This interference on the part of the “Prophet” in matters which did not
concern him in the least became known very quickly, not only in Russia,
but also abroad, and one of the most active members of the German
Embassy in St. Petersburg, who was _persona grata_ in the
Wilhelmstrasse, wrote a whole report on the subject, raising at the same
time the question as to whether it would not be worth while to try, with
the help of substantial arguments, to win Raspoutine over to the idea of
a _rapprochement_ between Russia and Germany. The latter was steadily
making preparations for the war which she was quite determined to
provoke within a very few months. She had always worked toward the
destruction of the Franco-Russian understanding, which stood in her way,
which she feared might come to endanger her dreams of a world-wide
Empire. Every effort had been made on the part of the Berlin Court to
win over the Czar to the idea of renewing the intimate bonds which,
during the whole time of his grandfather’s reign, had united the
Hohenzollerns and the Romanoffs. When Nicholas II. had repaired to
Berlin for the marriage of the Kaiser’s only daughter with the son of
the Duke of Cumberland he had been made the object of one of the warmest
welcomes he had ever received in his life, a welcome which had touched
him so much that he had come back to Tsarskoye Selo full of enthusiasm
for his Prussian relatives. If the truth need be told, he was also
slightly disillusioned as to the advantages which his country might
obtain through its alliance with the French Republic. This feeling of
distrust which had thus been sown in his mind in regard to the good
intentions of his Latin ally was of course at once reported to the
Kaiser by the many friends which the latter had in St. Petersburg, and
it made him doubly anxious to win over to his side the good-will as well
as the sympathies of Nicholas II. At the same time William was very well
aware that it was most difficult to rely on anything promised by a man
with such a weak character, or rather with such a lack of character, as
his Russian cousin. An ally who would continually whisper in the
latter’s ear all the advantages which a friendly treaty and
understanding with Germany could bring to him, as well as to the whole
Russian Empire, was indispensable; of course, when it was suggested to
those who controlled the actions and the politics of the Wilhelmstrasse
that he might be found in the person of the Empress Alexandra’s
favorite, the Kaiser came very quickly to the conclusion it would be
worth while to obtain the good offices of this remarkable man.
This, however, would have proved difficult, even for the experienced
spies which Prussia maintained in all circles of Russian society, as it
was not easy to discover means of getting into contact with the
formidable adventurer whose name had already become one of the most
powerful to conjure with in the vast Russian Empire. At this juncture
Mr. Manassavitch-Maniuloff interfered and volunteered his services to
William II. The crafty fox had heard that the Czar’s confidence in
France was slightly shaken. Maniuloff at once bethought himself of the
possibility of turning his knowledge to his personal advantage, and he
managed, no one knows how, to impart to the German Ambassador in St.
Petersburg, Count Pourtalès, his willingness to persuade Nicholas II.,
through Raspoutine, that he would do well to throw France overboard and
to conclude a treaty with the Prussian Government, which eventually
might prove of immense advantage to himself by assuring him of German
protection in the not improbable case of a new Revolution taking place
in his Empire.
This sort of thing went on for some time, and it is quite likely that if
events had not precipitated themselves one upon the other with the most
startling rapidity, the policy of Raspoutine and his friend might have
borne fruit in some way or other, and the relations between the Cabinet
of St. Petersburg and that of Paris, which had already sensibly cooled
down, would have become even fresher than was already the case. In
fact, the announced visit of President Poincaré had not appealed to the
Czar, who, while unable to decline it, yet had expressed himself quite
loudly as to the small amount of pleasure which he expected to get out
of it. Of course Berlin heard about the remarks that had escaped the
lips of the Russian Sovereign, and it was not slow to draw its own
conclusions from them. In fact, if we are to believe all that was
related at the time by persons well up as to what went on in European
politics, it was confidently expected by the Kaiser that instead of
drawing France and Russia closer together the journey of the French
President, thanks to personal frictions he felt sure would arise, would,
on the contrary, irritate Nicholas II. and make him look with more
favorable eyes than he had done before on the possibility of a change in
the conduct of Russian Foreign Affairs.
Whether this would have taken place or not it is difficult to say,
because at the last moment Germany lost her most devoted ally, and the
influence of the man who had, more than any one else, worked in its
interests was eliminated for the time being. A woman, who had just
reasons for feeling revengeful against Raspoutine, stabbed him as he was
coming out of church in his native village of Pokrowskoye in Siberia,
whither he had gone on a short visit. He was ill for a long time, and
during the weeks that he was laid up, to the intense consternation of
the Empress, who was only with great difficulty prevented from going
herself to nurse him, the Austrian ultimatum consequent on the
assassination of the Heir to Francis Joseph’s Throne was presented to
Servia, and followed by the declaration of war launched by Germany
almost simultaneously against Russia and France.
This proved for Alexandra Feodorowna the most terrible blow that had yet
befallen her since the day when she had plighted her troth to the mighty
Czar of All the Russias. During the eventful hours that preceded the
initial act of the tragedy which was to change the face of the whole
world she went about like a demented woman, crying and praying in turns,
and imploring her husband to pause before he allowed the accomplishment
of a calamity which she vaguely guessed would claim her for one of its
first victims. But this time there was no Raspoutine at her side to play
on the feelings of humanity of the weak-minded Nicholas, to persuade him
that he ought rather to submit to the humiliation of Russian prestige
than to allow another war to throw its shadow on his already too
unfortunate reign. On the contrary, all the advisers of the Emperor, all
his Ministers, public opinion, the press, and the army, eager to wipe
out the remembrance of the Japanese disaster, poured into his ears
their conviction that if he did not rush to the help of poor threatened
Servia he would not only lose the last fragments of popularity which
were left to him, but also put Russia before the whole world in a most
shameful and dishonorable position.
As usual, the Czar yielded, with the results which we know and have
seen. He could hardly have done anything else, if we take into
consideration that Germany was absolutely determined to start the
abominable war, from which she hoped to obtain the realization of her
schemes of domination of the whole earth. But--and this must be told
here--the Kaiser in letters far more authentic than the famous Willy and
Nicky correspondence, which personally I consider as subject to much
doubt, in view of certain improbabilities which it contains, the Kaiser
did propose at that time to his cousin to conclude with him a defensive
and offensive alliance against France and England. In return for which
he engaged himself to uphold any designs which Russia might nurse in
regard to the Balkans and the Straits.
It may not be to the advantage of his intellectual faculties that
Nicholas failed to see the vast political scheme which lay behind this
offer; it is certainly to the honor of his moral character that he
refused it, and this in spite of the supplications of his wife, who
entreated him not to plunge their country into a war which, as she
repeated, could only prove disastrous for its future, as well as for
that of the dynasty. In spite of his natural defects, of his cruelty,
harshness of heart, and utter disregard of the rights of others, the
Czar was still a gentleman and he could not be induced to do anything
capable of dishonoring him as a gentleman, though he may have lent
himself to actions degrading for a Sovereign. During the terribly
responsible days which preceded the declaration of war he behaved quite
irreproachably. It was later on that he was influenced by Raspoutine and
by the Empress to lend himself to political schemes unworthy of him, as
well as of the nation over which he ruled.
On the 1st of August, 1914, twelve hours after Germany had thrown her
gauntlet into his face, he showed himself for the last time to his
people on the balcony of the Winter Palace. An immense crowd had
gathered together in the big square which it faces, and for the last
time, too, cheered him vociferously, forgetting in this solemn moment
all the follies, mistakes, and errors which had saddened his reign and
raised a barrier between him and this great Russia that his father had
made so prosperous and so mighty. If in that supreme moment he had been
able to find words capable of electrifying this crowd into believing in
him again, who knows but that the reverses which were to crowd upon him
could not have been avoided, or at least diminished! But Nicholas II.
never knew how to speak to his subjects or how to touch their hearts. He
remained impassible and indifferent in the most critical hours of his
life and of theirs, and this incapacity to rise to the height of the
situation of the moment was perhaps one of the things which contributed
the most to his fall.
I remember him so well on that August afternoon, facing the multitude
assembled to greet him as its Czar and leader, and I remember, too, the
thought which swept through my mind, that it was a thousand pities it
was not his father who stood there in his place. Alexander III. would
have known how to address Russia in an hour of national danger. He was
neither a brilliant nor an extremely intelligent man, but he was a man
and a Sovereign, who realized the duties of a Monarch and of a man. He
was, moreover, a Russian who thought and who felt as a Russian alone
could think and feel, in questions where the honor and the future of the
country were involved. Nicholas II. was simply an Emperor who wished to
be an autocrat. It was too much and not enough at the same time, and
many among those who looked upon him, as he appeared before his people
on that historical balcony whence it was the custom to announce to the
population of the capital the death of a Sovereign whenever it took
place, many wondered whether they were not going to hear that another
one had started on the long journey whence there is no return. His
presence seemed to herald a funeral rather than the hope of a triumph,
and this impression which he produced was so vivid that more than one
acknowledged having experienced it when talking about this famous day
which, though we knew it not, proved to be the last upon which a Russian
Czar faced the Russian people before the latter overthrew the chief of
the House of Romanoff from the Throne which he had disgraced.
XIX
MY FATHERLAND, MUST I FORSAKE THEE?
It would not have been human on the part of the Empress Alexandra if she
had not felt deeply aggrieved at the war which had so unexpectedly
broken out between the country of her birth and that of her adoption.
She had never really become a Russian at heart and her sympathies had
remained exclusively German all through her married life. Apart from
this, she had experienced from the intercourse which she had kept up
with her own family the only pleasure which she had frankly enjoyed
since the Crown of the Russian Czarinas had been put upon her head. She
dearly loved her two sisters, the Princess Victoria of Battenberg and
the Princess Irene of Prussia, far more, indeed, than she did her other
one, the Grand-Duchess Elisabeth, whom she considered more or less as a
rival and whom in the secret of her heart she could not forgive for
having won in Russia a popularity which had always been denied to her
own self.
Then there was her brother, the Grand Duke of Hesse, with whom she had
remained in correspondence, who paid her frequent visits in Tsarskoye
Selo; there was also her cousin, the Kaiser, who had been the first
person to point out to her the responsibilities which were inseparable
from the exalted position she occupied as Empress of All the Russias,
who had applied himself to persuade her that she had great political
talents, and that she could undoubtedly, if she only wished it, become a
most important factor in European politics. Strange to say, though she
had been brought up partly in England, though her mother had been an
English Princess, though she was the grandchild of Queen Victoria, she
intensely disliked everything that was English, and had for English
customs, English ambitions, and English politics the same hatred which
characterized William II. Perhaps this common aversion was one of the
reasons why they had always got on so well together, and why they had
been able to be of so much use to each other. At all events, the fact
that it existed in an equal degree in both of them had drawn them
together, and at last, after she had contrived to eliminate the
influence of her anti-German mother-in-law, Alexandra Feodorowna had
been able to give herself up body and soul to the task of drawing
together her husband and her own kindred. She had tried to persuade the
former that the only means to insure the prosperity and the welfare of
the Russian Empire in the future consisted in a closer union with
Germany, with whom there existed absolutely no reason to quarrel,
because there were no interests capable of clashing between the two
people. She had represented to the weak-minded Nicholas that Russia had
obtained from France all that she could hope to get, and that the latter
had become weary of always being called upon to invest money in Russian
bonds without any return being made for her generosity.
Nicholas II. had always detested republics, and though he had been made
much of during his visits to Paris, which he had thoroughly enjoyed, he
yet had never felt quite at home amid the Republican society he had been
called upon to get acquainted with; in the secret of his heart he
despised all French political men, whom he considered as much inferior
to himself. But a natural inclination to dissimulation, which he carried
so far that many people called it by quite another name, had made him
carefully conceal the real state of his feelings in regard to his French
ally. It is, however, quite certain that if the war had not broken out
the Franco-Russian alliance would have died a natural death. As things
occurred, it was for a short space of time to appear more complete than
ever; this was not the merit of Nicholas, but the result of the honesty
which the French Government brought to bear in all that happened in
1914. In Russian Court circles, which were all of them, more or less,
given up to Germany, the news that the country was going to war was
received with consternation, and there were many people who declared
that it was a shame for Russia to be drawn into a struggle which was
essentially a personal quarrel between France and Germany, with which
she had nothing to do.
At first and before the anti-German feeling became fierce in St.
Petersburg, the Empress, in spite of political complications, remained
in private correspondence with her brother, and through him with the
Kaiser, to whom she promised that she would spare no efforts to induce
the Czar to conclude peace as soon as it became practicable. She had
never been able to form an idea of the power which public opinion,
especially in times of national danger, can exercise over a nation. She
imagined that the authority wielded by the Crown would be sufficient to
put an end to any manifestations of sympathy in regard to France on the
part of the Russian people. She therefore felt confident that the
struggle which had just begun would not last long, and that Russia could
come out of it, if not with flying colors, at least without any serious
losses.