POLITICAL TENSION--THE DEATH OF RASPUTIN
(DECEMBER, 1916)
The political atmosphere became more and more heavy, and we could feel
the approach of the storm. Discontent had become so general that in
spite of the censorship the Press began to speak about it. Party feeling
ran ever higher, and there was only one point on which opinion was
unanimous--the necessity of putting an end to the omnipotence of
Rasputin. Everyone regarded him as the evil counsellor of the Court and
held him responsible for all the disasters from which the country was
suffering. He was accused of every form of vice and debauchery and
denounced as a vile and loathsome creature of fantastic habits, and
capable of baseness and ignominy of every kind. To many he was an
emanation of the devil himself, the anti-Christ whose dreaded coming was
to be the signal for the worst calamities.
The Czar had resisted the influence of Rasputin for a long time. At the
beginning he had tolerated him because he dare not weaken the Czarina’s
faith in him--a faith which kept her alive. He did not like to send him
away, for if Alexis Nicolaïevitch had died, in the eyes of the mother he
would have been the murderer of his own son. Yet he had maintained a
cautious reserve, and had only gradually been won over to the views of
his wife. Many attempts had been made to enlighten him as to the true
character of Rasputin and secure his dismissal. His confidence had been
shaken, but the Czar had never yet been convinced.[47]
On November 6th we left Tsarskoïe-Selo, and after a short stay at
Mohileff we left on the 9th for Kieff, where the Czar was to visit the
Dowager Empress. He stayed two days in the company of his mother and
some of his relations, who did their best to show him how serious the
situation was and persuade him to remedy it by energetic measures. The
Czar was greatly influenced by the advice which was given him. He had
never seemed to me so worried before. He was usually very
self-controlled, but on this occasion he showed himself nervous and
irritable, and once or twice he spoke roughly to Alexis Nicolaïevitch.
We returned to G.H.Q. on the 12th, and a few days later Sturmer fell, to
the unconcealed relief of everyone. The Czar entrusted the office of
President of the Council to A. Trepoff, who was known as an advocate of
moderate and sane reforms. Hope revived. Unfortunately the intrigues
continued. The Germans flattered themselves that these were only the
prelude to grave troubles and redoubled their efforts, sowing the seeds
of doubt and suspicion everywhere and trying to compromise the Court
beyond repair in the eyes of the nation.
Trepoff had asked the Czar to dismiss the Minister of the Interior,
Protopopoff, whose utter inefficiency and the fact that he was a
disciple of Rasputin had made him bitterly unpopular. The President of
the Council felt that he would never be able to do anything useful so
long as that Minister remained at his post, for all the politicians of
any standing proclaimed their helplessness and were refusing to accept
responsibility.
The courageous initiative of patriots such as Sazonoff, Krivoshin,
Samarin, Ignatieff, and A. Trepoff--to mention but a few--was not
supported as it might have been. If the intelligent masses of the nation
had grouped themselves round them the growing peril could have been
averted and in quite legal fashion. But these men did not receive the
support they were entitled to expect. Criticism and the intrigues and
rivalries of individuals and parties prevented that unity which alone
could have saved the situation.
If unity had been realised it would have represented a power such as
would have paralysed the evil influence of Rasputin and his adherents.
Unfortunately those who did realise it were the exception. The majority
kept out of a disagreeable conflict, and by retiring from the field left
it free to adventurers and the apostles of intrigue. They made no effort
to lighten the burden of the men who realised the danger and had
undertaken to save the Czar, in spite of himself, and to support the
tottering régime until the end of the war.
The Czar had originally acquiesced in Trepoff’s suggestion, but under
the influence of the Czarina he had changed his mind and remained
irresolute, not knowing what to decide. He had been deceived so often
that he did not know in whom he could have confidence. He felt himself
alone and deserted by all. He had spent himself without reflection since
he had assumed the Supreme Command, but the burden he had taken upon his
shoulders was too heavy and beyond his strength. He realised the fact
himself. Hence his weakness towards the Czarina, and the fact that he
tended more and more to yield to her will.
Yet many of the decisions he had taken in 1915 and his visit to the Duma
in February, 1916, show that till then, at any rate, he could resist her
when he was sure that it was for the good of the country. It was only in
the autumn of 1916 that he succumbed to her influence, and then only
because he was worn out by the strain of his double functions as Czar
and Commander-in-Chief, and in his increasing isolation he did not know
what to do to escape a situation which was getting worse from day to
day. If he had received better support at that time from the moderate
parties, who can say that he would not have found the strength to
continue his resistance!
The Czarina herself sincerely believed--on the strength of Rasputin’s
word--that Protopopoff was the man who could save Russia. He was kept in
office, and Trepoff, realising his impotence, lost no time in resigning
his post.
* * * * *
We returned to Tsarskoïe-Selo on December 8th. The situation was
becoming more strained every day. Rasputin knew that the storm of hatred
was gathering against him, and dare not leave the little flat he
occupied in Petrograd. Exasperation with him had reached fever-heat, and
the country was waiting for deliverance and fervently hoping that
someone would remove the man who was considered the evil genius of
Russia. But Rasputin was well guarded. He had the protection of the
Imperial police, who watched over his house night and day. He had also
the protection of the Revolutionary Socialists, who realised that he was
working for them.
I do not think that Rasputin was an agent--in the usual sense of the
word--in Germany’s pay, but he was certainly a formidable weapon in the
hands of the German General Staff, which was vitally interested in the
prolongation of the life of so valuable an ally and had surrounded him
with spies who were also guards. The Germans had found him a splendid
weapon for compromising the Court, and had made great use of him.
Many attempts had been made, even by the Czarina’s greatest friends at
Court, to open her eyes to the true character of Rasputin. They had all
collapsed against the blind faith she had in him. But in this tragic
hour the Grand-Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna[48] wished to make one last
effort to save her sister. She came from Moscow, intending to spend a
few days at Tsarskoïe-Selo with the relations she loved so dearly. She
was nine years older than her sister, and felt an almost maternal
tenderness for her. It was at her house, it will be remembered, that the
young princess had stayed on her first visit to Russia. It was she who
had helped Alexandra Feodorovna with wise advice and surrounded her with
every attention when she started her reign. She had often tried to open
her sister’s eyes before, but in vain. Yet this time she hoped that God
would give her the powers of persuasion which had hitherto failed her,
and enable her to avert the terrible catastrophe she felt was imminent.
As soon as she arrived at Tsarskoïe-Selo she spoke to the Czarina,
trying with all the love she bore her to convince her of her blindness,
and pleading with her to listen to her warnings for the sake of her
family and her country.
The Czarina’s confidence was not to be shaken. She realised the feelings
which had impelled her sister to take this step, but she was terribly
grieved to find her accepting the lying stories of those who desired to
ruin the _staretz_, and she asked her never to mention the subject
again. As the Grand-Duchess persisted, the Czarina broke off the
conversation. The interview was then objectless.
A few hours later the Grand-Duchess left for Moscow, death in her heart.
The Czarina and her daughters accompanied her to the station. The two
sisters took leave of each other. The tender affection which had
associated them since their childhood was still intact, but they
realised that there was a broken something lying between them.[49]
They were never to see each other again.
On December 18th we left for Mohileff again. The situation there had
taken a turn for the worse. The news of the capture of Bucharest had
just come in to depress everyone’s spirits. It seemed to justify the
most gloomy forebodings. Rumania appeared to be lost.
We were all oppressed and uneasy, a prey to that vague anxiety which men
experience at the approach of some danger or catastrophe. The muttering
of the gathering storm could be heard.
Suddenly the news of Rasputin’s death fell like a thunderbolt.[50] It
was December 31st, and the same day we left for Tsarskoïe-Selo.
I shall never forget what I felt when I saw the Czarina again. Her
agonised features betrayed, in spite of all her efforts, how terribly
she was suffering. Her grief was inconsolable. Her idol had been
shattered. He who alone could save her son had been slain. Now that he
had gone, any misfortune, any catastrophe, was possible. The period of
waiting began--that dreadful waiting for the disaster which there was no
escaping....