Nicholas and Alexandra: The Tragic, Compelling Story of the Last Tsar and his Family

by Robert K. Massie

  Nicholas also quickly confirmed Kokovtsov’s official position, naming him as Stolypin’s successor. One month later, the new Prime Minister visited the Tsar at Livadia to discuss future policy. “I … was accorded a most hearty welcome. The members of the court … vied with each other in their graciousness to me,” Kokovtsov wrote. “… The next day, after lunch, the Empress who found it painful to stand for any length of time, sat down in an armchair and called me to her side…. A part of this conversation impressed itself upon my memory because it … showed me the peculiar, mystic nature of this woman who was called to play such an extraordinary part in the history of Russia….

  “The Empress said … ‘I notice that you keep on making comparisons between yourself and Stolypin. You seem to do too much honor to his memory and ascribe too much importance to his activities and his personality. Believe me, one must not feel sorry for those who are no more. I am sure that everybody does only one’s duty and fulfills one’s destiny, and when one dies that means that his role is ended and that he was bound to go since his destiny was fulfilled. Life continually assumes new forms, and you must not try to follow blindly the work of your predecessor. Remain yourself; do not look for support in political parties; they are of so little consequence in Russia. Find support in the confidence of the Tsar—the Lord will help you. I am sure that Stolypin died to make room for you, and this is all for the good of Russia.’”

  In 1911, when Stolypin ordered an investigation of Rasputin’s activities, the outcry against the starets was still a matter for private conversation. By 1912, when Kokovtsoy inherited Stolypin’s office, the scandal had burst into the public arena. In the Duma, broad hints at “dark forces” near the throne began to creep into the speeches of Leftist deputies. Soon the “Rasputin question” dominated the political scene.

  “Strange as it may seem,” wrote Kokovtsov, “the question of Rasputin became the central question of the immediate future; nor did it disappear during my entire term of office as Chairman of the Ministers’ Council.” Censorship had been abolished by the Manifesto, and the press began to speak openly of Rasputin as a sinister adventurer who controlled appointments in the Church and had the ear of the Empress. Newspapers began to print accusations and confessions from Rasputin’s victims and the cries of anguished mothers. Alexander Guchkov, leader of the Octobrists, obtained copies of Iliodor’s letters allegedly written by the Empress to Rasputin; he had them copied and circulated through the city. “Although they were absolutely impeccable, they gave rise to the most revolting comments,” said Kokovtsov. “… We [Kokovtsov and Makarov, the Minister of Interior] both believed that the letters were apocryphal and were being circulated for the purpose of undermining the prestige of the sovereign but we could do nothing…. The public, of course, greedy for any sensation, was according them a very warm reception.”

  As the attack on Rasputin intensified, the Moscow newspaper Golos Moskvy denounced “that cunning conspirator against our Holy Church, that fornicator of human souls and bodies—Gregory Rasputin” as well as “the unheard-of tolerance exhibited toward the said Gregory Rasputin by the highest dignitaries of the Church.” Nicholas issued an order banning any mention of Rasputin in the press on pain of fine. But Rasputin made much too good copy for editors to worry about fines; they published and cheerfully paid. The unprintable stories, passed from mouth to mouth, were infinitely worse. The Empress and Anna Vyrubova, it was said, shared the peasant’s bed. He ordered the Tsar to pull off his boots and wash his feet and then pushed Nicholas out of the room while he lay with Alexandra. He had raped all the young Grand Duchesses and turned the nurseries into a harem, where the girls, mad with love, fought for his attentions. “Grishka,” the diminutive of Gregory, appeared in obscene drawings chalked on walls and buildings; he was the subject of a hundred smutty rhymes.

  Nicholas was bitterly offended at the dragging of his wife’s name and honor through the mud. “I am simply stifling in this atmosphere of gossip and malice,” he told Kokovtsov. “This disgusting affair must be ended.” Neither Nicholas nor Alexandra understood the meaning of freedom of the press; they did not understand why the ministers could not prevent the appearance in print of what they both knew was inaccurate and libelous. On the other hand, for the ministers, the Duma and even the Dowager Empress, the solution lay not in repressing the newspapers, but in ridding the throne of Rasputin. Once again, Marie invited Kokovtsov to call on her, and for an hour and a half they discussed Rasputin. “She wept bitterly and promised to speak to the Tsar,” Kokovtsov wrote. “But she had little hope of success.” “My poor daughter-in-law does not perceive that she is ruining both the dynasty and herself,” said Marie. “She sincerely believes in the holiness of an adventurer and we are powerless to ward off the misfortune which is sure to come.”

  Inevitably, the demand rose for an open debate in the Duma on the role of Rasputin. The Duma President, Michael Rodzianko, a massive figure weighing 280 pounds, was a former cavalry officer of aristocratic family whose political views were not much different from those of a Tory country squire in England. To him, the idea of a public debate in the Duma on Rasputin’s relations with the Imperial family seemed highly offensive. Seeking advice, he too visited Empress Marie and heard the same depressing views that Marie had addressed to Kokovtsov. “The Emperor … is so pure of heart,” she concluded, “that he does not believe in evil.”

  Nevertheless, Rodzianko persisted and he was granted an audience with the Tsar. So important did he consider his mission that before going to the palace, he went to pray in the cathedral before the holy icon of Our Lady of Kazan. At the palace, Rodzianko bravely told the Tsar that he meant to “speak of the starets, Rasputin, and the inadmissible fact of his presence at Your Majesty’s Court.” Then, before going any further, he said, “I beseech you, Sire, as Your Majesty’s loyal subject, will it be your pleasure to hear me to the end? If not, say but one word and I will remain silent.” Nicholas looked away, bowed his head and murmured, “Speak.” Rodzianko spoke at length, reminding Nicholas of those such as Theophan and Iliodor who had condemned Rasputin and suffered for it. He mentioned the major charges against Rasputin. “Have you read Stolypin’s report?” asked Nicholas. “No,” said Rodzianko, “I’ve heard it spoken of, but never read it.” “I rejected it,” said, the Tsar. “It is a pity,” said the Duma President, “for all this would not have happened.”

  Moved by Rodzianko’s honest fervor, Nicholas gave way and authorized a new investigation of Rasputin’s character and activities to be conducted by Rodzianko himself. Rodzianko immediately demanded and received the evidence which had been collected by the Holy Synod and passed along to Stolypin to form the basis of his earlier report. The following day, an official of the Holy Synod appeared and ordered Rodzianko to hand the papers back. “He explained,” Rodzianko wrote, “that the demand came from a very exalted person. ‘Who is it, Sabler [Minister of Religion]?’ ‘No, someone much more highly placed.’ … ‘Who is it?’ I repeated. ‘The Empress, Alexandra Fedorovna.’ ‘If that is the case,’ I said, ‘will you kindly inform Her Majesty that she is as much a subject of her august consort as I myself, and that it is the duty of us both to obey his commands. I am, therefore, not in a position to comply with her wishes.’”

  Rodzianko kept the papers and wrote his report, but when he asked for another audience to present it, the request was denied. He sent it to the Tsar, nevertheless, and Sazonov, the Foreign Minister, was present when Nicholas read it at Livadia. Afterward, Sazonov spoke to Grand Duke Ernest of Hesse, the Empress’s brother, who also was present. Sadly, the Grand Duke shook his head and commented, “The Emperor is a saint and an angel, but he does not know how to deal with her.”

  Two years after his appointment as Prime Minister, Kokovtsov toppled from power. Once again, it was Rasputin who poisoned this political career. Upon appointing Kokovtsov Minister of Finance, Nicholas had told him, “Remember, Vladimir Nicolaievich, that the doors of this study are always op
en to you at any time you need to come.” When Kokovtsov sent the Tsar his proposed budget speech to the Duma in 1907, Nicholas returned it with a personal note reading, “God grant that the new Duma may study calmly this splendid explanation and appreciate the improvement we have made in so short a time after all the trials sent to us.” The Empress also was initially well disposed toward Kokovtsov. During their first interview after he became Finance Minister, she said, “I wished to see you to tell you that both the Tsar and I beg you always to be quite frank with us and to tell us the truth, not hesitating lest it be unpleasant for us. Believe me, even if it be so at first, we shall be grateful to you for it later.”

  But Alexandra’s warmth and her desire to hear the truth faded quickly once the newspapers began their attack on Rasputin. Kokovtsov himself understood clearly what had happened and even sympathized with Alexandra:

  “At first, I enjoyed Her Majesty’s favor,” he wrote. “In fact, I was appointed Chairman of the Ministers’ Council with her knowledge and consent. Hence, when the Duma and press began a violent campaign against Rasputin … she expected me to put a stop to it. Yet it was not my opposition to the Tsar’s proposal to take measures against the press that won me Her Majesty’s displeasure; it was my report to His Majesty about Rasputin after the starets had visited me. From that time on, although the Tsar continued to show me his favor for another two years, my dismissal was assured. This changed attitude of Her Majesty is not hard to understand…. In her mind, Rasputin was closely associated with the health of her son, and the welfare of the Monarchy. To attack him was to attack the protector of what she held most dear. Moreover, like any righteous person, she was offended to think that the sanctity of her home had been questioned in the press and in the Duma. She thought that I, as head of the government, was responsible for permitting these attacks, and could not understand why I could not stop them by giving orders in the name of the Tsar. She considered me, therefore, not a servant of the Tsar, but a tool of the enemies of the state and, as such, deserving dismissal.”

  Despite his wife’s animosity, Nicholas retained his affection for Kokovtsov. Nevertheless, on February 12, 1914, the Prime Minister received a letter from the Tsar:

  VLADIMIR NICOLAIEVICH:

  It is not a feeling of displeasure but a long-standing and deep realization of a state need that now forces me to tell you that we have to part.

  I am doing this in writing, for it is easier to select the right words when putting them on paper than during an unsettling conversation.

  The happenings of the past eight years have persuaded me definitely that the idea of combining in one person the duties of Chairman of the Ministers’ Council and those of Minister of Finance or of the Interior is both awkward and wrong in a country such as Russia.

  Moreover, the swift tempo of our domestic life and the striking development of the economic forces of our country both demand the undertaking of most definite and serious measures, a task which should be best entrusted to a man fresh for the work.

  During the last two years, unfortunately, I have not always approved of the policy of the Ministry of Finance, and I perceive that this can go no farther.

  I appreciate highly your devotion to me and the great service you have performed in achieving remarkable improvements in Russia’s state credit; I am grateful to you for this from the bottom of my heart. Believe me, I am sorry to part with you who have been my assistant for ten years. Believe also, that I shall not forget to take suitable care of you and your family. I expect you with your last report on Friday, at 11:00 a.m. as always, and ever as a friend.

  With sincere regards,

  NICHOLAS

  Kokovtsov found little solace in Nicholas’s description of his successor as “a man fresh for the work,” especially when he discovered that this successor was to be Goremykin. Certainly Goremykin made no such estimate of his talents. “I am like an old fur coat,” he said. “For many months I have been packed away in camphor. I am being taken out now merely for the occasion; when it is passed I shall be packed away again till I am wanted the next time.”

  After his dismissal, Kokovtsov was asked to call on the Dowager Empress. “I know you are an honorable man and I know that you bear no ill will toward my son. You must also understand my fears for the future. My daughter-in-law does not like me; she thinks that I am jealous of her power. She does not perceive that my one aspiration is to see my son happy. Yet I see that we are nearing some catastrophe and the Tsar listens to no one but flatterers, not perceiving or even suspecting what goes on all around him. Why do you not decide to tell the Tsar frankly all you think and know, now that you are at liberty to do so, warning him, if it is not already too late?”

  Almost as distressed as Marie, Kokovtsov replied that he “could do nothing. I told her that no one would listen to me or believe me. The young Empress thought me her enemy.” This animosity, Kokovtsov explained, had been present ever since February 1912.

  It was in the middle of February 1912 that Kokovtsov and Rasputin had met and disliked each other over tea.

  When he first came to St. Petersburg, Gregory Rasputin had no plan for making himself the power behind the Russian throne. Like many successful opportunists, he lived from day to day, cleverly making the most of what was offered to him. In his case, the path led to the upper reaches of Russian society, and from there, because of Alexis’s illness, to the throne. Even then he remained indifferent to politics until his own behavior became a political issue. Then, with government ministers, members of the Duma, the church hierarchy and the press all attacking him, Rasputin counterattacked in the only way open to him: by going to the Empress. Rasputin became a political influence in Russia in self-defense.

  Alexandra was a faithful patron. When government ministers or bishops of the church leveled accusations at the starets, she retaliated by urging their dismissal. When the Duma debated “the Rasputin question” and the press cried out against his excesses, the Empress demanded dissolution of the one and suppression of the other. She defended Rasputin so strongly that it became difficult for people to associate in their minds the Empress and the moujik. If she had determined to hate all his enemies, it was not surprising that his enemies decided to hate her.

  Stephen Beletsky, Director of the Police Department, later reckoned that Rasputin’s power was firmly established by 1913. Simanovich, who worked with Rasputin in St. Petersburg, estimated that it took Rasputin five years, 1906–1911, to gain power and that he then exercised it for another five, 1911–1916. In both estimates, the turning point falls in the neighborhood of 1912, the year that the Tsarevich Alexis almost died at Spala.

  18

  The Romanov Dynasty

  In 1913, the gilded world of the European aristocracy seemed at its zenith. In fact, fashionable society, like the rest of mankind, stood one step from the abyss. Within five years, three European empires would be defeated, three emperors would die or flee into exile and the ancient dynasties of Hapsburg, Hohenzollern and Romanov would crumble. Twenty million men, aristocrats and commoners alike, would perish.

  Even by 1913, there were omens of danger. The aristocracy of Europe continued to move through a world of elegant spas, magnificent yachts, top hats, tailcoats, long skirts and parasols, but the old monarchs who had given character to this world were vanishing. In Vienna, the aged Emperor Franz Joseph was eighty-seven; already he had sat on the throne for sixty-four years. In England, not only Queen Victoria but also her son King Edward VII were in their graves. King Edward’s death left his nephew the Kaiser the dominant monarch in Europe. William reveled in his new preeminence and scorned the pair of gentle cousins who occupied the thrones of England and Russia. William, meanwhile, changed uniforms five times a day and let it be known that when he commanded troops at army maneuvers, the side he was leading was expected to win.

  Beneath the polished sphere of kings and society, there was a wider world where millions of ordinary people lived and worked. Here, the portents we
re even more ominous. Nations ruled by kings and emperors had grown into industrial behemoths. The new machines had given the monarchs vastly greater power to make war; by 1913, it was scientifically assured that a dynastic quarrel would lead to the death not of thousands, but of millions of men. In the upheaval of such murderous wars lay promise of revolution. “A war with Austria would be a splendid little thing for the revolution,” Lenin wrote to Maxim Gorky in 1913. “But the chances are small that Franz Joseph and Nikolasha will give us such a treat.” Even without war, the stresses produced by industrialization promised future storms of frustration and unrest. Governments shuddered under the impact of strikes and assassinations. The red banners of Syndicalism and Socialism floated beside the golden standards of militant nationalism. These were the days when, in Churchill’s words, “the vials of wrath were full.”

  Nowhere was there greater contrast between the effortless lives of the aristocracy and the dark existence of the masses than in Russia. Between the nobility and the peasants lay a vast gulf of ignorance. Between the nobility and the intellectuals there was massive contempt and flourishing hatred. Each considered that if Russia was to survive, the other must be eliminated.

  It was in this atmosphere of gloom and suspicion that Russia began a national celebration of the ancient institution of autocracy. The occasion was the tercentenary of the Romanov dynasty, which had come to power in 1613. The hope of the Tsar and his advisors was that by raising again the giant figures of Russia’s past they might submerge class hostility and unite the nation around the throne.