Rasputin's Importance To History, Part 7

One of the most controversial topics about Rasputin was his "seeming" ability to stop the bleeding in the Tsar's hemophiliac son, Alexei. There were people who believed (and those who still do believe) that Rasputin had some kind of supernatural powers, and others who felt that he used some sort of trickery, including hypnosis (and likewise, there are people who still believe this), and still others who believed he had an accomplice inside the palace who helped him by administering a mysterious drug to the boy, and then Rasputin would appear just as the drug took effect. My own opinion, for what it's worth, is that as to "supernatural" powers, I don't believe in any such nonsense. There may well be things in life that appear to have some supernatural cause, but enough research will show that there is some more natural explanation (Now what brings about that natural cause is open to debate.) As to an accomplice, I doubt it. As to a mysterious drug, I doubt that, too, as such a drug could have made any person possessing it a very wealthy person. To me, the explanation is more simple. Initially, Rasputin wanted status by being introduced to the imperial family. In order to improve that status and become even closer with the Tsar and Tsarina, he saw an opportunity in their son's illness. Whether he knew what the illness was at first, I doubt it, as hemophilia was not a common affliction. One thing Rasputin did know and understand was people; that is, personalities, and the desire by people to believe in supernatural forces that could counter what had been assumed to be incurable. His first "healing" of the boy could well have been a roll of the dice. He had nothing to lose. If I come to the bedside of a very ill person, say a prayer, make the sign of the cross, and in a time, the person's condition begins to improve, did I do this, or was it a process that was already underway, and I just got the credit for it? I believe the latter. That is not to say that later on, when Alexei had other bleeding incidents that Rasputin's presence did not indeed calm the boy and provide comfort to him, and especially to his mother, thus helping to control the bleeding. This is what many doctors have attributed to Rasputin's "healing" of Alexei. Again, you have to keep in mind that once Rasputin was given credit for saving the boy by the Tsarina, there was no turning back. At the next bleeding episode, what was he to do, say that he couldn't help Alexei? Rasputin derived any "power" and status he had by virtue of his association with the Tsarina and her belief that he could keep her son alive. His whole position would have been lost. The same was true with the next episode, and the next, and the next. There was no incentive for Rasputin NOT to answer the Tsarina's calls or telegrams, nor was there any reason for him to say that he couldn't help the boy.

The most famous "healing" episode, and the one that totally solidified Rasputin's position with the Tsarina came when the imperial family was at one of their hunting lodges in Poland.* Alexei injured his leg getting into or out of a boat. At first, it was thought that the injury was not serious, but the internal bleeding grew ever worse, and the boy lingered for several days in terrible pain, as the swelling from the blood literally disfigured his leg and caused terrible pain in his lower abdomen. The boy had to be fitted with a special leg brace after his recovery, so severe had his leg been damaged. The Tsarina was beside herself. Each cry of pain by the boy terrified her, and she rarely left his bedside, nor did she sleep much for days. Some of the people present claimed that Alexandra's hair had a gray tinge to it after these days at her son's bedside.

Rasputin was at his home in western Siberia at that time. A trip to Poland would have taken many days by train, which was the most effective means of long distance transport in those times. The Tsarina sent a telegram to his village and Rasputin replied to her. The exact text of his reply has been "quoted" in a variety of ways, and if I remember correctly, the telegram did not survive those times, as far as is known. The gist of Rasputin's reply was that the Tsarina should not let the doctors** bother the boy anymore, and that the boy would recover. Within about a day, Alexei's condition improved, and after a time he recovered, although with the severely bent leg, as I mentioned above.

Doctor's have speculated to this day about what actually happened in Poland. Most have said that if anything, Rasputin gave good advice in his telegram to the Tsarina; that is, keep the doctors away! Keep in mind, this was the heir to the throne of the Russian Empire. Any doctor would have felt the need to try to do something, anything, even though knowing that not much could actually be done (with the knowledge of those times). All of this fussing and Alexandra's sobbing and terror stricken appearance would unnerve anyone, let alone a small boy in terrible pain. The speculation is, that when the doctor's were withdrawn, and Alexandra had been noticeably calmed just by receiving Rasputin's reply, the boy also calmed down, allowing the natural healing process to take place.

To be continued in "Part Eight" ...

* Technically during that time, there was no Poland as a nation, only as a geographical description. Most of what had been Poland (including Warsaw) was then a part of Russia, with a smaller section being part of Germany, and an even smaller section being part of Austria-Hungary.

** Several specialists had been ordered to Poland from St. Petersburg.

WORD HISTORY:
Poland-This word for the eastern European country goes back to Indo European "pel," which had the notion of "flat, spread out." This gave its Old Slavic offspring "pole," which meant "plain, field." The Old Slavic form produced "Polans," the name of a Slavic tribe, with the more literal meaning, "people of the plains/fields." The Slavic form also later gave Polish (a Slavic language) "polje," with the meaning "field." The area where the Polans lived was called in Polish "Polanie," and the neighboring Germans picked up the word as "Polen," likely more from the Slavic tribe name "Polans." English seems to have borrowed the word from German, more than likely from Low German,^ in the 1500s, but likely owing to a misunderstanding of the "len" ending of the Low German form, assumed it to be equivalent to "land;" thus, "Poland."

^ Many of the Germans coming into contact with the Slavic tribes in what became Poland were Low German speakers. Since standard German, which is mainly derived from High German dialect, also uses "Polen," I "assume" it got the word from Low German, but I could not find confirmation of that. 

Rasputin's Importance To History, Part Two

(Slightly edited and updated with a Word History on October 15, 2014)

The Tsar and his family lived a fairly isolated life; this was especially so, because Alexandra was extremely shy and not fond of social events, which were therefore limited, even more so, after she began having children (she had five children between November 1895 and August 1904). She was insecure, and since she had had little time to learn the Russian language before her marriage to Nicholas, she preferred to use Russian as little as possible. This gave many Russians the impression that she didn’t like Russia. She and Nicholas conversed in English, and if I remember right, at times in her native German, as Nicholas was fluent in German (his grandmother was German). When Nicholas was away so much during World War I, the two exchanged letters in English and Alexandra kept her diary in English. Alexandra conversed with her children in English and taught them German, while Nicholas conversed with the children in Russian.

Alexandra’s preference for friends did not sit well with the Imperial Court. In a society where the nobles and aristocracy dominated, the people of high society wanted to be seen as being close to the Tsar and Tsarina; it was status and it was intensely sought after. Alexandra chose, however, to rarely see many people of high society. She was undoubtedly influenced very much by her grandmother, Queen Victoria, as Alexandra’s mother, Alice, Victoria’s daughter, died when Alexandra was only six. Queen Victoria promptly took charge of arranging for her granddaughter’s education, and Alix, her given name, spent long periods in England with her grandmother. There’s little question that Queen Victoria instilled a sense of “noblesse oblige” in her granddaughter; that is, given her status in society, she had a special duty to help others in less fortunate circumstances. The English monarchy had evolved into a constitutional monarchy over the centuries, but in Russia, such was not the case, and people of high status, and especially the Imperial family, were expected to flaunt their positions and exert power. When Alexandra tried to get women of high society to sew and knit clothes for the poor, few participated, as they saw such things as beneath them. Later, during World War I, Alexandra worked as a nurse in a hospital set up for wounded soldiers in one of the Romanov palaces. She also had her daughters trained in nursing, but the public didn’t appreciate this act of sacrifice by their Tsarina, as it was seen as being beneath the dignity of the Russian Tsarina to tend to badly wounded dirty men, crawling with lice. Early on, right after Nicholas's father died, superstitious Russians talked about the omen of Alexandra arriving in Russia behind a coffin.

The Tsar's son, Alexei, had occasional bouts with bleeding and with no cure available, Alexandra's fanatical religious side took over. She prayed often, as just about any parent would do under the same circumstances. The whole matter of the heir's illness was kept secret, with only a handful of people knowing the exact nature of his condition. Even many of the household personnel in the Tsar's many palaces did not know what was wrong with the boy, only that he was periodically ill.

The Imperial couple was introduced to a peasant who had come to St. Petersburg from western Siberia. He was a "starets," that is, a "holy man" and "spiritual adviser," but not an official in any capacity of the Russian Orthodox Church. At the time, circa 1905, he was gaining a reputation in the capitol as a devout religious figure, and relatives of the Tsar thought the Imperial couple might be interested in meeting this mysterious man. It wasn't long before he won over Alexandra, and during one of Alexei's bleeding episodes, Rasputin was brought to the boy and seemed to miraculously stop the child's bleeding. Alexandra, so filled with blame about passing this defective gene to her son, and so caught up in her religiosity, began to believe that her many prayers had been answered, and only with Rasputin's help from God could her son be kept alive. It was a relationship that would, over time, help bring down the Romanov Dynasty.

To be continued in "Part Three" ....

WORD HISTORY:
Heir-This word, related to "heredity," goes back to the Indo European root "ghe," which had the notion of "go, leave."  This gave its Latin offspring "heres," meaning "heir;" that is, "one left behind." This passed to Old French, a heavily Latin-based language, as "eir/oir," "seemingly" dependent upon dialect. The word came to England with the Normans and became "heir," and was borrowed by English in the late 1200s.