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 Nicola?evitch 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{178} 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 Tsarsko?e-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 Nicola?evitch.
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{179} 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,{180} 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 r............