Grigori Rasputin - Royal Blood - Russian History - Extra History - Part 2

Rasputin was known to the royal family but how exactly did he manage to get so close to them? There was a lot at work, and the royals were not in the best position. They married for love, but neither was exactly suited for the throne at the time. And their only male heir had hemophilia. How could they refuse this holy man who seemed to work wonders not only for their son but also eased Alexandra's anxiety? Unfortunately, the comfort he brought would be short-lived.

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[cursedalien]

"Better 10 Rasputins than 1 [anxiety attack]"

As someone with a severe anxiety disorder, I can confirm. Anything to prevent an anxiety attack.

[JunkPhuJP]

I loved how you pointed out how Empress Alexandra’s anxiety could be reflected by the prince and this could exacerbate his condition.

Literally becoming a vicious cycle feeding on itself. Alexei get hurts > Alexandra panics > Alexei panics, causing the hemophilia to become worse > Alexandra panics more!!! > Alexei panics more!!!, ad infinity.

[Randomgen]

My impression of Rasputin’s effect on the Empress and the boy was that he offered the same benefits that a lot of alternative medicine people offer today: placebo and company. You can get a long way with a patient by convincing them they’ll get better and then basically giving them a therapy session to voice fears and receive sympathy/reassurance. Even if it’s not actually that effective, it “feels” better than a doctor rushing in, focusing the conversation on your illness, then giving you some gross medicine or painful treatments.

[bentoth]

"Doctors can only give him aspirin." Yeah, pretty sure a blood thinner is just the thing for a hemophiliac.

[qjames]

Romanovs: He must be a holy healer!
Rasputin: Yeah...sure
*Pockets aspirin*

[TransSappho]

I honestly can’t recommend reading Nicholas II’s journals. He spends the entirety of 1917 talking about the weather instead of the ongoing revolution. He was deeply out of touch

[gabrielgarcia]

I love that the Russian newspaper is called “Extra Extra Credit”

[thenerdbeast]

_For the queen he was no wheeler dealer_
_Though she'd heard the things he'd done_
_She believed he was a holy healer_
_Who would heal her son_

[ConfusionFace]

*Better ten Rasputins than one of the Empress's hysterical fits.*

Something about the imagery you guys put here really got me laughing.

[nathanseper]

Alexandra's problem wasn't just that she was shy. Like Nicholas, she also believed strongly in the divine right to rule and rejected the notion that monarchs were accountable to their subjects.

[kylemackenzie]

Im one of if not the worst Haemophiliacs in Australia, i can testify to the absolute awfulness of this disability. Fun fact Aspirin is a BLOOD THINNER meaning that one of the worst things you can do is give a haemophiliac Aspirin, so the idea of not giving Alexi Aspirin genuinely could have helped the young Tsarevich. although the sudden and inexplicably ability to be completely fine is sketchy, cause these episodes of bleeding can last weeks. Great video EC very informative.

[joemalo]

It's almost comforting to know that "what people believe to be true is more important than what is actually true" has been a thing even a century ago

[napoleonibonaparte]

In a palace, you’ll probably find a window scratching of Nicholas ‘+’ Alexandra’s initials (by their ring). A testament to their love.

[antonincooper]

It's interesting how in Rasputin we see a kind healer, a scandalous freak and so many things that It's a bit hard to describe. But he definitely contributed to the fall of the tsars.

[amdreallyfast]

I've only heard "the dark one" version of Resputin. Didn't know about the "peasant turned holy man" version. And with the political context of the time, this is getting interesting.

[TenyoS]

Wow, Rasputin is way more wholesome and positive than I was expecting!

7:17 Oh.

[Lionstar]

The sad thing is that even if Olga, the eldest Romanov daughter, was allowed to inherit the throne instead of Alexey, there was every chance she would have passed on haempohilia to her own potential children. When tests were done on the Romanov family's bones years later, it was confirmed at least one of the sisters (Maria I believe) had the carrier's gene for haempohilia

[bthsr]

I don't know enough going into this to fairly judge them as monarchs, but seeing your child in pain like that would hurt any caring parent.

[rikuvakevainen]

Rasputin's image gets more and more complex. In Tsar family he is like a nice uncle but for other elites he is a demon. I don't know anymore which side is closer the truth or did he have both aspects at the same time?

[CliffCardi]

“But when his drinking and lusting and hunger for power became known to more and more people, the demand to do something about this outrageous man grew louder and louder.”
-Sun Tzu