Two historical Russian personalities

Two historical Russian personalities, as seen by two textbooks competing for classroom space.

Grigory Rasputin

Zagladin

Faces of History

Rasputin, Grigory Yefimovich (1872-1916). An uneducated native of Pokrovskoye village, Tobolsk province, Rasputin pretended to be a “prophetic saint.” He was introduced to Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna in 1907 as a man who could treat the Tsarevich Alexei, who suffered from hemophilia (insufficient blood coagulation). Rasputin is likely to have had some psychotherapeutic abilities, he managed to relieve the boy’s suffering and thus gained undisputed influence on the Empress.

Point of View

Rasputin’s role in the empire’s political life has conflicting interpretations in academic literature. Soviet historians held to the formula that “the tsar was ruled by the empress, and she – by Rasputin.” Monarchists and some contemporary authors assert that the role of the “elder saint” was not a decisive one, and that the anti-Rasputin campaign was started in liberal circles, so as to discredit Nicholas II.

The degree of Rasputin’s influence on political decision making by leaders truly defies estimation. However, his scandalous behavior and dubious connections to all kinds of carpetbaggers were enough to compromise those with whom he was in regular contact.

Dolutsky

Emperor Nicholas Alexandrovich did not love anyone but himself, his wife and children… The Emperor did not have pity for anyone, and did not value anyone. Not even the most faithful of his servants. The only exception to this rule was made for Grigory Rasputin.

The influence of the former horse thief over the imperial family reached its peak in 1915-1916. Here is one of dispatches of the “elder” (he was 45 at the time) to the Minister of Foreign Affairs:

“Listen you minister I sent to you this woman God knows what you told her leave it arrange this and then all will be fine if not I give you a thrashing and tell the loving one. Rasputin.”

Question: One does not have to be Sherlock Holmes to make a host of conclusions from this note. Which ones can you make, and why?

With Rasputin’s involvement, almost 20 ministers and several chairmen of the Council of Ministers were changed during the war years. Today, some people are still inclined to think that the “elder” twisted the royal family and Russia around his little finger.

There are also different opinions. Specifically, this one: Rasputin himself was only a toy in the hands of different court groupings, especially the one which was headed by the empress herself. Alexandra Fyodorovna used her influence on her husband quite deftly, using the name of “our friend” as a cover. If this approach is wrong, then it needs to be explained how an illiterate muzhik, a playboy, a reprobate, and a philanderer, who had no ideas about international politics, or even geography, could dictate the “governmental course.”

But the muzhik had a gift. Today he would have been called an extrasensory – not only could he “exorcise the illness” of the heir, soothe him and put him to sleep, but also release the sensitive empress from stress. Grigory the “man of God” exploited the imperial couple’s fears about the tsarevich’s life.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Zagladin

Faces of History

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was born in 1931 in Privolnaya, a Cossack village of Stavropol region. As a schoolboy, he worked as a combine operator’s assistant. At the age of 18, he was awarded the Order of Red Banner of Labor, and joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.…

In Russian history M. S. Gorbachev received the difficult role of the reformer. While not all of his actions were consistent and well thought-out, he challenged the existing regime. He succeeded in bringing the reforms beyond the limits of partial, cosmetic measures, only to prolong the agony of the old system.

[There is no Point of View section on Gorbachev.]

Dolutsky

He liked power, fame, the feeling of enthusiasm, national love and attention. He was good at working, possessed an indubitable intellect and intelligentsia-ness, which was a rare trait for General Secretaries... At the same time, Gorbachev remained a man of “apparatchik mentality,” a master of “backstreet intrigues” and “fights under the carpet,” that is, without the involvement of the masses, which he rather feared and, probably, did not really understand.

Are these character traits of a General Secretary right for the period of in-depth reforms?

Task: Consider what the following statements by the General Secretary tell us. How far could he go in reforming the System, having such views?

“The essence of perestroika is that it connects socialism with democracy, in theory and in practice it restores Lenin’s concept of socialist construction…”

“I am for the vanguard type of party, not for the parliamentary one. This is my firm conviction… There are unacceptable things, for instance a parliamentary party and the existence of factions… This I reject.”