In order to explore this, one must know about Rasputin – his background, his values and his calling, as well as other factors contributing to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the murders of the Romanovs. I have tried to explore this while keeping focus on each event’s relation to Rasputin.

Gregory Efimovich Rasputin is one of the most debated characters of the 20th Century. Thousands have discussed whether Rasputin was a holy man who came to the aide of the royal family or more simply, a cheat who thrived in womanising and destroying all that the Romanovs had worked so hard to build. In fact, the word "Rasputin" in Russian means "the debauched one". However, the facts in this essay speak for themselves.

In the winter of 1869 Grigorii Yfimovich Rasputin was born in the Siberian village of Pokrovskoye. Little is known or accessible of his background. His father, Yfimy, was a farmer, married to Anna. They already had an older son - Dimitri. Although later enemies alleged that Rasputin's surname was an insult, meaning "debauched" in Russian, it had been the family name for years, derived from the word for a fork in the road. Pokrovskoye perched on the banks of the Tura

One day, while working in the fields, Rasputin claimed to see a vision of the Virgin Mary. According to him, she told him to become a pilgrim. He bid his family farewell and set off on a journey (on foot!) to the monastery at Mount Ethos in Greece - 2000 miles away. When he returned to the village, his religious aura seemed even more impressive. He attracted large crowds when he preached, although his version of the Gospel was particularly un-Orthodox. Rasputin also began to practice what he preached, sleeping with as many of his female disciples as he could. According to Rasputin this was simply a way to salvation – which is a contradiction to his ‘holy’ image. He was never able to reconcile his physical desires with his spiritual goals. Shortly after 1900, Rasputin left Pokrovskoe on another pilgrimage to St. Petersburg. Here he attracted much attention among the local Orthodox hierarchy for his seemingly genuine desire for salvation together with his undoubted gift for speaking and persuasion. He left the Imperial capital, before returning in 1905. This time he met Tsar and Tsarina, setting his image in Russian history.

One evening at a meeting of Russian officials, it was decided that Rasputin was putting the entire nation in danger. Prince Felix Yusupov, Vladimir Mitrofanovich Purishkevich (a member of the duma), and the Grand Duke Dimitri Pavlovich (the Czar's cousin), took control of the situation. They lured him to the Yusupovsky Palace on the pretext that Prince Felix Yusupov would introduce Rasputin to his beautiful wife. Rasputin was led to the cellar and fed poisoned cakes and wine, but these did not affect him. Yusupov then shot the monk at point blank range and Rasputin collapsed on the floor. When Yusupov went to tell his fellow conspirators the good news, they sent him back to make sure he had done the job. On returning to inspect the body, Rasputin suddenly regained consciousness and started to throttle poor Yusupov, who was completely scared out of his wits. The Prince fled the cellar, screaming for help; when they returned Rasputin was gone. They found him in the yard crawling towards the gate and proceeded to shoot and bludgeon him. They then bound him and tossed him into the river. When Rasputin's body was found, his bonds were broken and his lungs were filled with water, showing that he didn't actually die until he was submerged in the frozen waters.

When Rasputin was eight years old, he suffered his first tragedy. He was playing with his older brother along the banks of the Tura when Dimitri fell and drowned. Shortly after this, Rasputin began to startle the villagers by making amazing predictions. In one incident, Rasputin caught a horse thief. As a teenager, Rasputin paid a visit to the local Monastery, where he encountered not only the Russian Orthodox Church he had known from his childhood but also a number of un-Orthodox sects. They held beliefs like “only thr

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