Who Destroyed the Régime of Czar Nicolas II?

To some degree, one can say that World War I was the autodestruction of Rome.

West Roman Emperors Francis Joseph II and Charles I against the East Roman Emperor Nicolas II.

So, World War I was a very huge thing. About Austria-Hungary with successor states obviously too.

But some have said, Czar Nicolas got destroyed by Rasputin's influence. Obviously, Rasputin was not a brigade of Austrian or Prussian soldiers.

In so far as there was an internal cause, independent of World War I, and added to it, I would prefer putting Sergei Witte in the position than Rasputin.

I agree with Lyndon LaRouche on many things. But Sergei Witte wanted to industrialise, and while this added the presence of produced goods, it neglected agriculture.

A man who wanted to describe Lenin as an evil man, which I think he was, noted there was a starvation in the Volga area. Lenin's sister and other family members were in the relief force, but Lenin said "fine, this has revolutionary potential" .... I disagree with "fine" but agree this was part of what doomed Czar Russia. Industrial Capitalism, i e Sergei Witte.

If potatoes grow badly in Ireland, perhaps those growing them could instead eat wheat, which they were also growing? Nope. The landowners wanted the usual monetary gains from selling the wheat.

In Czar Russia's case, second manmade starvation of apocalyptic proportions, between Potato Famine and Holodomor, the landowners wanted quick profits to invest in Sergei Witte's industrial ventures. While doing so, they neglected the farms.

If Rasputin made the Czar impopular with any, it was with people who were arguably part of the problem. I highly doubt any Мужик ever had less to eat because of Rasputin's advice, but when Sergei Witte told people left and right to invest into industry, I think this led to many of them neglecting the agriculture they were doing routinely, and that fields were abandoned in the process, leading to the starvation that gave the people the impression that God wasn't blessing the leaders of Russia.

I don't think either Turgot or Necker contributed as much to the bad harvests in France as Witte to those in Russia (especially Volga valley — Ukraine was more spared, as it was less industrialised, and would have been more spared in 1932—33 as well, if their good harvests, and those in Kuban, hadn't been displaced by force in order to make a giant Potemkin village of the Volga area, where the capital now was. A Potemkin village to show that yes, industrialism is fine, the Czar was simply not very good at it, Commies are better. The price of this Potemkin village is in Ukraine known as Holodomor.

In fact, if Rasputin did anything, with the people, healing the Czarevitch (or keeping him alive or even effecting nothing, but having an air of doing so) was rather an asset compared to Lewis XVI and Marie-Antoinette losing a daughter in 1787 and a Dauphin, an oldest son, in 1789.

Now, Rasputin was obviously impopular with the élite, but they could not have pulled off anything like the Russian Revolution all by themselves, without some solid misery among the people. The Bloody Sunday of 1905 (namegiver for another Bloody Sunday in 1972 and a song by US), was before Rasputin had met the Czar and while Witte was in power. Starvation, Russo-Japanese war, repression of 1905, World War I, losses on their West front (the Prussian East front), drafts during losses, all of these have some more connection to Witte than to Rasputin. Unless you argue the Czar's alliance with Serbia was Rasputin's doing, but so far I have not heard that version.

The Czarevitch was simply not anything comparable to the Mayerling drama, which led to some overreaction after Francis Ferdinand was assassinated (roughly speaking between Lincoln and Kennedy). Supporting a mystic couldn't give the Czar and Czaritsa any such aura of "Madame Déficit" as slander about jewelry gave Marie-Antoinette.

If Rasputin changed anything for the Czar family, apart from emotional support about the Czarevitch, it was possibly preparing them to meat their death in a fashion approaching martyrdom, rather than in vain bitterness. I don't know.

Hans Georg Lundahl
Paris
St. John Nepomuk
16.V.2025

Pragae, in Bohemia, sancti Joannis Nepomuceni, Metropolitanae Ecclesiae Canonici; qui, frustra tentatus ut sigilli sacramentalis fidem proderet, martyrii palmam, in flumen Moldavam dejectus, emeruit.