Rasputin and the 1914 Assassination Attempt: The Knife of Khioniya Guseva

Rasputin and the Tsarina's Letters: Intimacy and Influence

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the intimate correspondence between Grigori Rasputin and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. Drawing on the letters preserved in the Russian State Archive, they examine how Rasputin's language—mixing spiritual comfort, peasant directness, and political advice—shaped Alexandra's worldview and fueled the rumors that destroyed the Romanov dynasty. They discuss the famous 'children' address, the role of Anna Vyrubova as intermediary, and the Okhrana's surveillance of the relationship. The conversation also touches on the forged letters that circulated in revolutionary propaganda and how the epistolary evidence complicates the image of Rasputin as either a mystic manipulator or a political pawn. Specific letters from 1914-1916 are quoted, revealing the emotional and strategic dimensions of this controversial bond. #Rasputin #TsarinaAlexandra #Romanovs #RussianHistory #ImperialRussia #AnnaVyrubova #Okhrana #TsarskoyeSelo #Letters #Epistolary #1916 #Propaganda #Starets #RussianRevolution #EasternEurope #History #FexingoHistory #Podcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Rasputin and the Romanovs: The 1914 Assassination Attempt

In 1914, a peasant woman named Khioniya Guseva stabbed Grigori Rasputin in the stomach outside his Siberian home. This episode explores the attack itself, the motives of Guseva, and the tangled web of far-right politics that surrounded it. We discuss Rasputin's recovery at the Tobolsk hospital, the role of the Black Hundreds leader Vladimir Purishkevich, and the strange relationship between Rasputin and his would-be assassin's mentor, the monk Iliodor. We also examine how the attack shaped Rasputin's paranoia and his subsequent hold over the Romanovs. The episode draws on contemporary accounts and recent scholarship to separate myth from fact. #Rasputin #KhioniyaGuseva #Iliodor #VladimirPurishkevich #BlackHundreds #Pokrovskoye #Tobolsk #1914 #AssassinationAttempt #RussianHistory #Romanovs #Okhrana #Starets #TsarinaAlexandra #Mysticism #History #FexingoHistory #20thCentury Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Rasputin and the Railway: How the Trans-Siberian Empowered a Starets

In Episode 145, Lucas and Luna explore the unlikely connection between Grigori Rasputin and the Trans-Siberian Railway. How did a Siberian peasant's access to the imperial court depend on a train line that was barely finished? They trace Rasputin's journeys from Pokrovskoye to St. Petersburg, the role of the railway in spreading his reputation, and the surveillance network that the Okhrana used to track him along the tracks. Along the way, they uncover the story of the Siberian express that carried Rasputin to Tsarskoye Selo, the railway workers who became his informants, and how the very infrastructure of modernity enabled a mystic's rise. A fresh angle on a familiar figure—through the iron rails that connected him to power. #Rasputin #TransSiberianRailway #RussianHistory #Pokrovskoye #Okhrana #TsarskoyeSelo #SiberianPeasant #Starets #ImperialRussia #RailwayHistory #Modernity #Mysticism #EasternEurope #20thCentury #Surveillance #Infrastructure #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Rasputin and the Okhrana: Spy or Savior of the Tsar

This episode of Fexingo History dives into Grigori Rasputin's relationship with the Imperial Russian secret police, the Okhrana. We explore how the Starets was both surveilled and protected by the most powerful intelligence agency in the empire. Drawing on declassified Okhrana files and memoirs, Lucas and Luna uncover the surveillance reports filed by agents like Ivan Vasilyevich, the symbiotic relationship between Rasputin and Okhrana chief Vladimir Dzhunkovsky, and the controversial theory that Rasputin himself fed information to the police. Was he a pawn, a double agent, or simply a man caught in the gears of a paranoid state? We examine the 1915 crackdown, the mysterious fire at the Okhrana archives, and the ultimate failure of the police to prevent his assassination. A story of shadows, secrets, and the strange alliance that shaped the fall of the Romanovs. #Rasputin #Okhrana #RussianHistory #TsaristSecretPolice #GrigoriRasputin #VladimirDzhunkovsky #ImperialRussia #Starets #SurveillanceState #1915Crackdown #Romanovs #RussianEmpire #SpyHistory #FexingoHistory #History #TsarskoyeSelo #SaintPetersburg #Espionage Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Rasputin and the Tsarevich: Healer or Hazard

This episode digs into the most intimate and medically fraught relationship of Rasputin's life — his care for the hemophiliac Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich. We trace the tsarevich's first major bleeding crisis in 1912 at Spala, Poland, where doctors gave up hope and the imperial family turned to Rasputin. We examine the actual medical details: hemophilia B, the role of Dr. Evgeny Botkin, the court physicians' resentment, and the controversial telegram exchange. Newly available archival letters from Alexandra to Rasputin reveal a desperate mother's faith. We also explore the political fallout: how the tsarina's reliance on the starets eroded the monarchy's credibility with the army, the Duma, and the public. Was Rasputin's intervention genuinely calming, or did his presence simply coincide with natural remission? We consider the medical debate, the role of placebo and stress reduction, and how this child's illness became a weapon against the Romanovs. #Rasputin #TsarevichAlexei #Hemophilia #Romanovs #SpalaCrisis #DrBotkin #TsarinaAlexandra #RussianEmpire #HemophiliaB #ImperialCourt #OrthodoxMysticism #1912 #Starets #TsarskoyeSelo #RussianHistory #FexingoHistory #History #EasternEurope Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]