Rasputin and the Press: The Birth of a Monster

Rasputin and the Press: The Birth of a Monster

How did a Siberian mystic become the most infamous figure in late Imperial Russia? In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the role of the press in creating the Rasputin legend. From the first scandalous articles in Novoye Vremya to the pornographic caricatures and the Duma speeches that painted him as a German spy, they trace how newspapermen, politicians, and the Okhrana turned a controversial starets into a symbol of everything wrong with the monarchy. Learn about the specific libels—the orgies at the Moika, the influence over the Tsarina, the 'dark forces' conspiracy—and how they eroded public trust in Nicholas II. A story of media manipulation, political warfare, and the making of a historical myth. #Rasputin #Press #Propaganda #RussianHistory #WorldWarI #Romanov #TsarinaAlexandra #Okhrana #DarkForces #PoliticalScandal #MediaHistory #HistoricalMyths #Revolution #FexingoHistory #History #Podcast #EasternEurope #Siberia Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Rasputin and the Georgian Prince: The Tiflis Connection

In this episode of Fexingo History, Lucas and Luna explore a little-known chapter in the Rasputin saga: his ties to the Georgian prince and occultist, Prince Dmitry Rurikovich. In 1913, Prince Rurikovich, a flamboyant aristocrat with a taste for mysticism, invited Rasputin to Tiflis (modern-day Tbilisi) for a high-society séance that scandalized the local elite. We dive into the prince's background, his role as a conduit between Rasputin and the Okhrana, and how this Georgian interlude shaped Rasputin's political influence. Along the way, we discuss the Caucasus viceregal court, the secret police's surveillance, and the murky world of early 20th-century spiritualism. Lucas also reveals how the prince's secret report to the Okhrana after the 1905 revolution helped consolidate Rasputin's reputation as a 'man of the people' — and why the Tiflis episode remains a footnote in most biographies. Listeners will come away with a richer understanding of Rasputin's network beyond St. Petersburg. #Rasputin #PrinceRurikovich #Tiflis #Caucasus #Okhrana #Spiritualism #Seance #GeorgianNobility #Mysticism #RussianHistory #EasternEurope #1905Revolution #ViceregalCourt #Tbilisi #FexingoHistory #History #Podcast #DeepDive Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Rasputin and the Banker: How Dmitry Rubinstein Funded the Dark Forces

In 1915, as Russia staggered through the Great War, a shadowy figure moved between Rasputin's apartment and the highest circles of finance. Dmitry Rubinstein—a Jewish banker, Okhrana informant, and Rasputin's most controversial ally—built a fortune on war contracts while fueling rumors of German influence. This episode traces Rubinstein's rise from Odessa's underworld to Petrograd's salons, his tangled relationship with the starets, and the scandal that nearly brought down the government. With Rasputin's endorsement, Rubinstein funneled millions through the Dmitry Bank, bought newspapers to shape public opinion, and became the living embodiment of the 'dark forces' the Duma denounced. We examine the 1916 Rubinstein Affair—his arrest, the forged documents, and the Tsarina's furious intervention—and ask whether he was a scapegoat or a genuine threat. Along the way, we meet the journalist Mikhail Lemke, whose secret diary exposed the deal-making, and explore how Rubinstein's story reveals the corruption, paranoia, and ethnic tensions that corroded the empire from within. #DmitryRubinstein #Rasputin #RussianEmpire #BankingScandal #Okhrana #Petrograd #WorldWarI #DarkForces #Antisemitism #MikhailLemke #TsarinaAlexandra #BorisStürmer #WarContracts #DmitryBank #History #FexingoHistory #EasternEurope #ImperialRussia Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Rasputin and the Million Ruble Bribe: Sergei Witte's Secret War

In 1916, as World War I dragged on and Rasputin's influence at court reached its peak, a strange figure emerged from the shadows: the former Prime Minister Count Sergei Witte. The architect of Russia's industrial revolution and the man who forced Japan to the negotiating table in 1905, Witte had been sidelined by Nicholas II. But in the winter of 1915-1916, he launched a secret campaign to bribe Rasputin's inner circle and discredit the starets, hoping to force the Tsar to dismiss Alexandra's favorite and save the monarchy. This episode uncovers the little-known story of Witte's million-ruble bribery scheme, the mysterious banker Dmitry Rubinstein who served as intermediary, and why the plot collapsed when Witte died suddenly in March 1915 — or did it? We examine the evidence from Okhrana files, Witte's posthumously published memoirs, and the testimony of Finance Minister Pyotr Bark to ask: Was the bribe real, or a fantasy of an embittered old man? And what does it tell us about the desperation of Russia's elite as the empire crumbled? #SergeiWitte #Rasputin #DmitryRubinstein #BriberyPlot #Okhrana #TsaristRussia #PyotrBark #Romanovs #WorldWarI #RussianEmpire #Petrograd #1915 #MinisterialCarousel #Industrialization #Politics #History #FexingoHistory #EasternEurope Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Rasputin and the Tolstoyan Assassin: Khionia Guseva

In 1914, a poor peasant woman named Khionia Guseva stabbed Rasputin in the stomach in his home village of Pokrovskoye. She was a follower of the monk Iliodor and deeply inspired by Leo Tolstoy's radical Christian teachings. Guseva believed she was carrying out God's will to rid Russia of the 'holy devil' corrupting the tsar's family. But the attack reveals something often overlooked: the religious fringe movements that opposed Rasputin, including the Tolstoyan and sectarian networks that saw him as the Antichrist. We explore Guseva's motives, her trial, her confinement in a psychiatric hospital, and the political fallout—including how the attack actually boosted Rasputin's influence by making him a martyr in the eyes of the tsarina. This episode draws on archival sources and the work of historian Joseph T. Fuhrmann to reconstruct a forgotten assassination attempt that nearly changed history. #KhioniaGuseva #Rasputin #Iliodor #Tolstoyan #Leo Tolstoy #Pokrovskoye #assassination attempt #1914 #Russian Empire #Tsarina Alexandra #Tsar Nicholas II #sectarianism #religious radicalism #Joseph Fuhrmann #psychiatric hospital #martyrdom #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]