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On Rasputin

 It's hard not to see links between pre-Revolutionary Russia and today's United States: empires committing suicide, autocrats swindled by charismatic hucksters. Today's Rasputin might be RFK, Pam Bondi, or JD Vance.


Antony Beevor's new book on Rasputin suggests that Tsar Nicholas seemed spectacularly incompetent in part *because* of his religious faith. Thousands of peasants would die in horrific ways, and Nicholas would refuse to alter his party plans. This looked cruel (and of course it *was* cruel). But there was context: Nicholas had a fatalistic outlook. He felt that God was pulling the strings. Rending one's garments wouldn't change God's mind.

Rasputin succeeded with Nicholas partly because Nicholas was an idiot, but also because Rasputin had a very deep voice. When the heir to the throne was very ill, Rasputin's low, calming voice helped the heir to regulate his own breathing. And the heir recovered. This turn of events was viewed as miraculous. Literally miraculous. The "literal" qualifier is unfortunate.

The other dimension of the story I enjoy is the tension between the Dowager Empress and the Tsarina. The Dowager Empress liked certain Western traditions; she had no problem with St. Petersburg. But her daughter-in-law--having converted to the Orthodox faith--decided that Moscow was superior to St. Petersburg. The Tsarina was extremely judgmental and moralistic. The Dowager Empress enjoyed the spectacle of her in-law's incompetence.

I could eat this stuff for dinner.
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