the occult,
all had their place
in court circles.
They usually turned up
in times of trouble,
in years of spiritual
or ideological crisis.
But never before in Russia's
history had any one person
held as much influence
as Grigory Rasputin.
What will tomorrow bring?
Show us Your Way, O Lord.
How many thorns litter the crooked
path of life...
I have the figures, Your Majesty:
In the year 1915,
I received 928 reports of strikes.
That's almost a thousand,
Your Majesty.
More than half a million people
participated in these strikes.
- And the exact figure?
- 589,528 people.
A.N. Khvostov,
Minister of the Interior
At least 213 strikes were proven
to have been politically inspired.
How do you mean?
- Well, Khvostov?
- Do you wish me to tell the truth?
It's revolution, Your Majesty.
How lightly you use this word.
Not at all lightly, Ivan Loginovich.
Only we must suppress these
actions, and do it rapidly...
Men must be punished
if they disobey,
harsher censorship must be
imposed,
all revolutionaries must be tried,
especially the Bolsheviks!
The Duma has to be dissolved now!
It's time for making decisions,
Your Majesty!
The country is boiling over,
Your Majesty.
However, all these measures
will only precipitate disaster...
We must pacify people.
The stick, always the stick.
We have to make some concessions.
Mercy and tolerance,
that's what we need.
We have to maneuver, but wisely.
Of course, this is not the rebellion
of 1905, but the situation's grave.
But on one point I agree -
you have to make your decision.
A.A. Polivanov,
Minister of War
During military operations
at the Riga beachhead,
soldiers of the 2nd Siberian Division
refused to engage in combat.
- Instigated by the Bolsheviks!
- And what did you do?
- Had them shot, Your Majesty.
- Very wise.
The division was pulled out
of action.
By court-martial decree,
twenty four soldiers were executed.
Two million men have been
taken prisoner by the enemy.
Nearly a million and a half
have already deserted.
And these figures seem to be
growing worse with every day.
Down our village road
Thoma's riding on a goat.
Lyoshka's straddled a stray cat,
There he goes, the spoiled brat.
Thoma, where do you go?
Stop there, Thoma, whoa, whoa!
Leave it alone!
Nicky! The crisis is past!
Oh, thank you, Holy Father!
Thank you for coming to us
from your distant Siberia.
You heeded our plea
and rekindled our hope.
For you are the people,
and the people know the truth!
You are our Savior, show us
the One True Way,
light up the path to righteousness,
help us in our misery...
God help us to survive it!
What's that?
The moral decline,
the degradation!
Ah, Goremykin, Goremykin!
To accept bribes...
and from whom?
The ninth of
January,
Nikolay Alexandrovich Romanov
The Khodynka. 1896
1,389 dead:
trampled and crushed.
1,300 more seriously hurt.
Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905
More than 400,000 dead, wounded
or missing.
The 1905-1907 Revolution: 65,830
executed or tortured to death.
The Lena Massacre, 1912:
Over 500 people shot.
World War I:
From 1914 to 1915,
Russia had
over 3 million dead, wounded,
or missing in action.
I.P. Manus,
millionaire
- I don't want to.
- You're completely drunk.
You'll get twenty times your
money back in a year.
What am I saying, a year! Are we
spilling our blood for nothing?
In three months at the most.
D.L. Rubinstein,
banker
Prince M.M. Andronnikov,
known as "Bug-Prince", "Beggar"
- Impossible to approach him.
- Say his presence'd be an honor.
I'm scared of him.
You'd rather be at the front?
You won't regret it.
This is the chance of a lifetime!
A landowner from Minsk
badly needs cash.
He owns more than a thousand
acres of forest in Baranovitchi.
And two thousand acres of
farmland!
I'm still not interested!
Well, that's your decision.
If you say so.
- I'll give them to Dmitry Lvovich.
- I'll take them.
I promised to someone else.
-