During Rasputin's lifetime, Russia seemed to be in constant upheaval. As a nation, it was struggling to modernize and become a formidable power in the Western and Eastern world. In terms of rulers, Tsar Alexander III had passed, his iron-fisted reign over the Russian people was handed over to his son Nicholas, who was not as restrictive as his father before him (Purishkevich 1985: 16). As Russia advanced into the future, Rasputin would be accepted into the courts of the Tsar and Tsarina, galvanizing those surrounding the court into action against the man who slowly, but effectively, held the Tsar and Tsarina, then all of Russia, in his hands. . I argue that Rasputin's murder was an unnecessary action due to excessive exaggeration in the minds of his killers, the nobility surrounding the condemned, and even the Russian people. Russia in Rasputin's time was in a state of distress. As a nation, Russia has always had problems due to its vastness and its economic and political backwardness. In many areas of Russia, a famine occurred in 1891, driving large numbers of farmers to the cities in the hope of finding work in the growing industrial sector (Purishkevich 1985: 11). Although Russia was growing industrially, this was largely due to foreign investment, and since it was largely state-owned, the population did not benefit greatly from this boom. Russia suffered economically in other ways as well. Russia had been suffering from an economic crisis since 1897, which continued to be exacerbated by poor harvests and Russia's defeat in the Russo-Japanese War (Purishkevich 1985: 20). Because of these economic tensions and the thriving industry in the cities, many people in a small area were in economic difficulty... halfway... they accepted and understood that Rasputin was a man who behaved scandalously, but he ignored the his life outside the palace for the sake of his very sick son. What the Tsarina could overlook, those around her could not. Many attempts were made to end his association with the crown from different sides, the holy man Feofan withdrew his support for Rasputin, the Duma legislators spoke out against him and sometimes he was even dismissed by the tsar to save opinion public (Youssoupoff 1953: 214). Regardless, by 1914 Rasputin was back and would not be removed again until he was removed from his mortal coil in 1916. Works Cited Fuhrmann, Joseph T. "Rasputin: A Life." New York: Praeger Publishers, 1990.Purishkevich, V. M. The Assassination of Rasputin. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Ardis, 1985. Youssoupoff, Prince Felix. Lost splendor. New York: The Sons of G. P. Putnam, 1953.