Editing Alexander Kerensky (section)

=== Rasputin ===
In response to bitter resentments held against the imperial favourite [[Grigori Rasputin]] in the midst of Russia's failing effort in [[World War I]], Kerensky, at the opening of the Duma on 2 November 1916, called the imperial ministers "hired assassins" and "cowards", and alleged that they were "guided by the contemptible Grishka Rasputin!"<ref>''The Russian Provisional Government, 1917'': Documents, Volume 1, p. 16 by Robert Paul Browder, Aleksandr Fyodorovich Kerensky [https://books.google.com/books?id=LzWsAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA16]</ref> Grand Duke [[Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia|Nicholas Mikhailovich]], Prince [[Georgy Lvov]], and General [[Mikhail Alekseyev]] attempted to persuade the Emperor [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]] to send away the Empress [[Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse)|Alexandra Feodorovna]], Rasputin's steadfast patron, either to the [[Livadia Palace]] in [[Yalta]] or to [[Great Britain|Britain]].<ref>A. Kerensky (1965) ''Russia and History's turning point'', p. 150.</ref> [[Mikhail Rodzianko]], [[Zinaida Yusupova]] (the mother of [[Felix Yusupov]]), Alexandra's sister [[Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (1864–1918)|Elisabeth]], Grand Duchess [[Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Victoria]] and the empress's mother-in-law [[Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark)|Maria Feodorovna]] also tried to influence and pressure the imperial couple<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alexanderpalace.org/realtsaritsa/1chap5.html|title=Alexandra Feodorovna and Romanov Russia, The Real Tsaritsa written by Lili Dehn – Part One – Old Russia – Chapter V|website=www.alexanderpalace.org|access-date=20 January 2019}}</ref> to remove Rasputin from his position of influence within the imperial household, but without success.<ref>''The Russian Provisional Government, 1917'': Documents, Volume 1, p. 18 by Robert Paul Browder, Aleksandr Fyodorovich Kerensky [https://books.google.com/books?id=LzWsAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA18]</ref> According to Kerensky, Rasputin had terrorised the empress by threatening to return to his native village.<ref>A. Kerensky (1965) ''Russia and History's turning point'', p. 163.</ref>

Members of the nobility murdered Rasputin in December 1916, and he was buried near the imperial residence in [[Tsarskoye Selo]]. Shortly after the [[February Revolution]] of 1917, Kerensky ordered soldiers to re-bury the corpse at an unmarked spot in the countryside. However, the truck broke down or was forced to stop because of the snow on Lesnoe Road outside of St. Petersburg. It is likely the corpse was incinerated (between 3 and 7 in the morning) in the [[cauldron]]s of the nearby boiler shop<ref>[http://www.encspb.ru/object/2804023731?lc=en Rasputin G. E. (1869–1916)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304165732/http://www.encspb.ru/object/2804023731?lc=en |date=4 March 2016 }}. A.G. Kalmykov in the Saint Petersburg encyclopaedia.</ref><ref>[[#Nelipa|Nelipa]], pp. 454–455, 457–459.</ref><ref>[[#Moe|Moe]], p. 627.</ref> of the [[Saint Petersburg State Polytechnical University]], including the coffin, without leaving a single trace.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nlr.ru/petersburg/spbpcards/photos/lo000000328_1_m.jpg|title=The boiler-building – Images of St Petersburg – National Library of Russia|access-date=20 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929160133/http://nlr.ru/petersburg/spbpcards/photos/lo000000328_1_m.jpg|archive-date=29 September 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>