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46 PROBLEMS CONFRONTING RUSSIA
to the Empress, and she was not afraid, not only to exercise
so preponderant an influence as to cause some people to
call her the real ruler of Russia, but to allow herself to be
influenced in turn by the people who were openly labelled
by various illustrious political bodies as the " Powers of
Darkness." There is really no better word to describe,
for instance, such an adventurer as Rasputin, and it was
certainly more than unfortunate that this man was allowed
to influence the Emperor in the dismissal of Ministers and
in the appointment of new ones. It was partly due to his
influence that during the last two years a constant change
of Ministers and men in power took place, and that
consequently a feeling of uncertainty, nervousness, and extreme
dissatisfaction took possession of even the most conservative
and the most loyal of the Emperor’s servants.
With singular unity the whole of Russia had, during the
weeks preceding the Revolution, pronounced itself against
the " Powers of Darkness " which had got a hold on the
supreme authorities of the Empire. In this respect, the
Council of the Empire, the Duma, the Assembly of the
representatives of the nobility of the provinces, the assemblies
of the provincial nobilities, the Zemstvos, and many other
communal and social organisations were unanimous. But
no heed was taken of the incontrovertible and manifest
signs of a universal and grave discontent with the Imperial
Government of the country.
A further influence which had a bearing on the
accomplishment of the Revolution can be traced to the Jewish
propaganda. The Jews, who number in Russia some six and a
half millions, had little reason to be satisfied with the
prevailing order in Russia. They were hampered by the
" Pale of settlement," viz. by their being confined to a
circumscribed area in Poland, and, moreover, they laboured
under various legal restrictions of the law, and did not
enjoy equality of rights with the rest of the Russian
population. As a result, they constantly formed a centre of
dissatisfaction.
The Jewish question has always been considered as one
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