So there was a great hunger for new political institutions.
[applause] Nicholas' first speech as Czar is a great opportunity for him to show what kind of ruler he wants to be.
[Montefiore] In the early part of his reign, Uncle Sergei is probably Nicky's most important advisor.
He's very dogmatic, extremely right wing.
He's highly religious.
He's the ultimate Romanov hardliner.
[Dr de Orellana] What Nicky is about to say is critical.
He can either embrace democracy and modernity like Western Europe, or he can choose to remain an absolute monarch.
[Nicky] I'm aware that recently in some zemstvos the people have been carried away with senseless dreams of taking part in the business of government.
Let everyone know that I will retain the principles of autocracy as firmly and unbendingly as my unforgettable late father.
[applause] [Montefiore] It's Sergei who tells him to give the speech, and he encourages Nicholas to embrace sacred autocracy as the only way to rule Russia.
Good speech.
It's a terrible mistake.
He stamps out any possibility of reform.
[Dr Hetherington] By showing he has no intention of sharing power democratically, Nicholas lays the foundations of his own demise.
[applause] [Smith] Rasputin visits various monasteries, including Verkhoturye, which is one of the great monasteries of Russia.
And he meets with the monks, and he learns the gospels practically by heart.
And he becomes steeped in Russian Orthodoxy.
But there's too much control, there's too much order, there's too much discipline, there's too much routine.
I can't find God here.
Come with me.
[Montefiore] Rasputin is a free spirit, and he seeks out some of the cults who have a different and much more instinctive, and much more passionate approach to religion.
[door clatters] [male voice muttering in Russian] [muttering in Russian] Be full of joy and gladness, for Christ has risen! [male voice muttering in Russian] [almost growling] Be full of joy and gladness, for Christ has risen! [man gasping hysterically] Be full of [man shouts] Oh, God! We feel you! Oh, God! Oh, God! [man shouts] We feel your Spirit, God! [gasping] We feel you! We feel your Spirit! [gasping] [moaning] [man moans] We feel your spirit! [gasping and moaning continues] The Khlysty, which means "whips" in English, are one of the most notorious of all Russian sects.
They're illegal, they operate in secret, and they engage in all sorts of wild orgiastic rites and rituals.
[moaning] There's even talk that they cut off the breast of a virgin and eat it at the end of their rites.
But there is a logic under lies it all.
If one does not sin, one cannot repent.
And without repenting, one cannot be saved.
And this suits Rasputin right down to the ground.
He's a man of enormous sexual appetite, he's a heavy drinker, he loves women, and he adopts this idea of sin leading to redemption as the essence of his own faith.
[Smith] Rasputin has a true religious experience.
And this launches him into becoming a holy pilgrim, a new man imbued with religious fervor, traversing across vast expanses of the empire for many years.
[general hubbub] [hubbub continues] [Dr de Orellana] For Nicky's coronation at the Khodynka Field, people are invited to participate in a public feast for anyone that wants to come.
[shouting from the crowd] There will be food and little commemorative gifts from the Czar to his people.
[Dr Alexandrova] The gifts include a kerchief, a commemorative mug, sausage, gingerbread, so it sounds wonderful to a regular Russian peasant.
They flocked to the field even before dawn and some even walked on foot from Siberia in their Bass shoes.
[knocking] That's fine, I'm done.
Looking good.
Feeling shit.
Couldn't sleep.
You know, you're lucky, you'll never know responsibility like mine.
I'll never know money like yours either.
Or power.
Are you ready? [sighing] As I'll ever be.
- Are you? - [Uncle] You wanted to see me? How are the plans for Khodynka? A fucking nightmare.
Too many peasants in one place, all wanting free food and drink.
You should send more Cossacks for crowd control.
I don't want to waste time and money on Cossacks.
It will be fine.
Do you want me to go after him? You'll only aggravate him.
Isn't that the point? [laughs] Today is about us.
[hubbub continues] [Monetfiore] Uncle Sergei is in charge of the public event and he really is expecting 2- 300,000 peasants.
In fact, 800,000 peasants turn up.
The problem is that this feast has been very badly organized by Uncle Sergei.
The field has been torn apart by military exercises, and only a few planks have been put down to cover deep trenches.
There are very few policemen to keep security.
[Dr Alexandrova] The people in the stalls start panicking.
They start hurling those packages into the crowd.
[hubbub escalates] Everyone starts to rush towards where they believe the presents are being given.
[shouting] [Dr Alexandrova] People start falling to the ground, human dominos, other people trample upon them.
This scene is horrible carnage.
[choir singing] [Montefiore] The coronation of a Russian Czar was magnificent, majestic, jewel-infested, exquisite, the cost was extraordinary.
The rituals were complex and ancient.
Everything was designed to project wealth, power and the glory of the dynasty.
The coronation really defines the emperor as a ruler whose power comes from God.
And Nicholas completely believes this and embraces it.
[choir singing] [chink of metal] [hushed murmurs] [whispers] It doesn't mean anything.
Oh, Lord, God of our fathers.
[Nicholas] You have chosen me as sovereign and judge over your people.
I confess to your inscrutable providence in selecting me.
Inspire and enlighten my path, and direct my actions in this awe-inspiring mission.
May the wisdom that descends always from your throne abide with me.
[applause] How many dead? [Uncle] It is yet to be confirmed.
A hundred? - More? - As I say, it is yet to be confirmed.
- How many hundred? - Unfortunately, we are talking thousands Thousands? It is yet to be confirmed.
- We must cancel the celebrations.
- I would advise against that.
But surely we must acknowledge the tragedy.
It is only a tragedy if you make it one.
Where you lead, others follow.
[footsteps fade] [Montefiore] 2000, 3000 bodies of peasants lie on this coronation field, where soon there are to be festivities, the Czar, the Grand Duke, the Royal Family are to arrive.
[cheering from the crowd] [cheering continues] And some of the bodies, they just pile into carts.
So that as the royal family are going out to the Khodynka field, they pass carriages where they think the people are waving at them and suddenly, as they get close, they realize that these are all dead people, crushed to death.
Nicky should have done what a modern politician would do, go to all the hospitals, and be seen to be visiting and showing love for his people.
[chamber music plays] What he, in fact, does is to make a decision against his better judgment, to go to the party of the Marquis de Montebello, the French ambassador.
[Alix] I can't.
It's not right.
Just this one, then we'll have done our duty.
[playing "Symphonie Fantastique"] This will come back to haunt us.
There's no room for sentimentality in politics.
You should have sent more Cossacks to manage the crowds.
The people won't forgive him.
Grow up.
This blood will stain his reign.
[Uncle chuckles] Fucking kids.
[Dr de Orellana] In the first day of his reign, the Czar and his German wife were dancing and drinking, even as hundreds and thousands of Muscovites had been killed.
[Montefiore] And from this point onwards, he is known as Nicholas the Bloody.