October 27, 1918: Former Minister of Internal Affairs Alexander Protopopov was executed.
A 51-year-old man was shot in Moscow. Alexander Protopopov. The last Minister of Internal Affairs of Tsarist Russia, who prepared the abolition of the Pale of Settlement for Jews and “overlooked” the February Revolution.
Don't worry; if a revolution does happen in Russia, it won't be for another fifty years!
(Alexander Protopopov, February 26, 1917)
Origin and the State Duma
Born in 1866, he came from hereditary nobility Simbirsk province. He owned mechanical plants, foundries, and sawmills, as well as the Rumyantsev Cloth Factory, one of the largest in Russia.
In 1907, at 40, he was elected to the State Duma. He was a member of the opposition Progressive Bloc and served as a deputy chairman of the State Duma. Mikhail Rodzianko. He recommended him. Nicholas II for the post of Minister of Trade and Industry, but to everyone's surprise, the Emperor appointed Protopopov as head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This happened at the end of 1916, several months before the February Revolution.
The Minister and Rasputin
The emperor's main complaint against his predecessors was disagreement with Rasputin. Protopopov was warmly recommended to the Tsar by the “elder” himself and the empress, who was under his influence.
He has loved Our Friend for at least 4 years now, and that says a lot about a person.
(Alexandra Feodorovna to Nicholas II in correspondence)
He had known Rasputin since 1912 - Protopopov was seriously ill (according to some sources, he had an advanced form of syphilis and, as a result, mental disorders) and came to him for a session.
Already after the February Revolution, during interrogations by the Extraordinary Investigative Commission of the Provisional Government, he admitted that the elder had completely subordinated him to his will.
However, he was unable to prevent Rasputin's assassination. This dealt a blow to the reputation of the tsar's secret police and to Protopopov personally—two and a half months remained before the collapse of the monarchy.
After the elder's death, he held seances in the palace and "summoned" his spirit to maintain the Empress's favor. The government, however, demanded that Nicholas II dismiss Protopopov, openly calling him insane. Thanks to the Empress's protection, he not only retained his post but also received even broader powers to restore order in Petrograd.
February 1917
According to many contemporaries, in February 1917 he knew about the impending coup, but did not take any measures and did not report all the information to the emperor.
The most harmful, the most terrible person for the state
(Mikhail Rodzianko during interrogations by the Provisional Government)
There's another theory: Protopopov simply didn't appreciate the scale of what was happening. He intensified his spy network in the army, industry, the Duma, workers' unions, and underground organizations. He had inside informants everywhere and believed the police and gendarmes would easily suppress the "rabble" revolt. He failed to take into account one thing: that soldiers from the Petrograd garrison would join the protesting workers en masse.
After the dissolution of the Duma on February 28, he himself came to the Tauride Palace and surrendered to the revolutionaries.
Soon after his arrest, the Provisional Government put his zemstvo reform project into practice: it introduced self-government in the so-called “non-zemstvo” provinces (Tobolsk and Tomsk), created the Altai province (it was separated from Tomsk) and introduced zemstvo administration at the level of small volosts.
He had a brilliant understanding not only of public administration but also of economics, finance, and diplomacy. Among his other projects was the historic circular abolishing the Pale of Settlement for Jews in Russia (by easing their situation, he counted on Western sympathy and large loans).
Arrest and execution
In the Peter and Paul Fortress, his mental state worsened. He suffered from hallucinations and believed a mind-reading device was installed in his cell.
Experts concluded that he suffered from bipolar disorder. Despite this, the Petrograd District Court declared him mentally healthy.
After the October Revolution he was transferred to Moscow, to Taganskaya prison.
He was executed by "administrative discretion (mental disorder)"—at the time, executing someone with a severe mental disorder was presented as a humanitarian measure. He was led out of the prison chapel during a service to be executed.
