She was very sympathetic to those who were in trouble, often giving away her small allowance to those in need. Not soon after Tatiana came a long. She had exotic features. She had extraordinary beauty and men found her very attractive. Maria, Anastasia and Alexis came after. Alexis, the heir to the throne, was the tsarevich. His parents called him "baby" because he was the youngest and often sick. He suffered from hemophilia, a disease causing life threatening bruises and much pain from simple bumps. Anastasia and Alexis were very close. She often made him forget about the pain he was in by making jokes and pulling pranks. She was the Tsar's youngest daughter and she knew how to have fun. Her nickname was "shvibzik", Russian for imp. She was considered a tomboy always climbing trees and refusing to come down. Alexandra attempted many times to help her sick son. She eventually turned to Grigory Rasputin, a controversial holy man. Although many thought otherwise, Rasputin did seem to have the power to help Alexis. Rumors circulated about Rasputin's wild life when he was away from the Imperial family but Nicholas, Alexandra and the children trusted him completely, being on his best behavior when he was around them. Few people new about Alexis's illness so few understood why the imperial family chose to associate with the "mad monk." When World War I began in 1914, Nicholas personally took command of the Russian army. With him not being there, Alexandra ran the government with Rasputin as her advisor. Many ministers resigned or were fired and were soon replaced by followers of Rasputin. The government was falling apart. In 1916, Prince Yussoupov and his well-born friends invited Rasputin to supper. They then gave him poison, but it had no effect. They shot him and still he did not die. At last they tied him up and threw him into a river, where he drowned. Rasputin was now gone but the damage he had done to the imperial family was irreparable.