Craziest Political Assassinations in History

Political killings have always fascinated the public, making the killers seem as dark villains. In their turn, they illustrate the menacing uncertainty of the power, as well as the deep rootedness of human greed. The assassinations of well-known figures like Fidel Castro, known for his perennial attempts to kill him, as well as figures whom not many people might have known, like Grigori Rasputin, have put a stain in the pages of history. Now, let us get down to really digging into the weirdest political assassinations throughout the history starting from the techniques and motivation of these killings to the aftermath of them:

Fidel Castro: It was amazingly incredible to the fact the Cuban leader was an alleged victim of over 600 assassination attempts, many of which were headed by the CIA. CIA used cigars with toxic substances to making Castro die unsuccessfully. From an exploding seashell to a throwing propeller, the actions of the CIA were weird and unsuccessful. By having a gift at avoiding death time and time again, a legend emerged of him being a target that is never 'killable' which to all his would-be assassins' misfortune turned their attempts astray.

Indira Gandhi: The third Prime Minister of India, Gandhi was assassinated by the her Sikh bodyguard in 1984 and it was a sign that even the leaders who are closest to politicians might not stay safe from the threat that politicians face. The rebellions happening within her country, had produced and resulted in many skepticians, one of the catalysts being the Operation Blue Star. This thought later led her to her assassination.

Agrippina the Younger: The Emperor Nero who was her son, then was the one who brought the end of the Roman empress and he did it by trying different methods including a ship that would sink. One of the factors that led to the demise of Agrippina was the fear of Nero that she would be a threat to his power because she had a great influence over his reign, a clear example of how blood ties or ambition can be the source of betrayal in the early Roman times.

Patrice Lumumba: Lumumba, the first Prime Minister who had been democratically elected, struggled to survive the many assassination attempts, including those hatched through poisoning his toothpaste or food. His fight for Congo’s independence and his adamant resistance to the will of external actors only led to his head showing off trophy in front of the world. His last moment however was during a coup d'état in early 1961.

Admiral-General Luis Carrero Blanco: The Spanish Prime Minister was the target of ETA violent militants who were using land mines, deadly explosives that struck under the road, sending his car into the air. Blanco's ties to the Franco regime were not only strong, but also served to uphold the authoritarian regime. This, naturally, pitched him (or rather, his assassination) as a major target in the list of the desire of Basque secessionists to uproot oppression.

Georgi Markov: Zhelyu Zhelev, the famous Bulgarian dissident writer, was killed using a ricin-containing umbrella. The KGB organized the plot. As Markov substantially criticized the Bulgarian government and became a permanent resident in England, the communist authorities saw him as a dangerous person who had to be eliminated. Hence, he was gunned down right on the street of London.

William Seward: The secretary of the state of Lincoln, James Goodwyn, who was attacked by Lewis Powell, a knife wielding assailant, managed to escape with his life as the metal brace holding his jaw saved him from damage. Though Powell's stunt ended in failure, along with John Wilkes Booth accomplishing the assassination of Lincoln, this period became the dark or the fragile chapter in American history that shows the danger and fragility of the post-Civil War era.

Margaret Thatcher: The queen of hearts almost faced a murder by the IRA when it planted a bomb in the Conservative Party Conference in near Brighton. However, Thatcher escaped alive, but others were killed or even sustained injuries that accentuated the conflict analogy in Northern Ireland and so such cruelty in the hands of extremists was adopted.

Grigori Rasputin: The Russian mystic, Konstantin Pobedonostsev, who was the confessor of the Romanovs, made it through several attempts to murder him, but was finally assassinated by Prince Felix Yusupov and some others, who had fired at him with a gun, poisoned him, and drowned him to death. Rasputin's questionable impact on the Russian court and his persecution by the monopoly resulted in his tragic murder; a path that only fueled the mystic myth of the man that can be described as the most mysterious person of his time.

Shinzo Abe: The leader of the longest-serving Japanese Prime Minister was executed by someone who believed he was a part of the Unification Church and with that whole incident it shows that political violence in Japan is now a reality. The assassination of Abe shook the nation fundamentally and raised the issue of the wide availability of guns in a country that is known to impose strict regulations on firearms, which stands as an example of how security and public safety are taking many complex forms in the present world setup.

The listed cases indicate different strategies and motives for political assassinations, from personal vengance to ideological wars, which explains the wide spectrum of reasons behind political assassinations. Nevertheless, the instances occur two centuries ago, they are still captivating and provoke pondering which covers the delicate topics like power, people’s nature, and impacts of the violent actions on politics.