Assassination facts for kids
An assassination is when an important or well-known person is murdered. This person is often a political leader, like the head of a country or a political party. Assassinations usually happen for political reasons or because someone is paid to do it. The person who commits an assassination is called an assassin.
Throughout history, assassinations have happened for many different reasons. Sometimes, they have been used to take over governments. Other times, assassinations have targeted military leaders during wars, or happened for religious reasons. Some assassins want revenge, or simply want to be famous.
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Assassinations in Ancient and Medieval Times
Assassinations have been a part of human societies for a very long time.
The Old Testament of the Bible mentions assassinations in the Books of Judith, Kings, Samuel, and Chronicles.
An ancient Indian writer named Chanakya, who lived around 350 to 283 BC, wrote a lot about assassinations in his book Arthashastra. One of his students later used these ideas to assassinate some of his enemies, including two of Alexander the Great's generals.
Famous people who were assassinated include Philip II of Macedon (336 BC), who was Alexander the Great's father, and Julius Caesar (44 BC). Many Emperors of the Roman Empire were assassinated so that new leaders could take their place.
In the Middle Ages, many kings in the Eastern Roman Empire were killed by assassins so that new rulers could take power.
During the Renaissance, assassinations became more common in Western Europe. Kings like William the Silent of the Netherlands (1584), Henry III of France (1589), and Henry IV of France (1610) were all assassinated.
The first known use of state-planned assassination in America happened in 1620. This was in Plymouth, where the Pilgrims had settled. The Pilgrims wanted land that Native Americans already lived on. Myles Standish invited a local Native American tribal chief, his 18-year-old brother, and two other Native Americans to a feast. Then, they killed the three older men and the teenager. This act was meant as a warning to other Native Americans to stay away.
Assassinations in Modern History
Assassinations have continued to be common in modern history. This section shares some examples of world leaders who were assassinated and why.
In Imperial Russia, two emperors were assassinated within 80 years: Paul I (1801) and Alexander II (1881).
In the United States, four presidents were assassinated within 100 years. These were Presidents Abraham Lincoln (1865), James Garfield (1881), William McKinley (1901), and John F. Kennedy (1963).
The World Wars and Assassinations
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in 1914. Some historians believe this event helped start World War I.
In the 1930s and 1940s, Josef Stalin's secret police, the NKVD, assassinated many people outside the Soviet Union. These were often people Stalin saw as threats to his power, like Leon Trotsky. Stalin wanted to keep his power, so he eliminated many opponents.
Between 1934 and 1944, different people and groups tried 27 times to assassinate Adolf Hitler. He was the leader of Nazi Germany during The Holocaust and World War II. These attempts were made by people who wanted to stop Hitler from taking over countries and killing so many people. However, Hitler always survived these attempts.
During World War II, the Allies also used assassinations to target important Nazi and Japanese leaders:
- Czech soldiers assassinated Reinhard Heydrich, a very important person in the Nazi government (1942).
- The United States Army assassinated Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, a key military leader (1943).
- Polish rebels assassinated top Nazi leaders whenever they could.
Assassinations of Activists
Some famous human rights activists were also assassinated in the decades after the World Wars. They were killed by people who did not like their work for human rights. The most famous activists who were assassinated include:
- Mohandas Gandhi (1948), a leader of non-violent protests against British rule over India.
- Malcolm X (1965), a civil rights leader.
- Martin Luther King, Jr. (1968), one of the most important leaders of the African-American Civil Rights Movement.
The United States CIA (1960 – 1970)
Between 1960 and 1965, the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) tried at least eight times to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Around this time, the CIA also planned to assassinate Patrice Lumumba, the only democratically elected leader of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Between 1960 and 1970, the CIA also encouraged, and sometimes helped with, assassination plans against:
- Rafael Trujillo, the President of the Dominican Republic.
- Ngo Dinh Diem, the President of South Vietnam.
- General Rene Schneider, the head of the Chilean Army, who refused to let the Army overthrow the democratically elected president, Salvador Allende.
The 1970s – 1980s
In 1979, the Iranian Revolution changed Iran into an Islamic Republic. A group called the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center states that between 1979 and the 1990s, leaders of the Iranian government had 162 people assassinated in 19 different countries. The group says Iran stopped these assassinations after a German court issued an arrest warrant for the head of Iranian military intelligence.
Anwar Sadat, the President of Egypt, was assassinated in 1981 during a parade. He was killed by people who wanted to take over the country and make it into an Islamic Republic.
In 1983, Benigno Aquino, Jr. was assassinated. Aquino was against Ferdinand Marcos, the dictator who ruled the Philippines. The people of the Philippines were so upset that they started the non-violent People Power Revolution. This led to the end of Marcos's government. Aquino's widow, Corazon Aquino, became President of the Philippines.
In India, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984. Her son Rajiv Gandhi became the next Prime Minister. He was assassinated in 1991. (They were not related to Mohandas Gandhi.)
The 1990s to Today
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995. At the time, the Israelis and Palestinians were working on a peace agreement. Rabin was killed by an Orthodox Jew who disagreed with the peace treaty. Many historians believe Rabin's murder is one of the main reasons the peace talks failed.
In Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in 2007. Bhutto had been the first woman ever elected to lead a Muslim country.
Assassination Statistics
One research study looked at assassinations of national leaders (like presidents or prime ministers). The study showed that:
- Since 1895, assassins have tried to kill national leaders 298 different times. 59 of those world leaders were killed.
- Since 1950, a national leader has been assassinated in nearly 2 out of every 3 years.
Another study looked at all assassinations between 1946 and 2013. This included not just national leaders, but also other government members and people who were against the government. This study found that between 1946 and 2013, a total of 954 people were assassinated in 758 different attacks.
This study also looked at who was most likely to be assassinated. Of those 954 people who were assassinated:
- 21% were members of parliament.
- 18% were opposition leaders (leaders of political parties or groups that spoke out against the government).
- 17% were national leaders.
- 14% were government ministers.
- 10% were diplomats.
- 5% were local politicians, like governors or mayors.
Images for kids
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Rifle of Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of President John F. Kennedy
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Derringer of John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln
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Predator combat drone; sometimes used in targeted killings
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Pope Benedict XVI in a modified Mercedes-Benz M-Class Popemobile in São Paulo, Brazil
See also
In Spanish: Magnicidio para niños
