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From triggering world wars to altering civil rights movements, these deadly acts forever changed our world's trajectory. Join us as we examine the most impactful political murders in history! Our countdown includes figures like Franz Ferdinand, JFK, MLK Jr., and more. Which assassination do you think had the biggest historical impact?
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00:00But what happened there set off a chain reaction disaster, as a web of diplomatic alliances dragged first Europe, and then the entire world into war.
00:09Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at 10 assassinations that had ripple effects that changed the course of history forever.
00:16Butto represented their great hope to finally break free from years of military dictatorship.
00:22Yitzhak Rabin. Seen as a figure who preferred a peaceful resolution to Israel's conflicts with Palestine, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin made waves by signing the Oslo Accords with the aim of beginning a peace process.
00:35The two, once bitter adversaries, shaking hands, and their delegations signing the Oslo Accord.
00:41Enough of blood and tears. Enough!
00:45However, in 1995, Yigol Amir, a right-wing extremist, guns were beamed down, firing three shots, two of which hit their mark. He died shortly after.
00:55The Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the architect of the Middle East peace process, has been assassinated.
01:01This was seen as a turning point in Israel's history. For Amir, his goal was to stifle attempts to bring peace to a long and bloody conflict. The effects of his actions have been felt ever since.
01:11Perhaps a new generation of leaders will look back at this moment, recognize how close peace felt.
01:17Mahatma Gandhi. No list of iconic figures of the 20th century would be complete without mentioning Mahatma Gandhi.
01:23It was a first step towards India's independence from British rule. Gandhi began to travel, demanding independence for India. He held peaceful protests, willingly went to prison, and even staged hunger strikes against laws that he felt were unjust.
01:39For most of his life in the public eye, Gandhi campaigned for peace, equality, and a better India that was free from oppression.
01:46However, his belief and his tolerance of other religions outside of Hinduism were seen as a form of weakness by some.
01:52And in 1948, he was shot in the chest three times by the militant Hindu nationalist, Nathuram Gadsay.
01:58He took three steps, bowed before Mahatma Gandhi, and he shot him point-blank, three bullets.
02:05Gandhi died at the age of 78. His death deepened religious tensions in the Indian nation.
02:10However, his attitudes towards civil rights are still seen as inspirational to this day.
02:15Despite his efforts, violence between Hindus and Muslims continued, and despite his efforts, India was fractured in two.
02:24Martin Luther King Jr.
02:25The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. was a major turning point in the fight for African-American civil rights.
02:31He was an American martyr.
02:37A man who broke through the barriers of segregation with the philosophy of nonviolence.
02:43As the head of the movement, King was a major advocate for nonviolent protest,
02:47and spoke publicly with the type of passion that inspired millions.
02:50Take his iconic I Have a Dream speech, a moment in American history that played a major part in the end of legalized racism.
02:56Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty! We are free at last!
03:02However, there were those who did not share his views, rather strongly in fact.
03:06On April 4th, 1968, King was shot and killed while standing on his balcony.
03:11The assassin, James Earl Ray.
03:13There are multiple theories surrounding his motive, ranging from racism and hatred on his part,
03:17to grander conspiracies involving the government and even the mafia.
03:20By 1976, Ray was back to pushing his conspiracy theories to get a new trial.
03:25He said he was framed, and had information that proved the FBI killed Dr. King.
03:30Malcolm X
03:31While Martin Luther King Jr. suggested a nonviolent approach to the fight for civil rights,
03:36Malcolm X didn't quite share that viewpoint.
03:38We believe that our problem is one not of violation of civil rights, but a violation of human rights.
03:43Not only are we denied the right to be a citizen in the United States, we're denied the right to be a human being.
03:49His own status as a hero to many was solidified long before his eventual assassination.
03:54It was his relationship to the Nation of Islam that ended up being his undoing.
03:58First, he was an ally, before splitting off on his own due to differing opinions and disillusionment with its leader, Elijah Muhammad.
04:05The Nation of Islam had not taken Malcolm's exit, and public criticism of Elijah Muhammad's misconduct lightly.
04:11Tensions eventually rose between both sides, and Malcolm was shot and killed by three members of the Nation of Islam during a public address.
04:18His death was a huge blow to the civil rights movement, but his martyrdom inspired generations.
04:22At the time of his death, Malcolm was under surveillance by both the NYPD and the FBI's COINTELPRO operation.
04:29For many, there is simply no doubt that one or both organizations had a hand in his assassination.
04:34Abraham Lincoln.
04:35These days, the former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is revered as one of the most important figures in American history,
04:42and a civil rights icon for his abolition of the practice of slavery.
04:45He recognizes that in his political life, he's going to have to object to slavery in a way that is tougher and more controversial.
04:53He played a pivotal role in the defeat of the Confederacy during the Civil War.
04:57For Lincoln, finally, this punishing war has come to an end, and he's able to feel a sense of the country is going to go forward.
05:06I've done my part as a leader, and he only has five days to appreciate that before he's killed.
05:13However, five days after their surrender, Lincoln was attending a play in Washington, D.C.
05:18when he was shot and killed by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth.
05:22Lincoln's efforts in the fight for equality in the United States have made him one of the most popular presidents of all time,
05:27but his death slowed down the integration of freed slaves.
05:30He has moved to a much higher calling, understanding, and belief in terms of what the nation could and should be,
05:40despite his own prejudices and concerns when he starts.
05:44Indira Gandhi, religious turmoil was rampant in India during the 1980s,
05:49and a particularly harrowing collision with Sikh separatists threatened to totally disrupt the government.
05:53The first duty of any government is to preserve the country's unity,
05:58and its integrity.
06:00Prime Minister Indira Gandhi gave the go-ahead for a military operation
06:04that killed hundreds of Sikhs in their sacred Golden Temple in June of 1984.
06:09Angered the Sikh population by her handling of Sikh violence in Punjab.
06:14Government troops besieged the Golden Temple, the Sikh's holiest place of worship.
06:18Mrs. Gandhi's government said the siege was necessary to root out Sikh extremists.
06:23The desecration of this temple caused outrage in the Sikh community,
06:26and a few months later, Gandhi was murdered by two of her own bodyguards who were Sikh.
06:31In other words, it was a revenge killing,
06:33and one that began a string of anti-Sikh riots across the nation.
06:36Thousands perished, and tensions escalated further.
06:39Sikhs will never forget it,
06:42what has been done to them,
06:44and it is still not over.
06:47It is only the beginning.
06:48Tsar Alexander II.
06:50To say that Tsar Alexander II was a force for change in Russia in the 19th century,
06:54we'll be putting it lightly.
06:56But in Russia, change was forbidden.
06:58Unless one man led the way.
07:01The Tsar.
07:02You don't get a nickname like the Liberator for nothing.
07:05Liberal reforms in wide-ranging areas were a major part of his work.
07:08He emancipated peasant laborers,
07:10abolished corporal punishment,
07:11and fiercely contested the privileges of the nobility.
07:14But his crowning achievement would be to liberate Russia's serfs from centuries of bondage.
07:21The emperor became convinced a nation built on slavery could never compete in the Industrial Age.
07:28Of course, these changes were not to everyone's liking,
07:31and when he was murdered by members of the group, the People's Will,
07:34his deaths slowed momentum.
07:35His successor, Alexander III,
07:37brought a far more conservative and oppressive approach.
07:40Perhaps the fear of meeting a similar fate was in play,
07:42but Tsar Alexander II's death sent a tremor through the Russian leadership.
07:46The revolutionaries believe that a new era has begun,
07:49that the people have been liberated.
07:52They truly believe this,
07:54and it doesn't take very long before they find out that in fact the opposite has occurred.
07:58John F. Kennedy.
07:59John F. Kennedy's potential ties to another famously assassinated figure,
08:02No Jingjian, should be highlighted.
08:04The AIM came to power in 1955.
08:07His country had been split in two a year earlier,
08:09and with a multi-billion dollar U.S. aid program,
08:12Diem built a powerful army as a bulwark against the communist guerrillas in the North.
08:17However, it's impossible to overstate how much of an effect the death of the 35th U.S. president had on the country.
08:23Serving at the height of the Cold War,
08:24and during a period of major change and upheaval in America,
08:27Kennedy was involved in several tense relationships with communist enemy states.
08:31With the president's decision made and millions of lives on the line,
08:36the two most powerful countries in the world stared each other down at point-blank range.
08:42Despite this, he was a colorful public figure and a strong speaker.
08:45On November 22nd, 1963, Kennedy was assassinated by an, at the time, unknown gunman.
08:51Lee Harvey Oswald was eventually arrested for the crime,
08:54but he was publicly gunned down by Jack Ruby just two days later.
08:57As he's being brought out in front of the TV cameras,
09:00Jack Ruby, owner of a local nightclub,
09:03steps out of the crowd with a .45 and shoots Oswald once in the stomach on national TV.
09:09Julius Caesar
09:10Julius Caesar was the head of the Roman state at a time when it was still technically a republic.
09:15The most powerful man Rome has ever seen.
09:18It's time to make it official.
09:20Long-serving senators might not take well to it.
09:23Even Sulla was careful with them, not to make them feel disrespected.
09:27Though his role was that of a dictator, he was quite popular with the general population.
09:35He was a capable leader in many ways, creating jobs for the poor and showing military prowess.
09:40This building project provides thousands of jobs for Roman citizens
09:44and glorifies the city as it has never been glorified before.
09:49The people love him for it.
09:51On top of it all, he was regarded as a charming public speaker.
09:54However, after fearing that Caesar might eventually gain ultimate power as a de facto king over Rome,
10:00a number of his senators, led by Brutus and Cassius, murdered him.
10:04His death inevitably caused major infighting before the eventual creation of one all-powerful Roman Empire.
10:09So Caesar's assassination only served to strengthen the very thing it meant to destroy.
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10:30Archduke Franz Ferdinand
10:34Out of all the major assassinations in human history,
10:36it could be said that no single death ended with as much bloodshed as the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
10:42Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
10:47Today, he will be assassinated.
10:50This is the spark which will ignite the First World War.
10:53He was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, seen as a figure who was capable of enacting change on many different levels.
11:00However, when Gravillo Princip, a Bosnian-Serb nationalist, murdered him and his wife Sophie in 1914,
11:06it set in motion a chain of events that would lead to World War I.
11:10It was a terrorist group, the Black Hand, that killed the Archduke.
11:14But by blaming the Serbian government, not the terrorists,
11:18Austrian hardliners saw a chance to take care of troublemaking Serbia once and for all.
11:24Things quickly spiraled out of control.
11:27Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.
11:29Their respective allies declared war on each other.
11:32And the rest, as they say, is history.
11:34Just six weeks after a man was killed by a single bullet, the alliances were triggered.
11:39Germany invaded France, and the First World War had begun.
11:42What historical assassination sticks out to you when it comes to its overall impact?
11:46Let us know in the comments below.
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