“The Tragedy of Our Times” and Criminal Mysteries for Years to Come
Photo: Photoshot/PAP/EPA
Political assassinations are nothing new. For hundreds of years, they have changed the fate of states, led to wars, and invariably shocked. The motives of the attackers were not always clear, but the consequences of their actions had an impact on public sentiment, could lead to further radicalization, and be fertile ground for conspiracy theories.
Resentment of Julius Caesar's leadership led to a conspiracy and ultimately to the murder of the Roman dictator.
Henry IV, the first French Bourbon king, was also killed by a radical. He was stabbed on a Parisian street in May 1610.
The officer, ultimately deemed unstable, attempted to assassinate Britain's Queen Victoria in the mid-19th century. The monarch, however, escaped the worst.
The pacifier of the January Uprising, Tsar Alexander II, was less fortunate; he was killed in a bomb attack in 1881.
The death of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 was the direct cause of the outbreak of World War I, and a few years later, in December 1922, the first Polish president Gabriel Narutowicz also tragically died.
There are many examples of political attacks. Although times have changed, aggression in political life has found its inglorious examples, leaving a number of questions or becoming criminal mysteries for years.
“Quiet and calm”, but a bomber
Recent history shows that determining the motives of the perpetrators is often impossible. Contrary to appearances, not every attack on a politician was motivated by politics. – The topic is extremely difficult and often remains in the realm of speculation – admits Professor Marta Marchlewska from the Institute of Psychology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. – Certainly, each case should be analyzed separately – adds the expert. You don't have to go far to see how diverse the attacks on politicians have been over the past months and years.
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