How in world history envious people, intriguers and conspirators got rid of unwanted

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

There are many not very pleasant moments in history, when the situation was ruled by gossip, envy, intrigue and conspiracies, which led to a number of reprisals against objectionable, including royals. These events are often of immense importance because they changed the course of history, led to chaos, fear and change, sometimes on a global scale.

1. Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Perhaps the most significant royal assassination in modern history was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. By 1914, the empire was a "mixture" of various ethnic and national groups. Bosnia, along with the city of Sarajevo, was annexed by the empire in 1908, much to the displeasure of neighboring Serbia. So when Franz Ferdinand visited Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, tension was in the air.

At the very moment when the Archduke was driving in an open-air car with his wife Sofia, a Serbian nationalist approached his car, pulled out a pistol and shot the royal couple. The murder of Franz Ferdinand and Sophia at the hands of nineteen-year-old Gavrilo Princip was the spark that ignited the First World War. In retaliation for the death of its heir, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and this announcement ultimately drew Germany, Russia, France and Great Britain into a military conflict, and then, as you know, this led to numerous deaths of innocent people.

2. Alexander the Liberator

Russian Emperor Alexander II was known as a reformer. In 1861, the same year that America entered the civil war over the issue of slavery, Alexander freed the serfs of Russia. In addition, he worked to reform the Russian judicial system. But the reforms of "Alexander the Liberator" were not enough for a split Russia. He could also be repressive and suspicious of political movements. On March 13, 1881, the sixty-two-year-old emperor was riding in his carriage through St. Petersburg when the anarchists threw a bomb under his carriage. As a result of the explosion, the rear wall of the carriage was damaged, but despite this, Alexander was not injured.

The angry sovereign, not responding to the persuasions of his escorts to leave the place of the attack and return to the palace as soon as possible, approached one of the detainees and asked about something, again went to the scene of the explosion, where he was awaited by a far from pleasant "surprise". The second accomplice of the previously detained Rysakov threw a parcel with a bomb at Alexander's feet. Thrown to the ground by the blast wave, the emperor was bleeding, and an hour later he died on the way to the palace. The successors of Alexander II learned a lesson from this assassination: be firm, conservative and do not trust the people.

3. King Charles I

Before the guillotine infamously chopped off the heads of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution, the most famous act of political regicide in Europe was the execution of King Charles I during the English Civil Wars. During his almost twenty-four-year reign, Charles regularly encountered members of all a more restless and powerful parliament. Tensions escalated into open rebellion and the king fought in full force against the parliamentarian throughout the 1640s, but after being defeated, he was beheaded on January 30, 1649. And it is not at all surprising that the English parliament did everything possible to legally and politically justify the murder of the king. Many historians are inclined to believe that this was a good example and a significant step in the creation of a representative parliament that would control the power of the European monarch.

4. Tabinshvehti

One of the most significant rulers in Southeast Asian history is Tabinshvehti, King of Burma in the 16th century. Although he organized the expansion of the Burmese kingdom and founded the Tungu empire, he also loved wine. Many. He soon became an alcoholic, and rivals foresaw an opportunity to get rid of him. In their opinion, Tabinshvehti was not so great, after all, and was a weak person. For example, in 1550, a thirty-four-year-old warrior king was killed in his sleep. Historian Viktor Lieberman described the death of Tabinshvehti as “one of the great turning points in the history of the mainland,” as it led to increased hostilities and ethnic tensions in Southeast Asia.

5. Nicholas II and his family (Romanovs)

The Russian Revolution began in 1917, when soldiers, peasants and workers were tired of fighting in this seemingly endless, senseless war. The revolution meant the end of the imperial dynasty. And now the Romanov family, headed by Tsar Nicholas II, was unceremoniously expelled. Nikolai and his close-knit family, including his beloved wife, and their five children were exiled to Yekaterinburg, Russia. There they were imprisoned in the Ipatiev House, known as the “House of Special Purpose”. But for the Bolsheviks this was not enough, because as they say, the best tsar is a dead tsar. In the early morning of July 17, 1918, the Romanov family was suddenly awakened and told that they urgently needed to leave their floor and room due to the alarming situation in the city. They were taken to the basement, and a few minutes later a firing squad rushed into it, and the death sentence to the imperial family was read out. The shooting began immediately and lasted for about twenty minutes.

And if you believe one of the sources, then by the end of the first round, only Nikolai and Alexandra had died. Their children lay on the floor, breathing and bleeding (they themselves unwillingly made bulletproof vests, sewing precious stones into their clothes so that they could take some wealth with them when they left home). As the bullets bounced off the children, the executioners used bayonets to kill them. The assassination of the Romanovs heralded the end of Tsarist Russia and the beginning of Soviet rule. It was one of the bloodiest political acts of the 20th century.

6. Lord Darnley

Born an English nobleman, Lord Darnley married royalty in 1565 when he married Mary, Queen of Scots. Although Mary initially had a crush on this handsome aristocrat, his true nature quickly emerged quickly, and his vain, superficial and drunken demeanor soon made him unpopular in the Scottish court. His aggressive pursuit of more power at court also did him no good. So, on February 9, 1567, he was found dead, the victim of a previously planned murder. Although no one missed Darnley, many used his death as murderous evidence against an equally unpopular Scottish queen. Some suspected that Mary and her friend the Earl of Boswell, who some claimed to be her lover, had jointly concocted a plan to assassinate the king. The antagonism towards the Queen Dowager only intensified in the following months. In July 1567, she abdicated the throne and spent the rest of her life in exile in England until she became a victim of political intrigue.

7. Elizabeth of Bavaria

Recognized as one of the most beautiful women in Europe, the Austrian Empress Elizabeth has always attracted attention wherever she went. Although she was married to the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I, she was a romantic nature who felt uncomfortable in the stuffy walls of court life. "Sisi" or "Bavarian Rose" as she was called, felt more comfortable in Hungary than in the mirrored rooms of the royal palace. Her marriage to Franz Joseph was not particularly successful, and she often spent time away from Vienna. In 1898 (about nine years after her son Rudolph committed suicide), she was vacationing in Geneva, Switzerland. Although she usually traveled incognito, rumors that the beautiful Cece was in the city quickly spread throughout Geneva.

On September 10, 1898, when Sisi was preparing to board the ship, a young anarchist approached her with a small folder in his hands and hit the charming woman with a sharpener in the area of the heart, thereby knocking her down. It was enough to do harm. Although Sisi did not at first understand what had happened, she got to her feet and, accompanied by her lady-in-waiting, went on. But after a few minutes, her condition quickly deteriorated. Feeling a sharp pain in the region of the heart, the Duchess of Bavaria, losing consciousness, fell to the ground and soon died. The death of Elizabeth was another crushing blow for the aging emperor and for Europe, which was beginning to resemble a powder keg. The royal assassinations of the late 19th and early 20th centuries shook Europe and made it clear that the political foundations on which the continent rested were becoming increasingly unstable.

8. Giuliano Medici

Even though the Florentine Medici family was not royalty in the traditional sense of the word, they were classic upstarts: a banking dynasty that amassed political power and married famous royal houses throughout Europe. Giuliano Medici was co-ruler of Florence with his brother. Lorenzo in everything except the name. Florentine art flourished under their patronage, but it all ended on April 26, 1478. Members of the rival Pazzi family attempted to stage a coup against the Medici. So Francesco de Pazzi attacked the Medici brothers in the Duomo. Lorenzo managed to escape, and Giuliano was wounded at least nineteen times right in front of a crowd of thousands. The revenge was swift and absolute. As a result, the murderers were executed and Lorenzo, having regained control over Florence, only increased the power of the Medici.

9. Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar was not officially king, but in the first century BC he was the closest person to royalty in Rome. In fact, political power was passed down through his family like a true royal dynasty. Although he was a brilliant military tactician and politician, many in the Roman elite began to resent his growing power, especially when he became the dictator of Rome. So, on March 15, 44 BC - the notorious "Ides of March" - a group of Roman senators plunged their daggers into Caesar's body about twenty-three times, inflicting mortal wounds on the commander. Caesar's death was a dramatic moment in Roman history. It marked the beginning of a period of hostilities as rivals tried to fill the power vacuum that Caesar had left behind. And soon his adopted son Octavian, having won a victory in the strife, began to rule as Caesar Octavian Augustus - the first Roman emperor.

10. Maximilian I

Maximilian was a member of the famous house of the Habsburgs. But as the younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph, ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Maximilian never intended to rule anywhere in Europe. So when pushed to become the new emperor of Mexico, essentially a puppet for France in North America, he agreed. The thirty-one-year-old emperor arrived in Mexico City in 1864, seeking to become a good ruler. He passionately took up progressive affairs. But Maximilian I was never able to conquer the Mexican people. In 1867, Republican troops overthrew him and he was killed on June 19, 1867. The assassination of Maximilian paved the way for Benito Juarez's return to power as President of Mexico, the man who modernized Mexico and became famous as a hero.

11. Louis I, Duke of Orleans

Louis I, Duke of Orleans, was the younger brother of the French king Charles VI, aka "Charles the Mad", the very unbalanced monarch who suffered from bouts of mental illness. As Charles became more and more unstable, it was clear to those around him that a regency would be necessary. Although Louis considered himself the leader of the Council, his eternal rival, the Duke of Burgundy, stated unequivocally that he had royal ambitions of his own. killed in the streets of Paris by a group of assassins. It was reputedly a particularly bloody scene, as Louis was hacked to pieces, and historians say the assassination of the much-hated duke helped secure the House of Burgundy dominance in European politics.

12. Blanca II of Navarre

Born by John of Aragon and Blanca I of Navarre in 1424, Blanca II was the legitimate heir to the throne of Navarre, a small kingdom located between present-day France and Spain. Since her mother was by birth and right the Queen of Navarre, her children, and not her husband, were entitled to the throne. But this did not stop John of Aragon from lusting for Navarre. In 1461, after the death of her brother, Blanca became Queen of Navarre, much to the disappointment of her father and younger sister. After a failed marriage that ended in divorce, Blanca II was effectively taken into custody by her own father and sister, Eleanor. So, in 1464, Blanca died of poison while still in captivity. Historians speculate that her father and sister were probably behind this. Blanca's death ultimately allowed her sister Eleanor to become Queen of Navarre, which in turn gave her father even more power and control in the kingdom.

Despite the fact that more than a dozen years have passed since the murder of the royal family, nevertheless, today, they can easily claim the Russian crown. Read about who all these people are and how they live in the next article.