Political assassination is one of the most extreme means in political struggle, and it is also a manifestation of the intensification of political contradictions. As the name implies, it is a secret assassination. I take the liberty of saying a few common ones in history:
1. The assassination directly serves the domestic coup.
1 The assassination of nominal leaders by those in power, such as the assassination of Yidi by Xiang Yu, the assassination of Emperor Wendi by Yang Guang, and the assassination of the emperor by eunuchs and warlords in the Tang and Five Dynasties. Such assassinations are easy to succeed, because their power is already in the hands of assassins.
The benefits of assassination are direct and enormous, because those in power can further control power without being restricted by nominal leaders. But the final effect depends on the size of other opposing forces. If those in power have not yet gained a decisive advantage over other forces, then assassination has left a moral excuse for other forces and turned many talents and other resources to each other. Xiang Yu's killing of Yi Di is such an example.
The assassination of the opposition authorities.
Such as the Republican assassination of Caesar; The assassination of Qing officials by the League;
This kind of assassination can create momentum, destroy the key figures of the other side, disrupt the rhythm and personnel arrangements of the ruling party, and provide opportunities for a coup.
But given the balance of power, this kind of assassination is very risky. Successful assassination does not mean that the assassin can take power. Instead, it often leads to a more severe massacre of assassins. Moreover, the ultimate beneficiary is often not an assassin, but a third party other than the assassin and the victim. If the League assassinated the central and local officials of the Qing Dynasty, the direct consequence would be the rise of the strength of the Han warlords, and the League itself would not be of much benefit.
Second, assassinations aimed at influencing domestic political trends.
At this time, the situation has not yet reached the point of coup, but assassination can effectively affect the political trend.
1 assassinations of political enemy leaders by those in power during the reform period, such as Yuan Shikai's assassination of Song.
2. The assassination of celebrities by the authorities in the period of change. Assassination of social activists, journalists, scientists, etc. In all previous dynasties, it was because celebrities often directly influenced public opinion.
Assassinations between different factions, such as Liang Wang's assassination of Yuan Ang.
In these cases that serve the domestic political trend, public opinion will almost inevitably turn to the assassinated party. This is a negative factor that assassins must consider. (Although coup assassination also has this factor, it can be ignored because of its huge profits). The solution is to take compulsory control over public opinion; Or try to hide your side and blame others.
Three. An assassination that serves the struggle between two countries or separatist forces
1 assassination of diplomatic officials of the other side when negotiating a treaty
For example, during the Brest Treaty, the Russian Social Revolutionary Party assassinated the German ambassador Mierbach; The Japanese Congressman's Assassination of Li Hongzhang in treaty of shimonoseki.
This kind of killing is often a "general" carried out by domestic radicals against compromise factions, forcing the relationship between the two countries to break down through assassination, thus making China adopt a more aggressive plan. This kind of assassination is generally difficult to achieve the expected results, but it puts our country in an embarrassing situation. If we don't advance, we will retreat. For example, Lenin wrote that the assassination of Mierbach pushed Russia to the brink of "almost repeating the mistakes of the German war". .
2. The assassination of officials of enemy countries and those who defected to the enemy by ethnic minorities.
For example, An Zhonggen assassinated Ito Bowen, the Blue Shirt Society assassinated Japanese and puppet government officials, and the Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince during World War I. 。
This kind of assassination is idealistic, although it has rich connections with political forces, but it often has no direct practical effect, mainly to create resistance and blow the arrogance of the other side.
One side officially assassinated the head of the other side or the opposition.
Assassins foster pro-self forces within the other side, and push pro-self forces to the position of power by assassinating the head of the other side or the opposition. This often happens, for example, the Japanese assassinated Zhang.
Four people or river lake vendetta.
For example, Kaplan assassinated Lenin; The axe gang assassinated Chiang Kai-shek. This kind of assassination is mainly due to the personal grievances, beliefs or mental problems of a few assassins, and is not dominated by a big political force. Interestingly, many famous assassinations were carried out by such elements, because such actions were sporadic and unpredictable.
5. Terrorist assassination
The terrorist assassination here refers to the assassination of civilians. By assassinating other civilians, we can achieve the effect of intimidating each other or comforting ourselves. In ancient times, this form was rare, because at that time, the lives of civilians were the least valuable, and there was no need to assassinate them, just kill them aboveboard.
But in modern times, because civilians have a certain right to political discourse, unfortunately, it has also become a bargaining chip on the political balance and a delicacy on the table of assassins.
Assassination is actually only a superficial phenomenon. When all kinds of contradictions in a country or region intensify to a certain stage, assassination will become the explosion point of contradictions and a way to solve them. Through this extreme means, some contradictions will intensify or be in a critical state, and contradictions may also undergo major changes. This is the role of assassination. Countries or regions where political assassinations often occur must be places with complex contradictions and fierce struggles. The target of assassination is usually political leaders.
National or political leaders also represent the interests of certain groups, so political assassination is not aimed at individuals, but at the political forces represented by leaders. The representative role of political leaders in the process of political struggle is irreplaceable, and political assassination can greatly hit the interests of the groups he represents in a certain period of time. When the political forces of all parties in a country or region are disproportionate, assassinations will not play a decisive role, but political assassinations will be less than those.
When all kinds of forces are competing for state power, rather than the people deciding the ownership of state power, it is possible for all parties to solve outstanding contradictions through assassination. In some countries and regions in the world, political assassination is still inevitable at a certain stage in the future, because the functions of various forces and contradictions will not die out and disappear in a period of time. If there is no perfect system and mechanism to solve conflicts of interest, political assassination will be inevitable.