These shocking deaths changed history. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at the deaths of high-profile figures that impacted the world at large.
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00:00Just six weeks after a man was killed by a single bullet, the alliances were triggered.
00:05Germany invaded France, and the First World War had begun.
00:09Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the deaths of high-profile figures that impacted the world at large.
00:16Boss, a person's been shot. In Daos, five minutes ago.
00:21Oh, no!
00:23Benazir Bhutto.
00:25Bhutto's death remains controversial.
00:27Her killers have still not been brought to justice despite investigations by the Pakistani and British police and a United Nations investigation team.
00:35While they are now a lot more common, female political leaders are still a relatively new phenomenon in certain parts of the world.
00:41Benazir Bhutto smashed the glass ceiling when she became the first woman elected to lead Pakistan in 1988.
00:47Despite stiff opposition, she helped popularize liberalism in the country.
00:51During a campaign rally in 2007, several shots were fired and a detonated bomb tragically took her life.
01:05Her demise was condemned by supporters and the United Nations, and the Pakistan People's Party surged in popularity.
01:12There were also economic ramifications, with the currency plummeting in value.
01:16While Pakistan hasn't elected another woman to her seat since then, she's proof that it was, and still is, possible.
01:30Mr. Abe's legacy is far from being settled, but he led this country for longer than anyone else.
01:36And for that, people here are grateful.
01:39A cornerstone of Japanese politics, Shinzo Abe was Japan's longest-serving prime minister and one of its most controversial.
01:46He was a polarizing figure, particularly due to his nationalistic ideologies and his supposed ties to the infamous Unification Church.
01:54While giving a campaign speech in 2022, Abe was suddenly interrupted by a gunman who fired at him.
02:00The area in the city of Nara, where this veteran politician had been giving an election campaign speech, is now a crime scene.
02:09The first shot missed, but the second struck him fatally.
02:13He became the first former leader to be assassinated in the country since the 1930s, and his death sent the nation reeling.
02:20When it was revealed that his connections with the church was the killer's main motivation,
02:24legislation was passed to prevent the organization from bankrupting civilians.
02:28A blip of hope amid the tragedy.
02:45Tensions in the Middle East have been high for decades, but for a brief moment, there was a chance at achieving peace.
02:51Yitzhak Rabin's second term as Israeli prime minister was built on the promise of ending their conflict with Palestine.
03:12He was initially successful, making strong headway and signing the first part of the Oslo Accords, which sought to achieve peace between the two countries.
03:20This led to him being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1994.
03:24His goals were commendable, but unfortunately, not everyone agreed with them.
03:29In November 1995, Rabin was shot by a right-wing extremist and eventually succumbed to his injuries.
03:35The vicious act immediately halted any progress, causing violence between the two regions to escalate since then.
03:41He died as a soldier for peace, and I believe it is time for all of us to come out openly and to speak our peace.
04:05Maintaining authority for decades doesn't automatically equate to full support.
04:09Muammar Gaddafi secured power over Libya in 1969, and his 40-year tenure was long and divisive.
04:16Between advocating for a pan-Arab nation and harshly controlling his own citizens, several opposition groups formed during his regime.
04:24Things continued to escalate throughout 2011, culminating in the city of Sirte falling to revolutionaries and Gaddafi being apprehended.
04:32He called those opposing him rats and vowed to hunt them down, street by street, house by house, and zenga zenga, alleyway to alleyway.
04:42The exact events afterwards remain unclear, but the once-powerful ruler was relentlessly attacked and slain.
04:49He remained controversial even in death, with some considering his killing a war crime.
04:54While the event led to the end of the first Libyan civil war, disagreements between former Gaddafi loyalists and the Interim National Transitional Council ultimately resulted in a second civil war.
05:05Of course, the West considers the liberation movements to be terrorist movements.
05:10That's why they accuse me of supporting terrorism, because I support the liberation movement.
05:16Mahatma Gandhi. Throughout history, colonialism has been a recurring issue.
05:20In the 19th century, India was overtaken by Britain, leading to their oppression and untold financial ruin.
05:27While many would have sought vengeance through violence, Mahatma Gandhi went down a different route.
05:38He used peaceful protests to expose the regime's wrongdoings, inciting positive change locally and internationally.
05:45Yet somehow it wasn't enough. On January 30th, 1948, Gandhi was murdered, shocking the entire world.
05:52Over two million people attended his funeral procession, and his fate directly affected the country's control.
05:58He was a man who made humility and simple truth more powerful than empires.
06:06His assassination wasn't the only pivotal moment for India.
06:09The murder of Indira Gandhi in 1984 by Sikh nationalists led to the deaths of thousands of innocent Sikhs.
06:16Humankind is balancing on the brink of the collapse of the world economic system and annihilation through nuclear war.
06:24Martin Luther King Jr.
06:25We had no way of knowing that would be the last speech of his life.
06:31There's a cruel irony in someone who preached constant peace having his life cut short in such an extreme way.
06:38During the civil rights movement of the 1960s, Martin Luther King Jr. was one of its most prominent leaders.
06:44His use of civil disobedience and nonviolent protests helped highlight the discrimination occurring daily in the United States.
06:51He was an advocate for pure equality, fighting everything from segregation to unjust voting laws.
06:56He became a symbolic figure for the movement itself, making his sudden assassination in 1968 by James Earl Ray all the more shocking.
07:05They said that suddenly there was a sound that sounded faintly like a firecracker or something, and that he was shot.
07:12The country mourned him en masse, even those who opposed him politically.
07:16And just days later, the government finally passed the Equal Rights Act of 1968.
07:21Rioting erupted in more than 100 cities across the nation that night and through the weekend.
07:27Even as dusk approached, weary firemen ran from blaze to blaze, often braving sniper's bullets to put out a fire.
07:33Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
07:35Take the first lift.
07:39Several factors contributed to the onset of World War One, but there was one event that truly lit the proverbial flame.
07:45Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria held authoritarian beliefs, reportedly even saying that politics only mattered for those in power and everyone else simply had to obey.
07:56Convinced that he will be safe from harm, Franz Ferdinand is looking forward to winning over the people of Sarajevo.
08:02He never got a chance to rescind these feelings or act on them, as he was assassinated in 1914 by a member of a secret Serbian military force.
08:11Despite not being as well known as other leaders, his death still had a massive effect on the world at large.
08:17It ignited tensions between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, eventually drawing nearly the entire world into one of the bloodiest conflicts in history.
08:32Qasem Soleimani.
08:34Major General Qasem Soleimani's body arrived in Iran early on Sunday morning.
08:39Three days of mourning begins here in Ahvaz.
08:42While 2020 is mostly remembered for the COVID-19 pandemic, it almost marked the start of another potential world war.
08:49Qasem Soleimani was an extremely powerful military commander in Iran, who oversaw several operations and played a crucial role during the Syrian civil war.
08:58He also had a contentious relationship with the United States, leading to him being declared a threat by the nation in 2005.
09:05As commander of the elite paramilitary Quds Force, he confronted U.S. allies around the region and warned U.S. presidents.
09:12In January 2020, the general was slain in a coordinated drone attack from America, with the justification being his alleged role in previous attacks against U.S. troops.
09:22The assassination worsened existing tensions between the U.S. and Iran, with the Middle Eastern nation carrying out retaliatory attacks on an American airbase in Iraq five days later.
09:33It was a message repeated across Iran.
09:39We will take revenge so harsh, says this cleric, their bright day will turn into a dark night.
09:44John F. Kennedy.
09:46Thousands will be on hand for that motorcade now, which will be downtown Dallas.
09:50The president and his wife and party are going to be visible all through Dallas.
09:54While a few U.S. presidents have died in office, this one had a particularly significant cultural impact.
10:00During his presidency, John F. Kennedy dealt with Cold War tensions against the Soviet Union and Cuba, but he managed to keep the country from nuclear war.
10:09He was widely beloved, and his speeches alone united citizens against their enemies overseas.
10:15Kennedy was so well-liked that his sudden assassination in November 1963 left the nation completely shell-shocked.
10:22From Dallas, Texas, the flash, apparently official, President Kennedy died at 1 p.m. Central Standard Time.
10:31The news of his death was broken to the nation by CBS anchor Walter Cronkite, after which Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president.
10:39Hundreds of thousands gathered to mourn Kennedy's death, and to this day it remains one of the country's most haunting moments.
10:46You try to hit a moving target at 88 yards through heavy foliage? No way.
10:52Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
10:56Tsar Nicholas II. This marked the official end of the Russian monarchy and the beginning of the Soviet Union.
11:02Jovenel Moise. His sudden assassination brought about a multi-week state of emergency in Haiti.
11:09The assassination of the president has created a power vacuum and so confusion over who is Haiti's legitimate leader.
11:17Adolf Hitler. It signaled the end of World War II and started the sanctions that would usher in the Cold War.
11:23Hitler's physical condition in the last months of his life was, according to all accounts of people who saw him, deteriorating quite rapid.
11:32Saddam Hussein. His execution left people wishing he could have seen more justice for his war crimes.
11:38Saddam was handcuffed, a hood was pulled over his head, and then he flew by helicopter to Tikrit and then on to Baghdad.
11:45Patrice Lumumba. His death exposed the horrific relationship between Belgium and the Republic of Congo.
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12:17Julius Caesar.
12:18What are you waiting for? Now! Now! Now!
12:22Despite having ruled over a millennia ago, Julius Caesar's impact both in life and death is undeniable.
12:29He started out as a general, leading Rome to victory in several battles, and played a crucial role in their transition from Republic to Empire.
12:36After defying the Senate and achieving victory, he rose to total power, resulting in a short-lived dictatorship.
12:43On the Ides of March, the powerful figure was stabbed over 20 times, cutting his reign short.
12:48The reaction was swift and severe, with the Curia of Pompeii being burnt down soon after.
12:54Several supporters even started a war to avenge their fallen leader.
12:58As if that weren't enough, the Actium War began soon after, bringing about the end of the Roman Republic.
13:05Thus ever, for tyrants!
13:08Which political figure's death do you think had the biggest impact on the world? Sound off in the comments.
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