List of political conspiracies

In a political sense, conspiracy refers to a group of people united in the goal of usurping, altering or overthrowing an established political power. Typically, the final goal is to gain power through a revolutionary coup d'état or through assassination. A conspiracy can also be used for infiltration of the governing system.

A conspiracy is to be contrasted with a cabal. The two are similar but have quite different connotations; in contrast to a cabal, a conspiracy usually looks to overthrow a fixed power instead of usurping it from within.

Notable political conspiracies

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

• 1552 BCE - Apophis Kush Alliance against Egypt as attested to in the second Kamose stele^[1]
• 1st century BCE - Catiline conspiracies^[2]
• 44 BCE - Liberatores plot assassination of Julius Caesar to restore Roman Republic^[3]
• 65 CE - Pisonian conspiracy^[4]
• Late 15th century (1478) Pazzi conspiracy, which included the Pope^[5]
• 1506 - Conspiracy against the life of the brothers Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara and Cardinal Ippolito d'Este, coordinated by their half brother Giulio d'Este and full brother Ferrante d'Este^[6]
• 1570 - Ridolfi plot against Elizabeth I of England^[7]
• 1583 - Throckmorton Plot to murder Elizabeth and replace her with her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots^[8]
• 1586 - Babington Plot, second major plot against Elizabeth, that led most directly to execution of Mary, Queen of Scots^[9][10]
• 1603 - Main Plot to remove James I of England and enthrone Arbella Stuart

— Bye Plot, leads to the execution of Sir George Brooke^[11]

• 1605 - Gunpowder Plot to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament as prelude to a popular revolt in the Midlands, during which James's nine-year-old daughter, Princess Elizabeth, was to be installed as the Catholic head of state; often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot; origin of Guy Fawkes Day^[12]
• 1749 - Conspiracy of the Slaves by Muslim slaves to kill Grand Master Manuel Pinto da Fonseca and take over Malta with the help of the Barbary states.^[13]
• 1788 - Anjala conspiracy^[14]
• 1832 - Georgian plot, assassination of the Russian imperial administration and restoration of the Georgian monarchy
• 1865 - Abraham Lincoln assassination plot, to include assassination of cabinet members^[15]
• 1898 - The Dreyfus Affair, a coordinated attempt to falsely accuse Alfred Dreyfus of treason^[16]
• 1903 - The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, presented as authentic text by the Tsar's secret police efforts to foment anti-Semitism^[17]
• 1914 - The Black Hand, a secret society controlled by Serbian Military Intelligence, coordinates the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, thus causing World War I.
• 1936 to 1950 - Presumed General Motors streetcar conspiracy^[18]
• 1938 - Presumed Hitler Youth Conspiracy, NKVD case in Moscow involving some 70 arrests and 40 executions of teenagers and adults, later found to be baseless^[19]
• 1939 - Operation Himmler and its Gleiwitz incident, "False Flag" terrorism by Nazi Germany as pretext for invasion of Poland

— Shelling of Mainila, "False Flag" terrorism by USSR as pretext for Winter War^[20]

• 1943 - Bomb on Hitler's aircraft, an attempt on Adolf Hitler^[21]
• 1944 - July 20 Plot, attempt to assassinate Hitler with suitcase bomb, and then use Operation Valkyrie to grab power^[22][23]
• 1953 - 1953 Iranian coup d'état Anglo-American conspiracy under the names of 'Operation Ajax' (CIA ) and 'Operation Boot' (MI6)^[24]
• 1954 - Lavon affair Operation Susannah, "False Flag" terrorism by Mossad^[25]
• 1968 - The Markovic affair, French Secret Service Gaullist plot destabilise future president Georges Pompidou^[26]
• 1969 to 1972 Secret war in Laos, and Operation Menu in Cambodia, concealed from Congressional oversight^[27]
• 1972 - Watergate scandal, burglary and cover-up scandals^[28]
• 1982 - Brighton Bombings^[29]
• 1982 - Fighting Solidarity^[30]
• 1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack^[31]
• 1987 - Iran-Contra Affair^[32][33]
• 1991 - Nayirah testimony to rally U.S. public support to launch the Gulf War^[34]

See also

• Conspiracy
• Conspiracy theory
• Secrecy
• Seditious conspiracy

References

External links

Look up conspiracy (political) in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Media related to Conspiracies at Wikimedia Commons