10 Political Conspiracies That Changed The 20th Century

2. The Black Hand

The Black Hand (also known as Unification or Death) was a secret military society. It was formed in 1911 on the 9^th of May by several officers in the Army of the Kingdom of Serbia. The group adopted a constitution that was similar to that of German nationalist groups. The black hand had ties with a semi-secret society the Narodna Odbrana which had a Pan-Serbism and anti-Austrian propaganda.

In 1914 the group had expanded to include hundreds of members including numerous officers within the Serbian Army. The group was a grassroots organization with small cells that were supervised by district committees and then a central committee. The central committee was then overseen by the Executive Committee led by Colonel Dragutin Dimitriejevic “Apis.” The group was relatively well known in the Serbian government and even funded by Crown Prince Alexander. It was in 1914 that “Apis” is believed to have decided to kill Archduke Franz Ferdinand without the approval of the Executive Committee or the Serbian government.

“Apis” likely believed that killing of the Archduke would start a war between Austria and Serbia, a war that Russia would enter on the side of Serbia. Others in the Black Hand were not so sure that Russia would jump to their aid. No one could have predicted the chain of events that would lead to the World War. After the assassination, Austria-Hungary quickly found the assassins and declared war against Serbia. In 1916, in response to the actions of the Black Hand and the power they had amassed, the government of Serbia decided to destroy the leaders of the organization in order to put an end to it. In 1917, “Apis” and three others were killed by firing squad on June 26^th, 1917 after a sham trial found them guilty of crimes, including an assassination plot against Prince Regent Alexander.

3. Iran-Contra Affair

The Iran-Contra Affair was a political conspiracy during the Reagan Administration in the United States and it was two-fold. The first part of the conspiracy was the plan to sell arms to the Iranians in order to secure the release of hostages. While it may have been a noble gesture, such an action was forbidden as Iran was under an arms embargo from the U.S. government. The second part of the conspiracy was to use the money from the sale to fund the Contras in Nicaragua, an act which had been prohibited by Congress.

The plan was to have Israel ship the weapons to Iran. The Iranians receiving the weapons promised to do everything they could secure the release of Americans being held in Lebanon by Hezbollah. The first sale of weapons occurred in 1985 and shortly after one hostage was released. The plan was changed by Oliver North who suggested a direct sale to the Iranians at a substantial markup on the weapons so that a portion of the proceeds could go to the Contras. Reagan was on record as saying that he would not trade arms for hostages, but Admiral John Poindexter decided to go ahead with the plan anyway. Shipment of weapons began in February 1986 and continued throughout 1986.

None of the hostages were released following the shipment of weapons. In July 1986 another hostage was released, but three more were taken in September and October 1986. One more hostage was released with a promise to release the other two but the release never happened.

A leak by a senior official in the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution brought the arrangement to the public eye. A thorough investigation was never able to find any definitive proof of Reagan’s involvement but fourteen administration officials were indicted. There were eleven convictions, some of which were vacated on appeal and the rest of which were pardoned by George H.W. Bush in his final days as president.

4. Iranian Coup

The Iranian coup d’etat of 1953 was a plot that was contrived by the British and American governments as a way to replace the current Prime Minister of Iran in order to strengthen the monarchial rule of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The U.S. and Britain wanted to ensure that the monarchy had greater power than the elected government in order to find a government that was more sympathetic to the needs of the U.S. and Britain. Britain wanted to replace the elected government because of the vote to nationalize the oil in Iran, which meant more favorable concessionary arrangements with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Britain was against the idea but the people of Iran lauded the work of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh for fighting to take control of Iran. In response the British did an embargo of Iranian ports and prevented them from being able to sell their oil anywhere else. The plot to try and get Iran to agree to Britain’s oil terms ended up bankrupting the country. Tens of thousands were put out of work, and while many still supported nationalism, they wanted to get back to work.

The U.S. for their part had been monitoring the situation in Iran and feared that the nationalism movement was really a soviet plot. Britain stroked those fires and convinced the Eisenhower Administration that Iran would fall to the Soviets if the country did not get under control. So they agreed on Operation Ajax which funneled money and support to royalist members of the Iranian Army. They also bribed people to show hatred toward the Shah, which was still a subject of pride in Iran, and destroy Shah symbols to grow hatred toward the Prime Minister within the country. Millions were spent bribing officials to support the coup and the transition that followed.

5. Hitler Assassination plots

During World War II there were German officers and citizens who did not support the Nazi movement and wanted to kill Hitler. To that end there were multiple plots to do just that. The first plot was in 1943 and was called Operation Spark. This was actually a conspiracy by anti-Nazi Germany army officers who believed that Hitler’s death would be the spark that would signal an internal coup d’etat to overthrow the Nazis. The plan was to sneak a bomb onto Hitler’s plane. However, the percussion cap got too cold in the unheated cargo hold and failed to detonate the bomb. The group made other attempts including suicide bomb attempts but none of them were successful.

Another attempt was made on July 20^th, 1944 and was referred to as Operation Valkyrie. The idea was to kill Hitler, seize control of Germany from the Nazis and make peace with the allies. The plot was contrived by several different groups within the German Resistance and included high ranking Wehrmacht Officers who wanted to show the world that not all Germans were like Hitler. The final plot to kill Hitler consisted of a briefcase bomb in a conference room that would kill not only Hitler but other high ranking members. Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was the only member of the resistance high ranking enough to be invited to the meeting.

However, the meeting was moved to a conference room instead of the underground bunker and only one of the two bombs was primed for detonation. Had either of these things occurred the bomb would have killed Hitler. Another chance of fate was that the bomb was moved behind the leg of the table in the conference room which had the effect of killing Colonel Heinz Brandt (who had moved the briefcase) and shielding Hitler from the blast. Ultimately Hitler survived the coup and the Gestapo arrested 7,000 people in association with the plot and nearly 5,000 of them were executed.

6. Brighton Hotel Bombing

The Brighton Hotel bombing happened on October 12^th, 1984 and was an attempt by the Provisional Irish Republican Army to assassinate Margaret Thatcher and other members of the British government. The attack was an attempt to force Britain to withdraw from Northern Ireland and remove it from the U.K. The plot was carried out by Patrick Magee who stayed at the Grand Hotel from September 14^th -17^th 1984. He hid a bomb under the bath in his room and wrapped it in cling film in order to hide its scent from the bomb sniffing dogs. The bomb had a long delay timer which ensured that it would not go off until Thatcher and other officials were at the hotel for the Conservative Party conference.

At 2:54 a.m. on October 12^th, the bomb detonated, causing the middle of the hotel to collapse and fall into the basement. To the luck of those staying in the hotel and Margaret Thatcher, the well-built Victorian hotel remained standing. Margaret Thatcher’s room was largely unscathed, her bathroom was damaged but the bedroom and sitting room were untouched. Thatcher decided that the conference would go on as usual and went right from the conference to visit the injured at the hospital.

Five people were killed, none of which were government ministers. Thirty-four people were taken to the hospital with injuries, some including Margaret Tebbit and Walter Clegg were left permanently disabled. The investigation into the bomb plot quickly determined the room of the bomb and narrowed down the conspirator to Patrick Magee. He admitted to being part of the plot but never to being the one to plant the bomb. He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison but was released after 14 years under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. Four other IRA members were imprisoned in connection to the plot.

7. Secret War in Laos

In April of 1953 the French colonials in Indochina asked for the U.S. to provide air support to fly tanks and equipment to their forces in Laos. The French pleaded with the U.S. saying that the equipment would mean the difference between winning and losing in Laos. At the time the country was falling into civil war between the Community Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao Government (which was sympathetic to the French and not communist). This meant that Laos was a prime candidate for a proxy war.

President Eisenhower did not want to give overt support to the Royal Lao Government but he had a way that he could fulfill the French request without openly supporting the campaign. The CIA had recently purchased assets of Civil Air Transport, which was an airline that operated out of China. While the airline continued to act as a private commercial airline, CAT also supplied crews and airplanes for CIA missions. Using CAT, Eisenhower gave the CIA authority to help the French in Laos.

Throughout the next few years CAT was kept busy making numerous air drops while the U.S. continued to covertly increase support for the operation. The operation in Laos grew to be the largest CIA operation in history as the mission grew to include unconventional methods of warfare. From 1960 to 1975, the CIA began bombing missions and dropped more bombs in Laos than have been dropped anywhere else in the world.

In 1971, the secret base that the CIA had been using to conduct operations was discovered by journalists, who broke the story of the CIA in Laos. In response, the U.S spent $54 million to convince the American public that the mission was solely a humanitarian one. Further controversy was created when the CIA was accused of selling drugs in order to finance the operation, but the U.S. official position has yet to admit to it. The U.S. pulled out of Laos in 1975, leaving millions of unexploded bombs all over the country.

8. Watergate

The Watergate scandal is perhaps the most well-known political conspiracy in U.S. history. The name comes from the Watergate office complex where the apex of the “dirty tricks” undertaken by the Nixon administration occurred. The aftermath of the Watergate conspiracy was the resignation of President Nixon and the indictment of 69 people, with 25 found guilty.

The Nixon administration was filled with underhanded dealings, including placing bugs in the office of political opponents or anyone Nixon thought might be a threat to his administration and re-election. His administration also ordered the harassment of activists or political figures through use of the FBI, the CIA and the IRS. Many of Nixon’s abuses of power were not discovered until after the Watergate scandal.

The scandal occurred on June 17^th, 1972 when five men were arrested for breaking into the Watergate business complex where the DNC headquarters was. An FBI investigation revealed that the men had received payments from a slush fund tied to the Committee for the Re-Election of the President. This committee was the official organization of Nixon’s re-election. Further investigation and testimony from White House staff members revealed that Nixon had tape-recorded conversations in his office. The Supreme Court demanded Nixon release the tapes.

On December 7^th, 1973 one of the tapes was found to be missing more than 8 minutes of audio. Nixon’s personal secretary claimed that she had erased the tape by pressing the wrong button when answering the phone. An investigation revealed this was unlikely. Nixon continued to deny any involvement in the scandal. Then on August 5^th, 1974 the White House released a tape from June 23^rd, 1972 that had Nixon and his aides discussing a plan to stop investigations into Watergate by having the CIA tell the FBI that national security was at stake.

To avoid impeachment, Nixon resigned from the presidency on August 9^th, 1974. The following month he was pardoned by President Gerald Ford.

9. Rajneeshee Bioterror Attack

The Rajneeshee bioterror attack is only of one two confirmed instances of terrorists using biological weapons to harm people in the years since 1945. The attack was carried out by Rajneesh followers who had moved onto a large ranch in Wasco County in 1991. They took political control of Antelope, Oregon and even renamed the town Rajneesh. The group originally had good relations with the people of the town until the commune began to expand and cause conflict over land use.

The commune’s expansion led to them applying for permits for Rajneeshpuram, which the county denied. So the commune decided that they would take over the entire county by manipulating the 1984 county election. They wanted to get two out of the three available seats on the Wasco County Circuit Court and win the Sheriff’s office.

The plan was to incapacitate the voters in The Dalles, the area where most voters resided in order to influence the election in their favor. The group purchased salmonella bacteria and four members of the commune cultured the bacteria in their own labs within the commune complex. Then at least 8 others were involved in distributing the bacteria to salad bars as a “trial run”. The second part of the plan was to put the bacteria into the water supply, but they never followed through.

751 people became ill from the salmonella bacteria placed on the salad bars of 10 restaurants. 45 were sent to the hospital but no one was killed. The poisonings had the opposite effect as residents believed the commune was behind it and came out in droves to vote against the Rajneeshee candidates. The commune eventually decided to boycott the election as most of their members were not U.S. citizens and could not vote. After the investigation two Ranjneeshpuram officials were convicted on attempted murder changes and served 29 months of their 20 year sentences in prison.

10. Operation Himmler

Operation Himmler was a plot concocted by Heinrich Himmler to convince the German people that Poland was being aggressive toward Germany. The operation was gearing up for a justification of the invasion of Poland and what became the start of the Second World War. Some believed that the elaborate plot might have also intended to delay Poland’s allies from entering the war after the German invasion.

In order to convince the German people that Poland was the aggressor, the Nazis launched a propaganda campaign that suggested Poland was involved in the ethnic cleansing of ethnic Germans living in Poland. To further incite hatred toward Poland there were several planned attacks along the German/Poland border that were carried out by SS members. On August 31^st, 1939 German troops dressed in Polish uniforms stormed border buildings, shot at locals (intentionally missing) and vandalized the area.To further convince people of Poland’s aggression the SS members would leave dead “Polish” soldiers behind. In reality these were people from concentration camps who were killed by lethal injection and then shot so their bodies could be used to convince the German people that not only had Poland invaded but German troops had protected them. In planning documents, the dead bodies were referred to as “canned goods.”

Another part of the plot was to have the operatives seize the Gleiwitz station and broadcast a message in Polish. Several bodies, including that of a Polish activist that had been arrested the day before, were left at the station. Within Poland, thousands of Germans had been secretly prepared for sabotage and guerrilla warfare. Their goal was to provoke anti-German reprisals that Hitler could use as justification for invasion. There were some reprisals which were grossly exaggerated by the Nazi party. Whether or not the propaganda worked in Germany, it did not work in the international community.