ABSTRACT
For most the classic assassin has not been an authorized agent of the state, nor a hireling, nor the self-declared defender of the threatened system, but rather a treacherous rebel, perhaps mad but always abhorrent. Such murder as a means for political gain seems immoral, an act against nature, even if a frequent and catholic act. Francois Ravaillac being on the border of reason, others are quite rational, and perform their murderous deed for explicable political reasons—and are not part of a conspiracy. Certain conspiracies have been so severely restricted by the security forces, by their own lack of talents and resources, that they cannot hope for power. The German army did not foster in the regular officer corps those traits that are advantageous to conspiracy. A conspiracy founded on assassination, for high purpose or low, almost always anticipates that to strike the effective blow will be a matter of import.
