Have a head of state die in battle in the industrialized age.

Question: Did kaiser Wilhelm II ever visited on frontlines? He was pretty much military guy so I wouldn'th have big problems imaginate him to be killed by a stray bullet.
Not sure about the Kaiser, but Tsar Nicholas II did visit the frontlines sometimes. And the death of Tsar Nicholas II in battle might have actually been beneficial... for Russia.
 
Not sure about the Kaiser, but Tsar Nicholas II did visit the frontlines sometimes. And the death of Tsar Nicholas II in battle might have actually been beneficial... for Russia.

I don't know. Generals would are still incompetent idiots. Of course there is possibility that Cicholas' successor sues peace before the revolution.
 
DeGaulle insists on riding on the leading French tank into Paris …. Gets blown up by friendly allied fire
French soldiers almost turn on their allied counterparts
I can see a long line of senior allied officers queuing up to pull the lanyard!
 
Not sure about the Kaiser, but Tsar Nicholas II did visit the frontlines sometimes. And the death of Tsar Nicholas II in battle might have actually been beneficial... for Russia.
George V also got very close to the trenches, as in within artillery range. A German stonk at the wrong time could have got him.
 

marktaha

Banned
Albert I of Belgium and Nicholas II of Russia could are easilty to be killed on battle since they were pretty close of bettle fronts.

And if you want that happening on 21st century you probably can do that with George W. Bush. He often visited on batle zones so let some stray bullet kill him.



Probably can be counteed too.
Was suggested that the Kaiser join his men at the front and get himself killed at the end of First World War. Or if Hitler had delayed his suicide just a bit and the Russians forced their way into the Funrerbunker...
 

marktaha

Banned
UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi was killed in a raid in 2001. Or Bay of Pigs becoming full scale invasion and Castros and Guevara deciding to die fighting..
 
I can see a long line of senior allied officers queuing up to pull the lanyard!
And later flown back home to be decorated
General “Mr prime minister congratulations we got the b$&@*#”
PM “Herr Rommel is dead ? “
General “No monsieur de Gaulle”
PM “ General this day is just as glorious as Crecy , Aboukir bay, trafalgar or Waterloo “
 
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What about Stalin had Moscow fallen and he wasn't able to evacuate in time? Would he have died in battle or blown his brains out in his bunker?
 
Yes I’m guilty of that .. sorry
Just that it’s very hard to imagine any modern leader even symbolically participating in actual combat without it being completely staged ( or comical)
King Albert I took personal command of the Belgian Army during WW1 (which Wikipedia says the Belgian constitution actually required him to do), and was active in the field right through to [at least] the liberation of Brussels, Furthermore his wife worked as a nurse close to the front lines, and their 12-year-old son Leopold was allowed to enlist -- as a private! -- and also saw action.
 
OK, so the original post says 'someone in a position of government' and adds that it doesn't have to be a king.
I think that safely includes Churchill, George VI, Stalin etc. and I'd argue that Molotov and Eden were probably important enough to get the nod.
I can't check my books right now but either Stalin or (more likely) Molotov was in Berlin during an RAF air raid, so that's another possible.

I'm not sure this would qualify, but say the imperial palace gets caught in the firebombing of Tokyo and the emperor can't get out?

Or the coup leaders kill or injure Hirohito and blame the allies for it?

Actually, I don't want to think about how horrible that could play out.
 
Didn't the leader of Paraguay during the War of the Triple Alliance die in battle against forces from Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay?
 
Erdogan's plane could have be shot down while he was flying back from Marmaris during the failed coup 2016
 
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