關於歷史戰爭的十個荒謬故事

As they say, history is written by the victors. Wartime details are often obscured or otherwise written out of history if they make the winning side look bad—the side that loses often ends up getting the opposite treatment in the history books. History tends to glorify and glamorize the past, and this leads to urban legends about wars that are silly at best and downright inaccurate at worst. The stories of war are littered with apocryphal legends and untruths designed to make the victors heroic and shining examples of humanity. The sad truth, however, is that war is a brutal and horrible thing and is rarely as nice or as funny as history often portrays it.

正如人們所說的那樣，歷史都是勝利者的讚歌。史書中會刻意掩蓋甚至直接抹去那些對勝利者不利的戰爭細節，而戰敗方的形象往往都狼狽不堪。歷史常常美化過去，歌頌過往，導致現如今所流傳的戰爭故事即便算不上徹頭徹尾的胡言亂語，也絕對稱得上愚蠢之極。爲了讓那些勝利者名流千古，那些"繪聲繪色"的故事中，謊言與杜撰行爲不計其數。然而，可悲的是，戰爭確是刀槍箭雨，殘酷至極，根本沒有故事中那樣娓娓到來的溫柔節奏。

d War I Started Because Of A Sandwich

10.一塊三明治引爆第一次世界大戰

The most enduring myth of World War I (and still a popular story people like to pass around at parties) is that it wouldn't have taken place if not for a sandwich. The legend claims that while the Archduke Ferdinand, leader of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was traveling through Sarajevo when a group of assassins had plans to do him in. According to the stories, the assassins lined up on his route. The first attempted to kill him with a grenade, but it only managed to injure some other people in his motorcade.

關於第一次世界大戰，一直流傳在民間的傳說（也是人們在聚會時經常討論的精彩故事）——如果不是因爲一塊三明治，第一次世界大戰極有可能不會爆發。該說法稱，當奧匈帝國的統領之王斐迪南大公（Archduke Franz Ferdinand）途徑薩拉熱窩時，一衆刺客想要刺殺他（薩拉熱窩事件）。故事裏講到，這些刺客埋伏在斐迪南大公的必經之路上。第一個刺客想用手榴彈將斐迪南大公炸死，然而卻只傷害到了其車隊中的一部分人。

Eventually, the archduke ended up lost and off course because he asked his chauffeur to take him to the hospital to visit the people wounded in the blast. While lost, the driver ended up right in front of a shop where the archduke's fated killer had been lunching on a sandwich. The killer, Gavrilo Princip, saw his target and in a stroke of unbelievable luck managed to take him out, which led to the start of World War I.

最終，費迪南大公並未被刺客謀殺，此次事件之後，他還下令汽車司機載其前往醫院看望了那次爆炸事件中受傷的手下。然而，費迪南大公的司機不慎迷路，將車停在途中一家店門前時，謀殺費迪南大公的兇手正巧在那家店裏享受着自己的午餐三明治。謀殺者——加夫裏洛·普林西普（Gavrilo Princip），輕輕向窗外一瞥便看到了自己的目標。兇手一槍命中，打響了第一次世界大戰。

This story had become popular on the Internet in recent years, but according to a report by Smithsonian Magazine, there is no reason to believe there is any truth to the legend. To begin with, they could not find evidence that the story is anything more than a very recent invention, but that's just the start. A sandwich would also have been a very unlikely food to find in Sarajevo during that time period. However, the most important fact is that the area the driver ended up in was actually part of his route; he never got lost, meaning that even if Gavrilo Princip had been lunching there, he was where he was supposed to be to kill his target all along. There was never a freaky coincidence at all.

這些年來，這個故事情節在互聯網上大肆流傳，但據《史密森尼雜誌》（Smithsonian Magazine）稱，這一故事並不可信。單就故事本身來說，它根本沒有什麼理論依據，根本站不住腳。另外，在薩拉熱窩事件發生期間，根本也不可能出現三明治這種食物。然而，最重要的事實是，斐迪南大公的汽車司機並沒迷路，他停車的地點，是他的必經之路。這也就意味着，即便是普林西普在那裏進午餐，也一定是專門駐守在那裏等待着斐迪南大公的到來，根本沒什麼偶遇可言。

United States Saved The Day In World War II

9.美國使第二次世界大戰化險爲夷

Americans like to claim that "we saved all of you in World War II." It is a favorite British response to say that the United States entered the war rather late, that the British still feel they and perhaps the French did most of the work, and that they would prefer not to have the United States take so much credit. However, historians tend look at the past without the lens of bias as much as humanly possible, and the conclusion they have come to is that if anyone deserves the lion's share of credit for winning the war on the Allies' side, it's the Soviet Union.

美國人常常大言不慚地說——是我們，是美國，拯救了第二次世界大戰的一切。一位有趣的英國人迴應說，美國人蔘與第二次世界大戰明明比較晚，即便拯救世界的不是英國，那也應該是法國，美國怎麼能這樣問心無愧的邀功呢！然而，歷史學家們盡人類所能，用毫無偏見的視角回看歷史，得出結論——同盟國贏得第二次世界大戰，功勞最大的國家應該是蘇聯。

According to historians, everyone's contribution was very important, but in terms of overall losses and manpower put to bear, the Soviet Union really took the brunt of the fighting. Of course, they also received significant help through the Lend-Lease Act to obtain more weapons and vehicles, but their contribution has often been overlooked. However, historians also think the Soviet Union would not have done as well without the support of Allied bombing campaigns. Perhaps the takeaway from this is that we should all appreciate the help we have given each other instead of worrying about who did the most.

史學家們稱，對於戰爭而言，每一個國家的貢獻都功不可沒。但就整體的損失和人力投入方面而言，蘇聯在第二次世界大戰中首當其衝。不可否認，他們憑藉着租借法案從中獲利良多，得到了大量的武器和軍用品，但人們往往忽視了他們所做的貢獻。然而，史學家們也承認，如若沒有一連串轟炸事件的支持，蘇聯也無法做出如此大的貢獻。從中我們應當學到的是，對那些給予我們幫助的人，心存感激，對待事情，不必錙銖必較。

American Soldiers In The Revolutionary War Were Highly Motivated

8.獨立戰爭中鬥志昂揚的美軍

One of the most common tropes of the American Revolution is the war-torn soldier who continues fighting regardless through the awful dead of winter because he cares about his country that much—the soldier who wants nothing more than a chance to lay down his life for his fellow man. However, the truth is that there were very few truly committed volunteer soldiers in the war, so much so that General George Washington actually wanted the first United States government to conscript soldiers. When the American Revolution began, many people were excited and signed up to fight, but they quickly lost their enthusiasm. They were not yet battle-hardened, and the life of a soldier is not an easy or safe one at all. Once the first batch of motivated people had signed up, enlisting new soldiers was a nightmare.

"哪怕嚴寒滲入骨髓，哪怕死傷不計其數，哪怕全身傷痕累累，士兵們也奮勇直前無所畏懼，只因他們對祖國愛得深沉；他們甘願犧牲小我，以換取同胞的福祉。"上述文字即爲對美國獨立戰爭(American Revolution)最爲常見的一種形象描寫。然而，事實卻並非如此。多數美國人都不願參戰，使得喬治·華盛頓將軍(General George Washington)上書要求首屆聯邦政府進行入伍徵召。美國獨立戰爭的號角吹響之時，羣情激昂，紛紛應徵，但這種熱情很快就消失無蹤。畢竟，他們欠缺作戰經驗，況且，軍旅生涯不易，危機四伏。首批熱血沸騰的人們報名應招結束，徵募新兵無疑又成了夢魘一場。

The fledgling government started offering extra money, bounties, and lots of other goodies to anyone who would sign up. They even offered to allow them enlistment terms that were shorter than those mandated by law in order to keep up a strong enough fighting force. While many of these men were probably not Tories loyal to England, they did need a lot more than just the desire for freedom to fight for their homes. When you and your family need to eat, you have to think about more than just the concept of freedom. You have to buy food, and you need shelter. Above all, these men were mostly farmers and weren't cut out for the life of a man at war.

只要有人願意投身軍旅，羽翼未豐的新政府便爲他們提供額外的資金、獎利及豐富物資；他們的服役期甚至比義務兵還短。新政府的這些舉措，旨在使軍隊永葆戰鬥力。這羣士兵大多不是"託利黨"；對他們而言，爲之努力的動力是家園生計，而非國土自由。他們要考慮的是實際的溫飽，而不是虛無的自由；他們所需要的是充足的食物，是溫馨的家園。畢竟，這些新兵多爲農民，並不適應殘酷的戰場。

審校：瑤瑤Yvonne 校對：丸子 編輯：Freya然