Table of contents:
- Assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand
- Mercy for Adolf Hitler
- Fall of the Berlin Wall
- Difficulties in translation that led to nuclear explosions
Video: If not for : fatal accidents that influenced the course of history
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Some philosophers argue that randomness is an unconscious pattern. After all, history knows many cases when rash and hasty decisions of individuals turned into misfortune for entire nations. How accidents changed the course of history - further in the review.
Assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand became a formal reason for the outbreak of the First World War. On June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo, he was assassinated by members of the Serbian radical organization Mlada Bosna. They threw a grenade at the archduke's motorcade passing by. The entourage of Franz Ferdinand was killed, he himself was not injured. The Archduke should have gone back to his apartment, but he continued on his way.
One of the conspirators was the student Gavrilo Princip. After a failed assassination attempt, he stopped by for a bite to eat at one of the local coffee shops. When he got out of there, he could not believe his eyes: the Archduke's car was very close (the driver confused the roads). Then Gavrilo finished the job to the end and fired, killing Franz Ferdinand and his wife.
Mercy for Adolf Hitler
On September 28, 1918, during the First World War, British Sergeant Henry Tandey took part in the battle near the French village of Markwing. He had already aimed to shoot one wounded German, but at the last moment he lowered his gun and spared the enemy. The soldier nodded to him in gratitude and walked into cover.
In 1923, the Italian artist Fortunio Matania painted a painting depicting Henry Tendy, and 15 years later its reproduction was in the office of Adolf Hitler … When British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain met with the Fuehrer in 1938, he asked why this particular painting was hanging on his wall. Adolf Hitler replied: “This man spared me when I was wounded and did not shoot me. When you return to Britain, convey my thanks to him. It turns out that Henry Tendy did not kill the man, through whose fault 60 million people were killed.
Fall of the Berlin Wall
By 1989, an economic collapse had formed in East Germany. The long-awaited restructuring did not lead to an improvement in the situation in the country. The GDR authorities realized that it was necessary to somehow change the situation and on November 6 published a draft law on the freedom of movement of citizens, where the conditions under which residents of the GDR could move to the FRG were very vaguely presented.
On November 9, 1989, a press conference was held at which the authorities were to explain the conditions of the new access system. Politburo member Gunther Schabowski was supposed to provide journalists with information "from a piece of paper." When asked by an Italian reporter about when the simplified rules would come into effect, Schabowski, without understanding, read the words "immediately" (ab sofort) on the document. In fact, this clarification was addressed to the relevant services, and not to the population. After a few hours, the whole world learned that Berlin Wall fell.
Difficulties in translation that led to nuclear explosions
In 1945 from Japan demanded unconditional surrender in World War II. The government of the Land of the Rising Sun has come up with nothing better than not to take any action. In response, Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki used the word "mokusatsu", which means "we will think" or "no comment."The translators translated this word as "we will think", and the Americans interpreted it as "we reject." In particular, this misunderstanding led to the fact that on August 6 and 9, 1945, atomic bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, about 160 thousand people died. On August 12, 1945, Japan signed the act of unconditional surrender.
There are many more historical episodes that radically changed the lives of people and the established order.
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