History is a kind of hussar roulette. Sometimes you spin the drum and don't know what will fall out this time: truth or fiction? Just like in a game at an online casino Wanted Win, where every spin can lead to unexpected results, historical facts often turn out to be myths that need debunking. It's time to debunk another batch of popular historical myths!
Cavalry vs. tanks
A famous tale about the beginning of the Second World War: as if the brave Polish lancers rode on the German tanks with sabres on their heads. Which speaks either of their bravery or their recklessness! But in fact this story is a propaganda fiction by the Germans to ridicule the enemy. At Krojanty on 1 September 1939, there really was Polish cavalry, only it was skilled with the latest weapons.
Polish lancers were armed with both cannons and anti-tank guns capable of stopping armoured vehicles.
I came, I saw, I decided
Many of us dream about the superpowers of Gaius Julius Caesar - he allegedly could dictate several letters to different scribes at once, negotiate and simultaneously lead the battle. But let's ask ourselves: where did this myth come from? From literally a couple or three mentions of ancient authors, and mainly Pliny the Elder.
He wrote that Caesar ‘simultaneously dictated up to seven letters about the most important matters.’ Well, well, better than the most advanced secretary-referent!
Fragment of the painting ‘Julius Caesar’, Peter Paul Rubens, between 1625 and 1626.
However, the ability to quickly switch between tasks and multitask in parallel are different things. As research shows, multitasking is inefficient. It makes it difficult to concentrate and the mind becomes scattered. Maybe Caesar's talent lay not in multitasking, but in lightning-fast decision-making? ‘I came, I saw, I decided.’
The panic of War of the Worlds
In October 1938, the production of the CBC television and radio network based on Wells' novel allegedly caused mass hysteria in the United States. It is said that the inhabitants of New Jersey took it for a real report on the Martian invasion and ran out of their homes in terror. The case was quoted in numerous articles to show how easy it is to control the crowd through the media. But the story is actually just a joke by New York Daily editor Ben Gross.
In reality, only a few impressionable people called the radio station with questions about the invasion. According to ratings, only 2% of New Jerseyans heard the broadcast. So there was no mass hysteria.
Genghis Khan's conquests
When was the last time you quoted figures about the Mongol conquests? If recently, you are among the lucky ones who have not yet been sucked into an endless argument. Persian chroniclers of those times seemed to compete with each other, attributing to Genghis Khan the slaughter in their cities almost on the scale of genocide! Well... why, they hated the religion of pagan Mongols. So they drew bigger numbers.
Modern historians say that such number of ‘gone’ people in Central Asia could not be simply physically. Take at least the desert, where remains are perfectly preserved, but there are no burials of millions of people!
Edison and the light bulb
In the film Treasure of a Nation, Nicolas Cage's character says that Edison tried unsuccessfully two thousand times to create a filament until he invented the light bulb. This is probably where the myth that he was the creator of the light bulb came from! In fact, the first electric bulb was designed in 1840 by a Briton, Warren de la Rue. However, it required a lot of platinum and was too impractical. Edison only refined the famous design 40 years later and then patented it as his own invention!
Aristotle believed that flies have 8 legs
This scientific anecdote is regularly cited as an example of not believing authorities unconditionally. For example, in the Middle Ages everyone believed Aristotle's claim that flies have 8 legs plus wings. And until Linnaeus in the XVIII century did not correct the mistake of the ancient thinker, everyone thought so. There was no strength and desire to check! But Aristotle had a different view.
In his treatise ‘On the Parts of Animals’ he clearly writes that insects have 6 legs, and ‘the front legs are longer than the rest - for cleaning the head’. Another thing is that he really counted only a pair of wings, leaving out the buzzard. But the philosopher knew all about the legs!
Peter the Great and the potato
Who among us in childhood did not draw in his imagination a picture of how Peter the Great literally brought the first potato to Russia from foreign voyages? Roughly so: the sovereign personally carries a huge sack, like Father Christmas with gifts. But no, friends, not everything was so romantic! In Peter's time, potatoes were indeed imported, but the peasants, if they tried them, were very wary. Poisonous foreign curiosity, it will not lead to anything good!
So the mass distribution of ‘second bread’ was out of the question. It happened already under Catherine II, when they decided to popularise the new crop to fight hunger. Only by the XIX century potatoes really took root in the Russian countryside.
And yet it spins!
Even schoolchildren know the quote of the great Italian, which has become winged, ‘And yet it goes round!’. But the trouble is that these words were simply attributed to Galileo! No source of that era does not record the phrase, which the scientist allegedly said after the forced renunciation of the heliocentric theory. For the first time its mention is found only almost 130 years later.
However, it is reliably known that on the back of one of the portraits of Galileo there was a Latin inscription with the same words. Perhaps it was the real author of the famous quote - some friend or admirer of the brilliant physicist and astronomer.
The ice cracked, the armour bent
It is traditionally believed that heavy armour ruined the Livonian knights on Lake Peipsi. When they invaded the Russian lands, Alexander Nevsky allegedly lured them onto thin ice, and all those ‘tin cans’ went under water. And Russian latniks, being lighter, remained unharmed.
There is no real evidence of this - historical sources mention only warriors who went under the ice on other bodies of water. On Lake Peipsi most of the Livonian knights were surrounded and... ‘defeated’, and the remaining supostats escaped from the battlefield.
Lenin is a German scout
One of the most controversial facts from recent history is Lenin's accusation that he worked for German intelligence during World War I. Lenin was a German spy. In 1917, the famous revolutionary and his associates were openly labelled German ‘spies and saboteurs’. Why? The fact is that Lenin and company, returning from exile, travelled through German territory.
On the one hand, it would be strange on the part of the Germans to reveal their ‘agent No. 1’ who was about to find himself in the hands of counter-intelligence! And no evidence of ‘direct work for Berlin’ was found. On the other hand, many authoritative historians believe that it was Lenin who was to blame for the destruction of historical Russia. What do you think?
Conclusion
These stories demonstrate just how tantalizing and pervasive myths can be, often overshadowing the real historical facts. They remind us that history is not just about accepting past narratives at face value but is also about continuously questioning and reevaluating them to uncover the truth. Just as players at the Wanted Win online casino rely on luck and strategy, historians need critical thinking and reliable sources to differentiate between myth and reality.
The power of these myths isn't just in their storytelling appeal but also in their ability to shape our understanding of history and, by extension, the present. By debunking these myths, we not only gain a more accurate picture of the past but also help foster a more informed society. Thus, like a careful game of chess, we must strategically approach historical narratives, always ready to make the next move towards truth. In doing so, we ensure that history, in all its complexity and nuance, is faithfully preserved and understood.
