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.
正如人们所说的那样，历史都是胜利者的赞歌。史书中会刻意掩盖甚至直接抹去那些对胜利者不利的战争细节，而战败方的形象往往都狼狈不堪。历史常常美化过去，歌颂过往，导致现如今所流传的战争故事即便算不上彻头彻尾的胡言乱语，也绝对称得上愚蠢之极。为了让那些胜利者名流千古，那些"绘声绘色"的故事中，谎言与杜撰行为不计其数。然而，可悲的是，战争确是刀枪箭雨，残酷至极，根本没有故事中那样娓娓到来的温柔节奏。

10.World War I Started Because Of A Sandwich
10.一块三明治引爆第一次世界大战

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.
关于第一次世界大战，一直流传在民间的传说（也是人们在聚会时经常讨论的精彩故事）——如果不是因为一块三明治，第一次世界大战极有可能不会爆发。该说法称，当奥匈帝国的统领之王斐迪南大公（Archduke Franz Ferdinand）途径萨拉热窝时，一众刺客想要刺杀他（萨拉热窝事件）。故事里讲到，这些刺客埋伏在斐迪南大公的必经之路上。第一个刺客想用手榴弹将斐迪南大公炸死，然而却只伤害到了其车队中的一部分人。
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.
最终，费迪南大公并未被刺客谋杀，此次事件之后，他还下令汽车司机载其前往医院看望了那次爆炸事件中受伤的手下。然而，费迪南大公的司机不慎迷路，将车停在途中一家店门前时，谋杀费迪南大公的凶手正巧在那家店里享受着自己的午餐三明治。谋杀者——加夫里洛·普林西普（Gavrilo Princip），轻轻向窗外一瞥便看到了自己的目标。凶手一枪命中，打响了第一次世界大战。
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.
这些年来，这个故事情节在互联网上大肆流传，但据《史密森尼杂志》（Smithsonian Magazine）称，这一故事并不可信。单就故事本身来说，它根本没有什么理论依据，根本站不住脚。另外，在萨拉热窝事件发生期间，根本也不可能出现三明治这种食物。然而，最重要的事实是，斐迪南大公的汽车司机并没迷路，他停车的地点，是他的必经之路。这也就意味着，即便是普林西普在那里进午餐，也一定是专门驻守在那里等待着斐迪南大公的到来，根本没什么偶遇可言。

9.The United States Saved The Day In World War II
9.美国使第二次世界大战化险为夷

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.
美国人常常大言不惭地说——是我们，是美国，拯救了第二次世界大战的一切。一位有趣的英国人回应说，美国人参与第二次世界大战明明比较晚，即便拯救世界的不是英国，那也应该是法国，美国怎么能这样问心无愧的邀功呢！然而，历史学家们尽人类所能，用毫无偏见的视角回看历史，得出结论——同盟国赢得第二次世界大战，功劳最大的国家应该是苏联。
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.
史学家们称，对于战争而言，每一个国家的贡献都功不可没。但就整体的损失和人力投入方面而言，苏联在第二次世界大战中首当其冲。不可否认，他们凭借着租借法案从中获利良多，得到了大量的武器和军用品，但人们往往忽视了他们所做的贡献。然而，史学家们也承认，如若没有一连串轰炸事件的支持，苏联也无法做出如此大的贡献。从中我们应当学到的是，对那些给予我们帮助的人，心存感激，对待事情，不必锱铢必较。

8.The American Soldiers In The Revolutionary War Were Highly Motivated
8.独立战争中斗志昂扬的美军

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.
"哪怕严寒渗入骨髓，哪怕死伤不计其数，哪怕全身伤痕累累，士兵们也奋勇直前无所畏惧，只因他们对祖国爱得深沉；他们甘愿牺牲小我，以换取同胞的福祉。"上述文字即为对美国独立战争(American Revolution)最为常见的一种形象描写。然而，事实却并非如此。多数美国人都不愿参战，使得乔治·华盛顿将军(General George Washington)上书要求首届联邦政府进行入伍征召。美国独立战争的号角吹响之时，群情激昂，纷纷应征，但这种热情很快就消失无踪。毕竟，他们欠缺作战经验，况且，军旅生涯不易，危机四伏。首批热血沸腾的人们报名应招结束，征募新兵无疑又成了梦魇一场。
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.
只要有人愿意投身军旅，羽翼未丰的新政府便为他们提供额外的资金、奖利及丰富物资；他们的服役期甚至比义务兵还短。新政府的这些举措，旨在使军队永葆战斗力。这群士兵大多不是"托利党"；对他们而言，为之努力的动力是家园生计，而非国土自由。他们要考虑的是实际的温饱，而不是虚无的自由；他们所需要的是充足的食物，是温馨的家园。毕竟，这些新兵多为农民，并不适应残酷的战场。

审校：瑶瑶Yvonne 校对：丸子 编辑：Freya然