九个微小失误，造成不朽历史后果

4、隆美尔（Rommel）在二战中盟军进攻西欧日(D-Day)为其妻子庆生

One of the most pivotal moments in World War II caught Erwin Rommel with his pants down. The Desert Fox, tasked by Hitler to defend the coast of France, had gone to Germany to celebrate his wife’s birthday on June 6. Due to weeks of enemy inactivity and bad weather, Rommel believed that an invasion—although imminent—was still some ways off. So he flew back to his wife and son on June 5. As a result, when D-Day rolled around, utter chaos reigned in the German defenses as the men were left without one of their finest tacticians. Rommel himself owned up to his mistake and uttered “How stupid of me” when he heard of the invasion. Although Rommel rushed back as quickly as he could, the damage was done. The Allies had strongly secured their beachheads, and nothing was going to stop them from going to Germany.We still need to credit the Allies for tricking the Germans into second-guessing the invasion’s time and location. But the Germans would have stood a far better chance if Rommel had just settled for sending his wife a birthday telegram.

二战中，其中一个关键时刻杀埃尔温·隆美尔一个措手不及，使他狼狈不堪。6月6号，被希特勒分配去保卫法国海岸“沙漠之狐”（隆美尔是二战的一位著名的德国陆军元帅，通称“沙漠之狐”——译注）去了德国为他的妻子庆生。由于几周以来敌方都没有动静，天气也不好，隆美尔相信入侵——尽管即将到来——不会那么快到来。所以，6月5日，他飞回妻子和儿子的身边。结果，当诺曼底登陆日到来了，德军防御一片混乱，因为战士们没有一个好的战术家领导。当隆美尔听到入侵的消息，他承认错误说“我真愚蠢”。尽管隆美尔尽可能快地赶回，损失也已经造成了。同盟国已经牢固地占领了滩头阵地，已经无法阻止他们进入德国。我们仍需要把这归功于同盟国，他们诱使德国人预测入侵的时间地点。但是如果隆美尔满足于给他妻子发一份生日电报，德国本会有更大的成功机会。

3 An Unlocked Door Doomed Constantinople

3、 敞开的大门注定了君士坦丁堡的陷落

The Fall of Constantinople in 1453 had a huge rippling effect on the Western world. It effectively ended the Middle Ages, marked the start of Ottoman domination, and ushered in the Renaissance. We can wonder just how different the world would be right now if the Byzantines successfully defended Constantinople. Contrary to popular belief, the Byzantines actually had a pretty good chance of winning. Even though the Ottomans had the numerical advantage and the cannons, the thick and high walls surrounding Constantinople prevented them from quickly overwhelming the capital. If the Byzantines had held out long enough, help from their European allies could have turned the tide of battle. Besides, the defenders themselves were no pushovers and managed to inflict high losses on the invaders. Unfortunately, the Byzantines’ brave efforts were wasted due to a very critically dumb error: Someone forgot to close a gate. Ironically, this was the same gate the Byzantines used to retake their city from the Crusaders 200 years previously. According to Byzantine historian Doukas, after the Ottomans took the gate and raised their flag above its tower, chaos ensued. The defenders were now convinced that their city was doomed. Resistance faded shortly afterward and ended with the Ottomans finally taking Constantinople.

1453年，君士坦丁堡的陷落在西方国家引起了连锁反应。它有效地结束了中世纪，标志着奥斯曼帝国统治的开始，还迎接了文艺复兴时代的到来。我们可以知道如果拜占庭人成功保卫了君士坦丁堡，这世界现在会是多么的不同。与大众相信的情况相反，实际上，拜占庭人胜算很大。尽管奥斯曼帝国在士兵数量和大炮上有优势，君士坦丁堡周边又高又厚的城墙使他们不能快速地攻陷首都。如果拜占庭人能够坚持够久，那么来自他们欧洲同盟的帮助本来是可以扭转战场局势的。另外，守卫者他们本身就不是容易被打败的，他们设法让侵略者遭受高损失。不幸的是，拜占庭人的英勇努力却因为一个非常非常小的失误都付诸东流了：某人忘记关门了。讽刺的是，200年前，拜占庭人就是利用这个门从十字军（the Crusaders）手中夺回了他们的城市。根据拜占庭历史学家多卡斯（Doukas），奥斯曼帝国攻占了这扇门，在塔楼上升起他们的国旗，混乱随之而来。守卫者这会相信他们的城市是劫数难逃了。不久之后，抵抗就消失了；最后，奥斯曼帝国占领君士坦丁堡。

2 Security Strictness Slayed Stalin

2、 严密的安保杀死了斯大林（ Stalin）

While the mystery of Stalin’s death is a magnet for conspiracy theories, his paranoia proved to be his greatest undoing. As with all dictators, Stalin was obsessed with his personal security. He forbade anyone from entering his room without his consent because he constantly feared an assassination. So when the man one day didn’t leave his room for his normal routine, his guards began to worry. If they entered without his permission, they could be imprisoned or executed. The same fate also awaited them if it turned out to be an emergency and they failed to help him. Even after they found the dictator in a helpless heap inside his room, his staff still feared him greatly. Doctors sent to help him could not stop their hands from trembling when they examined him. Four days later, the great dictator was dead, the victim of (apparently) a massive stroke.

虽然斯大林的死亡之谜引发阴谋论者的猜想，但是经过证实，他多疑的性格是毁掉他最主要的原因。和所有的独裁者一样，斯大林非常注重个人安全。他禁止任何人未经他允许就进入他的房间因为他一直害怕遭到暗杀。所以，有一天当斯大林并没有像平常一样出门，守卫们就开始焦虑。如果他们未经允许就进入房间，他们可能会被收押或处死。但如果结果是突发事件，而他们并没有去帮助斯大林，他们也面临着同样的命运。尽管后来守卫们发现斯大林瘫倒在房间无法动弹，他们仍非常惧怕他。在诊察的时候，被派来医治斯大林的医生们手一直忍不住在抖。四天之后，这位大独裁者去世，（显然）死于中风。

1 The Spy Who Fell Asleep And Lost His Papers

1、因睡着而丢失文件的间谍

The German diplomat Heinrich Albert, who happened to be the official paymaster of the World War I spy ring in America, took a nap one day in July 1915 while riding the subway. A sudden stop startled the man, and he quickly left the carriage—leaving behind a briefcase filled with subversive files. After he realized his mistake, he rushed back inside the train. Unfortunately, the briefcase had already been snatched up by Frank Burke, a Secret Service agent tailing Albert. The German chased the agent, but Burke managed to elude him by hopping onto a trolley. The US government, instead of officially confronting Germany, decided to preserve its neutrality by just leaking the documents to the press. The subsequent fallout resulted in the offending diplomats being shipped back to Germany, and it greatly swayed American public opinion even further toward the war. As for Albert, he was greatly rewarded for his bumbling efforts. He was made a secretary of state in the German Weimar Republic and later on established a prosperous law firm that represented American interests in Germany.

1915年7月的某一天，德国外交官兼美国一战时期特务组织的官方出纳员海因里希· 艾伯特（Heinrich Albert）在坐地铁的时候小睡了一会。车突然停下来，吓了他一跳；然后他就匆忙离开了地铁——落下了装满颠覆性文件的公文包。意识到自己的过失后，他匆匆赶回地铁内。不幸的是，公文包已经被尾随他的特工弗兰克·伯克（Frank Burke）夺取了。他追赶特工，但是伯克跳上了一辆电车成功避开了他。至于艾伯特，凭他那无效的努力得到了极大的回报。他被任命为德国魏玛共和国的国务卿，后来还建立了一个繁荣的律师事务所，这代表了美国在德国的利益。