If you had a whoops moment, remind yourself you didn’t cause an avalanche.
Some people say the smallest of things can cause the biggest of changes. When we take a look at the entire span of history and human existence, we can find numerous times when small decisions and mistakes caused a whole lot of history to go down the way it did. Here I present you with some of the more egregious examples.
First off, let’s take a good long look at Günter Schabowski (you just have to love those German names). As the spokesperson for the Communist East German regime during the Cold War, Schabowski’s say naturally had a substantial amount of weight on the citizens living in Berlin, which was split by a massive wall separating the democratic side and the autocratic side. People crossing between the two sides was a big no-no and attempts to do so generally resulted in people getting shot and imprisoned.
It was during a boring news conference Nov. 9, 1989, when Schabowski announced that East German residents would be allowed to visit the West. Because the mingling between the two groups had been so frowned upon in the past, the reporters were stunned and asked when the momentous change would take effect. Schabowski, having only skimmed the information he was supposed to announce, was momentarily stumped before replying with “immediately.” When the news hit the fan, a stampede of Berliners rushed toward the Berlin Wall and tore it down before the very confused Berlin Wall guards who ultimately decided not to open fire.
In reality, if Schabowski had actually read the announcement, he would have discovered that visitation would begin Nov. 10 and only in an extremely limited and restricted format. In that moment, Schabowski single-handedly disintegrated Communist control of Germany that originated at the end of World War II.
Next, let’s take a jump way back in time. In 218 B.C., Hannibal (one of the most well-regarded generals in history) and his merry band of 50,000 Carthaginians, 9,000 ponies and 37 elephants were busy crossing the Alps to crush Rome. The Carthaginian army was considered immensely powerful, and many believed that the odds were against the Romans coming out on top.
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However, halfway through the crossing, a massive autumn blizzard started pounding the Carthaginians, who were struggling to push through the endless snowy mush. To show his troops that solid ground existed in order to boost morale, Hannibal walked in front of his army and slammed his cane on the ground. That slam resulted in an avalanche that permanently buried more than half of his troops, 2,000 horses and the majority of his war elephants while immersing everyone else in a pile of snow that took four days to escape. Needless to say, the Romans had a much easier time winning after that fateful caning.
Of course, Hannibal’s military isn’t the only military to make a mistake. Perhaps the most important of those military mistakes was the time the German General Erwin Rommel left his post on the beaches of France to celebrate his wife’s birthday, which happened to be June 6. Unfortunately for the Nazis and fortunately for the Allies, the year Rommel went to celebrate was 1944. That year Allied forces stormed German-occupied France’s beaches on June 6 and effectively ended Germany’s chances of victory while Rommel was cozying up with his wife and birthday cake.
Not reading an announcement before a press conference. Slamming a cane down as a demonstration of authority. Celebrating a birthday. Who knew that those mistakes could so irrevocably change history? The next time you make a mistake, at least you can tell yourself that you didn’t alter the course of human existence.
Richard Hwang is a student at Athens High School. You haven't made any mistakes like these ... have you? Email him at rhwang999@gmail.com.
