A few days ago I watched a movie, the movie tells the story of a future world, in the future world scientists invented a time machine, can travel back 60 million years to the age of dinosaurs to do the game of hunting dinosaurs, but in a crossover trip, the crosser accidentally stepped on a butterfly of the dinosaur era, so that the plant that should have been spread pollen by this butterfly can not be fertilized normally, did not grow seeds normally to spread offspring, resulting in a change in the world after 60 million years, Although this is a science fiction movie and the plot is a bit absurd, the storyline can also be seen as a butterfly effect.
"A butterfly in the Amazon rainforest of South America, with an occasional flapping of its wings, can cause a tornado two weeks later," is known as the butterfly effect, which is often a small and inconspicuous thing that can cause a series of huge reactions.
Often in the process of historical development, some small errors will cause huge historical effects, so what are the famous butterfly effects in history?
I. The Wanli War of Aid to Korea led to the rise of the Jurchens
At the end of the 16th century, Japan's de facto ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified the Japanese islands, twice with the strength of the whole country to invade Korea, because Korea was powerless to resist, it asked the Ming Dynasty for help, at this time it was during the Ming Dynasty's Wanli period, the national strength was in an era of prosperity and decline, due to the war to aid Korea, although japan was defeated, Japan did not dare to covet the Korean Peninsula for 300 years, but it also seriously depleted the strength of the Ming Dynasty, due to the weakening of the Ming Dynasty's national strength, the Jurchen tribes in the northeast gradually broke away from the control of the Ming Dynasty. Step by step, they conquered the northeastern tribes and the tribes of Eastern Mongolia, and finally in 1616 Nurhaci established the Houjin, and the rise of the Jurchens directly led to the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
2. The Chongzhen Emperor revoked the post, leading to An uprising by Li Zicheng
Or the butterfly effect that occurred in the Ming Dynasty. As we all know, the Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian was an emperor with a strong sense of mission, although his own ability was limited, but he did everything in big and small things, if he was in an era of peace, he might be a good emperor who was diligent in government and loved the people, but when he took over Jiangshan, the Ming Dynasty was worried about external and internal troubles, and it was already full of holes.
If the Chongzhen Emperor could be a Wuwei Emperor step by step, he might be able to extend the life of the Ming Dynasty for a few years, but he always wanted to make a career.
He simply thought that the expenditure of the post was too much and of little use, so he abolished the post, and Li Zicheng was unemployed because of the abolition of the post, and it was a disaster year at that time, and natural and man-made disasters landed on Li Zicheng together, causing Li Zicheng to pull up the peasant rebel army, which swept the country for a time, in 1644 AD, the peasant rebel army led by Li Zicheng invaded the city of Beijing, and the Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian was hanged on the crooked neck tree of the coal mountain, and the Ming Dynasty fell.
Third, during World War I, a British soldier spared a wounded German soldier, leading to the outbreak of World War II
At the end of a battle in World War I, the English soldier Henry Tandy spotted a wounded German soldier, as the Germans had been hastily evacuated under an Anglo-French attack, leaving the wounded German soldier limping out of the trench of his position, just as he was about to flee, he was spotted by Henry Tandy.
Although Henry Tandy had already aimed his gun at the German soldier, he saw that he was unarmed and injured, and his appearance was very pitiful, and his heart was weak, so he let him go.
But what he did not expect was that the German soldier he had released was named Hitler, the initiator of The Second World War, the Nazi dictatorship in Germany. After the outbreak of the Second World War, Henry Tandi blamed himself very much, and it was because of his soft heart that it led to the outbreak of the Second World War, which led to the destruction of the entire world and the homelessness of millions of people.
There are many more events of the "butterfly effect" in history, so I will not list them all, and similar events often occur in our lives, but we rarely notice them.