Lies have been around since the beginnings of human history and none of us are immune to them, despite our best efforts. They can take all shapes and sizes, from minor white lies all the way to grand, history-altering falsehoods and all that lies in between. Everyone has been guilty of at least one of them, some more than others. In this article, we’ll look at the biggest lies of all, the ones that rocked our collective past and changed the way we view the world today.
What Are Lies?
Before we start listing the biggest lies that went down in history, let us first define lies in general. A lie is a falsehood, a deliberately untrue statement made to deceive or mislead, typically with the intent of personal gain. Almost everyone has lied at some point in their life, but these lies vary in severity and consequences. Some remain confined to the individual’s personal sphere and do not have any wider repercussions, whereas other lies, like the ones we’ll talk about further down, can alter history and be felt for generations to come.
The Biggest Lies That Changed History
Throughout history, some lies have had implications so huge that they forever changed how we view the world. Here are some of the biggest lies of all.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
In 1962, the world was brought to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. During this time, the United States claimed that the USSR was responsible for placing nuclear missiles in Cuba, but it was later found out that the missiles had been there since 1958, and that they were secretly removed in 1962. In fact, the US had been fully aware of the situation since 1959 and had done nothing about it. The US had lied to the public to gain support for their position and to put pressure on the USSR.
The Iraqi WMDs
In 2002, the US government used the threat of Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction as a pretext for entering the country. After the invasion in 2003, it was revealed that there were no WMDs at all and that the US government had lied in order to gain support from the rest of the world and to justify their actions.
The Gulf of Tonkin False Flag
In 1964, the US government used a false flag to launch the Vietnam War. It was claimed that North Vietnamese forces had attacked the American destroyer USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin. This excuse was used by the US to gain support from the public so that they could intervene in Vietnam. Decades later, it was found that there had been no such attack from North Vietnam and that the US government had lied to the public.
The Spanish Flu
The Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919 was one of the deadliest pandemics of modern times. It is estimated that up to 50 million people died due to the virus. At the time, the Spanish government claimed that the virus had originated in Germany in an effort to evade blame and detract attention away from their involvement in World War I. However, it was later found out that the virus had in fact originated in Spain, and the government had lied to the public in order to protect itself.
The Nazi Gas Chambers
In WWII, the Holocaust was one of the most abhorrent acts in recent history, with an estimated 6 million Jews being murdered in Nazi death camps. During the Nuremberg Trials, one of the main defenses of the Nazi party was that no such gas chambers ever existed. It was only in the 1990s that further evidence was uncovered, proving beyond doubt that the Nazis had lied in order to conceal their atrocities and evade justice.
From false flags and manipulated evidence to false accusations and false promises, lies have been used for centuries by those in power to deceive us and gain control. The biggest lies that went down in history serve as a reminder of this truth and of the importance of understanding and questioning what is presented to us as absolute truth. They teach us to step away from the Pollyanna-ish facade of the world and to look beneath the surface of things so we can learn to be better at spotting and seeing through lies than our ancestors were.
