lpetrich

From Hedrick Smith's 1970's book on the Soviet Union or some similar book on that subject, there was something on a miniseries produced in the SU about the later years of WWII that depicted a spy that thwarted a would-be peace between Nazi Germany and the western allies (US, Britain, France).

The author claimed that there were some Russians who claimed that "that's the way it really happened", when this was essentially fiction. Despite Hitler's wanting Germany to go down in flames, some leading Nazi officials had considered making peace details with one side or the other, though they never went much further.

Also, in the 1970's movie about the attack on Pearl Harbor "Tora! Tora! Tora!", Japanese Admiral Yamamoto is represented as saying "I fear that we have awakened a sleeping giant." However, from sources closer to him, one learns that he was allegedly proud of the attack, and that he even composed a poem praising it. Perhaps something like

Planes attack in stealth
Bombs explode, ships sink in place
They were caught off-guard

I'm sure that there are many other Hollywood absurdities and atrocities that one could point to.

Going back a few millennia, it only gets worse.

One difficulty in evaluating reports of astronomical observations in ancient times is that some eclipses appear to be "literary eclipses", such as an eclipse that allegedly happened when Julius Caesar's army crossed the Rubicon. These would presumably have been written for literary effect.

And Greco-Roman historians were fond of inventing speeches for those they described, even getting their characters to respond to each other when they could not have done so. Something which even careful historians like Thucydides had done.

Looking back further, such "histories" as the Iliad and the Odyssey go even farther, featuring such things as divine intervention, bizarre monsters, communication with the dead, and successful sorcery.

Which suggests that the Bible is far from alone in containing fictionalized or even totally fictional "history".

Marduk

AFAIK there are SOME elements of truth here
A few Nazis did try to negotiate a peace, I believe it was Albert Spear who flew himself to England alone to try this. Then there were some German Generals who tried to kill Hitler, once with a bomb. others ignored his orders to burn Paris to the ground as they were retreating "Is Paris Burning?"
I believe as well that not all Japanese thought Pearl Harbor was a good idea, of couse once it was done there was no turning back. I'm pretty certain the 'sleeping giant' remark is an actual quote.

"Which suggests that the Bible is far from alone in containing fictionalized or even totally fictional "history"."

Perhaps, but did anyone in those days really care about such things as 'did this really happen' often they considered something that 'happened' in a spiritual realm of somekind just as good as the real thing. In fact 'Mythical' in those days had a different meaning than it does today. It reffered to things that happened in another 'realm' not something 'made up' that didn't happen at all. It was a way of conveying some truth or ideal.

Celsus

Rudolph Hess flew to England in 1941, while then deputy leader of the Nazi party. His "peace" mission was a personal attempt to get the British to counter Stalin. Count von Stauffenberg (sp?) attempted to assassinate Hitler in 1944 with a bomb in his bunker and was shot for his efforts. Rommel, as one of the sympathisers was forced to commit suicide, and several thousand others were executed. Many of the plotters were aristocratic and staunch Roman Catholics. Make what you will of that.


Joel