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welcome to watch mojo
and today we're counting down our picks
for the top 10 real-life plot twists
that changed history forever
watts invention would transform almost
every aspect of human
life and drive the world into the modern
age
or conceded and bush was awarded the
electoral votes and declared president
the news hit europe like a bombshell
the devil his enemies said has been
unchained
for this list we're going over the plot
twists and other unexpected events that
had a big impact on history
if we shockingly left one off our list
be sure to surprise us in the comments
below
number 10 genghis khan gets snubbed
juarez mia was an empire covering much
of modern-day afghanistan and iran
in the early 11th century they were
contacted by genghis khan
who sought to create a trade agreement
and possible alliance
he looked west to develop trading links
he sent ambassadors to persia but then
the disrespect began
a 500-person caravan that arrived from
the khan was captured and killed with a
sultan's approval
and further ambassadors that arrived to
free them were also executed the sultan
had fundamentally misjudged genghis
khan's character
in response genghis khan broke off his
attacks on china
and spent three years decimating the
horesmian empire
killing close to 2 million people or
nearly a quarter of their population
the conquest led to the empire's
downfall and was an important stepping
stone for later mongol campaigns to the
west
the extent of the bloodshed in persia
was without precedent
number nine japan wins the
russo-japanese war
in the early 20th century both japan and
russia had designs on manchuria and
korea
despite the island nation being much
smaller and seeking to negotiate early
on
japan managed to get the better of
russia in the ensuing year and a
half-long conflict
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given russia's status as a great power
at the time the rest of the big name
nations were surprised japan achieved
victory
its triumph not only opened up its
further conquests on mainland asia that
would play a large part in its
imperialism for the next half century
but russia's defeat also sowed the seeds
for the russian revolution in 1905
and the rise of the soviet union
number eight the industrial revolution's
disastrous consequences
the industrial revolution changed
everything britain needed a new source
of fuel
the development of new manufacturing
processes and power sources
essentially created the modern world as
we know it today with huge changes in
everything from technology to social
norms
however there have also been plenty of
unforeseen consequences to all the
innovations
invention will transform almost every
aspect of human life
and drive the world into the modern age
easily the most harmful has been the
increase in pollution worldwide
which has had a drastic effect on the
environment and while the standard of
living has risen in some parts of the
world
in others the industrial revolution has
only widened the gap between the rich
and the poor
within 25 years the majority of british
people lived in cities
number seven a slip of the tongue
brought down the wall
early this wall is built to be permanent
intimidating and deadly creating a
physical barrier between east and west
berlin as well as the east and west
areas of europe
was an idea that was probably doomed
from the start but
the moment the berlin wall's downfall
was secured was
pretty unexpected in 1989 the east
german press spokesperson gunter
shapovsky was set to announce an easing
of travel restrictions between east and
west
but had not been informed of the
specifics before delivering the message
for the first time east german citizens
can travel abroad freely
a journalist asks him when he answers at
once
although the plan was to implement them
the following day shipovsky
ignorant of this told the press it went
into effect immediately
prompting a flood of people to cross
which led to the guards being
overwhelmed
and the public ultimately dismantling
the wall
if anyone had told me i'd see this damn
wall come down in my lifetime i'd have
said they were crazy
number six terms of peace set the stage
for more
wars the treaty of versailles was
supposed to ensure that the first world
war really was the war to end
all wars instead however it sowed the
seeds for more to follow
the terms required that germany
surrender territory restrict its
military forces
and pay costly reparations for the
destruction the war had wrought
this fostered german resentment which
hitler used to take control of the
country and lead it into another
much larger war the worst in human
history
in turn the fallout from world war ii
would lead to the cold war
as well as conflicts in the middle east
and asia pretty ironic that a peace
treaty would result in so much violence
struggling in 1919 with the very same
problems
we still can't resolve today number five
gore loses
bush wins the 2000 u.s presidential
election was one of the most contentious
and momentous in the nation's modern
history
when the polls finally closed in florida
the results were just too close to call
which automatically triggered a recount
by machine and though we all know that
george w bush ultimately went on to be
president al gore was declared the
winner of the all-important florida by
multiple major networks early in the
evening based on exit poll data or
conceded
and bush was awarded the electoral votes
and declared president
and ultimately the election boiled down
to the state of florida
controversy swirled around rejected
ballots and recounts but in the end
it took a supreme court decision to
settle the controversy despite the fact
that gore had secured more of the
popular vote than bush
w had won florida and therefore the
presidency
and this decision likely changed the
course of american history
saddam hussein and his sons must leave
iraq within 48 hours
number four prussia saved by fanboy
while the seven years war beginning in
1756
is primarily remembered for being a
conflict between britain and france
many european countries took sides and
prussia aided britain while also seeking
to expand its own territory
things were looking bleak for the
kingdom until russia's zarina elizabeth
died
her nephew german-born peter iii was a
great admirer of precious frederick ii
and russia pulled out of the war and
signed a peace treaty with them
saving his idol and the country from
certain ruin without this act
prussia probably would never have
survived long enough to unify germany
peter's actions also caused him to be
deposed by his wife catherine
later called catherine the great who
ushered in a golden age for russia
number three napoleon's return as great
a military commander as he was
napoleon still lost big time in russia
this allowed a coalition of allies to
drive him to defeat
forcing his abdication and leading to
his exile to the island of elba in the
mediterranean in 1814.
still a sovereign this would be his new
palace
where he was expected to spend the rest
of his life however
less than a year later the former
emperor escaped his imprisonment
and marched back to paris with few men
to start with
astonishingly he managed to win every
french army sent against him
growing his forces and retaking his
throne with little bloodshed
the news hit europe like a bombshell
the devil his enemies said has been
unchained
of course he was defeated again a mere
three months or so later but how often
does the defeated tyrant come back
instead they sent him back into exile
this time they took no chances that he
would return
number two arabs defeat byzantines and
persians
the susanid empire of persia and the
byzantine empire
were engaged in a 30-year war in the
early 7th century
one of many conflicts between the two
rivals however
no one at the time could have predicted
that both impressive empires would be
conquered by an arabian army sweeping up
from the south
sure three decades of war had depleted
both empires but they were still
major powerhouses and the arab forces
were the underdogs
yet they succeeded through superior
tactics and the conversion of their foes
to their new religion
islam the conquest essentially ended the
last of the roman empire
and persian culture had a heavy
influence on islam going forward before
we get to our top pick
here are some honorable mentions the
grand princess of kiev's brutal revenge
olga's enemies expected a meek widow but
she defeated them all
spanish double agent juan pujol garcia
pretended to be a nazi sympathizer but
misled them to facilitate d-day
codenamed garbo a spaniard working for
mi5
but who german intelligence officers
believed was working for them
harvard's psychological experiments
created the una-bomber
ted kaczynski had his beliefs broken
down and he later built explosive new
ones
at harvard kaczynski was one of 22
student volunteers
picked to take part in a personality
study of gifted undergraduates
assassin's second attempt helped launch
world war one
franz ferdinand's driver took a wrong
turn and assassins finished the job
in all fairness to leopold he didn't
know the exact route
no map no gps he made a mistake and
turned onto the wrong street
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on notifications number one
hitler attacks russia despite both adolf
hitler of nazi germany and joseph stalin
of the soviet union signing a
non-aggression pact
the former launched an unprecedented
assault on russia a few years later he
was instigating a mental duel with
stalin
which over the next two years would
decide the destiny of the second world
war
code-named operation barbarossa hitler
committed millions of troops to the
invasion
more than any other force in history
hitler had finally made the momentous
decision
a war on two fronts the very thing he'd
sought to avoid when he first made his
pact with stalin
the invasion was devastating for both
attackers and defenders
with millions killed in both combat and
in murders by the nazis
ultimately though opening up the eastern
front proved very costly for hitler as
it brought the russians into war against
him
and divided his attentions massively
contributing to the eventual loss of the
war for germany
had he held off who knows how the war
would have turned out
his decision to attack russia signed the
death warrant of his own dreams of
empire
and of european imperialism in general
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