Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130-4899;
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Aug 20;116(34):16678-16686. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1907992116. Epub 2019 Aug 12.
We assessed the knowledge of 1,338 people from 11 countries (8 former Allied and 3 former Axis) about World War II. When asked what percentage their country contributed to the war effort, across Allied countries, estimates totaled 309%, and Axis nations' estimates came to 140%. People in 4 nations claimed more than 50% responsibility for their country (Germany, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States). The overclaiming of responsibility reflected in these percentages was moderated when subjects were asked to consider the contributions of other countries; however, Russians continued to claim great responsibility, the only country that remained well over 50% in its claim of responsibility for the Allied victory. If deaths in the war are considered a proxy of a nation's contributions, the Soviet Union did carry much of the burden. This study points to sharp differences in national memory even across nations who fought on the same side in the war. Differing national perspectives shape diverse memories of the same complex event.
我们评估了来自 11 个国家（8 个前盟国和 3 个前轴心国）的 1338 人的知识，这些人了解二战。当被问及他们的国家对战争的贡献百分比时，盟国的估计总计为 309%，轴心国的估计为 140%。4 个国家的人声称自己的国家负有超过 50%的责任（德国、俄罗斯、英国和美国）。当被要求考虑其他国家的贡献时，这些百分比所反映的过度责任得到了缓和；然而，俄罗斯人继续声称自己负有巨大的责任，这是唯一一个在声称对盟国胜利负有责任方面仍超过 50%的国家。如果将战争中的死亡人数视为一个国家贡献的代理，那么苏联确实承担了大部分负担。这项研究表明，即使是在战争中站在同一阵营的国家，它们之间也存在着明显的民族记忆差异。不同的国家观点塑造了对同一复杂事件的不同记忆。
