古德明《征服英语》之英语军事故事，古德明，香港英语教育作家，他开了一个《征服英语专栏》，在专栏中专门用英语写了世界近代史上的军事小故事，用英语讲述历史中那些惊心动魄的战争。
糕 饼 战 争
highly creative justifications for war have been made throughout history. but is invading a country on account of damage to a pastry shop really justifiable?
in the early days of the mexican republic, social disorder was the norm. in 1838, a french pastry cook in mexico claimed his shop had been looted by mexican solders, and when his request for compensation was refused by the mexican government, he appealed to the king of france for help.
coming to its citizen's aid, france demanded 600,000 pesos in damages. this amount was extremely high considering that an average workman's daily pay was about one peso. the upshot of it all was that the french sent a fleet to mexico. the mexicans were soundly defeated and had to pay the 600,000 pesos. the war is known as the pastry war.
