The truth about history is that history is full of lies, the history you were told to read and study anyway.
Governments, they lie too, almost without exception, all through history, and it's a global phenomenon.
All these lies serve one common purpose: to benefit, protect and provide cover-up for the welathy and powerful, with the power and wealth often aquired unjustly and against the interest of the masses.
This holds true for the past, the present and most likely the future too.
Lesson: Always question history and of course, all governments.
Then there's the even more painful truth: the public, thinking they're smart, has always been ignorant and thus vulnerable to propoganda and evil schemes, so they become easy prey, get exploited, used and abused, by the rich-powerful-government complex.