External criticism is the practice of verifying evidences of authenticity by examining it’s physical characteristics, consistency with the historical character of the time when it was supposedly produced, and the historical sources materials. “Do @n external criticism of the topic below.”
Corroboration is also what revealed the fakeness of Ferdinand Marcos’ war medals. As early as 1945, Marcos already claimed that he received prestigious awards from the United States government to recognize his heroism in Bataan during the Second World War. These medals were the Distinguished Service Cross that is the second-highest military decoration for any member of the U.S. Army; the Silver Star, which is the third-highest decoration; and the Order of the Purple Heart, given to any member of the U.S. Armed Forces wounded in battle. In 2016, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines concluded that these awards were not real, and Marcos’ claimed war exploits that won him the medals were fake. For example, Marcos’ biographies claimed that the Distinguished Service Cross was bestowed to Marcos because he single-handedly delayed the Fall of Bataan for three months. Renowned World War II historian Dr. Ricardo T. Jose found this implausible, saying that if such claims were valid, Marcos would have received the highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, and not the second.
But aside from this apparent implausibility, Jose also debunked Marcos claim that it was Gen. Douglas MacArthur himself who pinned this medal to him in 1945. Jose scoured the archives of MacArthur Memorial in Virginia and found no single mention of MacArthur pinning Marcos the Distinguished Service Cross.
Aside from this, the alleged guerrilla unit led by Marcos “Ang Mga Maharlika” was never recognized by the U.S. government as shown in its military record. The U.S. Armed Forces denied Marcos’ appeal for the recognition of his unit because of the “limited military values of this duty.” If Marcos’ guerrilla unit was perceived as insignificant by the U.S. Army, how could Marcos be given prestigious military decorations? All of these findings were found by rigorous examination of relevant primary sources, and multiple sources did not corroborate Marcos’ biographies.
These two cases demonstrate the importance of internal and external criticism of primary sources. Without the rigor of historical methodology, historians and students of history would never get close to unraveling true historical knowledge.