He was one of the most influential figures of the 20th century,
他是20世纪最具有影响力的人物之一，
forever changing the course of one of the world's largest countries.
永远改变了世界上最大的国家之一的历史进程。
But was he a hero who toppled an oppressive tyranny or a villain who replaced it with another?
但是，他究竟是一个打倒暴政的英雄，还是另一个暴君呢？
It's time to put Lenin on the stand in History vs. Lenin.
在“历史和列宁”，让我们把列宁放到审判席上。
'Order, order, hmm. Now, wasn't it your fault that the band broke up?'
“肃静，肃静。戏团解散不是你的过错吗？”
'Your honor, this is Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov,
“审判长，这是弗拉基米尔·伊里奇·乌里扬诺夫，
AKA Lenin, the rabblerouser who helped overthrow the Russian tsar Nicholas II in 1917
也就是混乱分子列宁。他在1917年推翻了俄沙皇尼古拉斯二世，
and founded the Soviet Union, one of the worst dictatorships of the 20th century.'
并建立了20世纪最独裁的政权：苏联。”
'Ohh.' 'The tsar was a bloody tyrant under whom the masses toiled in slavery.'
“哦。”“沙皇是一个残忍的暴君。在他统治下，人民百姓像奴隶一样。”
'This is rubbish. Serfdom had already been abolished in 1861.'
“胡说八道。农奴制在1861年就已经被废除了。”
'And replaced by something worse.
“然后被换成更差的制度。
The factory bosses treated the people far worse than their former feudal landlords.
工厂老板对待老百姓比封建时期的地主还要差多了。
And unlike the landlords, they were always there.
不像地主们，工厂老板每时每刻都在。
Russian workers toiled for eleven hours a day and were the lowest paid in all of Europe.'
俄罗斯的工人们每天工作11个小时，而工资却是整个欧洲最低的。”
'But Tsar Nicholas made laws to protect the workers.'
“但是，尼古拉斯沙皇颁布了保护工人的法律。”
'He reluctantly did the bare minimum to avert revolution, and even there, he failed.
“他只不过是为了防止革命爆发而勉强做的。就在那一点上，他也失败了。
Remember what happened in 1905 after his troops fired on peaceful petitioners?'
记得1905年沙皇的部队对和平请愿者开火以后发生了什么吗？”
'Yes, and the tsar ended the rebellion by introducing a constitution and an elected parliament, the Duma.'
“当然。在那之后沙皇通过颁布宪法和建立俄议会杜马，从而结束了那场叛乱。”
'While retaining absolute power and dissolving them whenever he wanted.'
“但同时，他依然拥有着绝对权力，并时不时地把杜马解散了。”
'Perhaps there would've been more reforms in due time if radicals, like Lenin, weren't always stirring up trouble.'
“如果像列宁一样的极端主义者不整天制造混乱，随着时间的推移，俄罗斯或许会有更多的改革。”
'Your Honor, Lenin had seen his older brother Aleksandr executed by the previous tsar for revolutionary activity,
“审判长，列宁亲眼目睹了他哥哥亚历山大因为从事革命运动被前一任沙皇处决了，
and even after the reforms, Nicholas continued the same mass repression and executions,
在改革之后，尼古拉斯沙皇照样进行大规模的压迫和处决，
as well as the unpopular involvement in World War I, that cost Russia so many lives and resources.'
并且不顾人民反对继续参与第一次世界大战，虽然一战给俄罗斯造成了巨大的生命和财产损失。”
'Hm, this tsar doesn't sound like such a capital fellow.'
“这沙皇听起来不像是什么好人。”
'Your Honor, maybe Nicholas II did doom himself with bad decisions, but Lenin deserves no credit for this.
“审判长，也许尼古拉斯二世的确因为错误决定而失去民心，但是列宁和这毫无关系。
When the February 1917 uprisings finally forced the tsar to abdicate, Lenin was still exiled in Switzerland.'
当1917年二月革命让沙皇被迫退位时，列宁还在瑞士流亡。”
'Hm, so who came to power?'
“那么，谁上台了呢？”
'The Duma formed a provisional government, led by Alexander Kerensky, an incompetent bourgeois failure.
“俄杜马建立了由亚历山大·克伦斯基为首的临时政府。
He even launched another failed offensive in the war,
他是一个无能的资产阶级败类。
where Russia had already lost so much, instead of ending it like the people wanted.'
虽然俄罗斯在一战中已经付出了巨大的牺牲，他还是不顾人民期望战争结束的意愿。”
'It was a constitutional social democratic government, the most progressive of its time.
“他的政府是一个宪政的社会民主主义政府，是当时最先进的。
And it could have succeeded eventually
卡伦斯基政府是可以最终成功的，
if Lenin hadn't returned in April, sent by the Germans to undermine the Russian war effort and instigate riots.'
如果列宁不是因为德国人计谋削弱俄国的战斗力并制造内乱而在那年四月被送回国的话。”
'Such slander! The July Days were a spontaneous and justified reaction against the government's failures.
“太胡说八道了！七月运动是一个针对政府的无能而自然产生并且合情合理的反应。

And Kerensky showed his true colors when he blamed Lenin and arrested and outlawed his Bolshevik party,
克伦斯基露出了他的真面目，当时他加罪于列宁，而且宣布列宁的布尔什维克党非法并逮捕其成员，
forcing him to flee into exile again. Some democracy!
迫使列宁再度流亡于海外。这算什么民主！
It's a good thing the government collapsed under their own incompetence and greed
好在临时政府因为自身的无能和贪婪而崩溃了，
when they tried to stage a military coup then had to ask the Bolsheviks for help when it backfired.
当他们尝试军事政变时，他们不得不需要布尔什维克党的援助，结果落入后者的陷阱。
After that, all Lenin had to do was return in October and take charge.
在那之后，列宁在十月份回国并夺取政治权力。
The government was peacefully overthrown overnight.'
政府在一夜之间就被和平地推翻了。”
'But what the Bolsheviks did after gaining power wasn't very peaceful.
“但是布尔什维克党在夺权之后做的事并不那么和平。
How many people did they execute without trial?
有多少人没有经过审判就被处决了？
And was it really necessary to murder the tsar's entire family, even the children?'
而且真有必要把沙皇的全家连小孩都杀光吗？”
'Russia was being attacked by foreign imperialists, trying to restore the tsar.
“俄罗斯那时正在和想要恢复沙皇统治的外国帝国主义打仗。
Any royal heir that was rescued would be recognized as ruler by foreign governments.
任何一个被解救的皇族继承人都会被外国政府视为俄国真正的统治者。
It would've been the end of everything the people had fought so hard to achieve.
人民百姓花了艰辛万苦所得来的成果会被付诸一炬。
Besides, Lenin may not have given the order.'
况且，列宁可能从没有下那处决令。”
'But it was not only imperialists that the Bolsheviks killed.
“但是布尔什维克党所杀的并不止是帝国主义势力。
What about the purges and executions of other socialist and anarchist parties, their old allies?
你怎么解释他们处死包括社会主义党和无政府主义党的前政治盟友呢？
What about the Tambov Rebellion, where peasants, resisting grain confiscation, were killed with poison gas?
还有，你要怎么解释在坦波夫叛乱期间农民们因抵抗政府没收粮食而被毒气毒死？
Or sending the army to crush the workers in Kronstadt, who were demanding democratic self-management?
又怎么解释派军队到客琅施塔得岛去镇压渴望民主自治的工人们？
Was this still fighting for the people?'
这些都算是为了人民的利益吗？”
'Yes! The measures were difficult, but it was a difficult time.
“的确，这些都是极端的手段。但是那是个十分困难的年代。
The new government needed to secure itself while being attacked from all sides,
新政府必须要在被十面围攻的情况下保护自己。
so that the socialist order could be established.'
只有这样，社会主义制度才能被建立。”
'And what good came of this socialist order?
“这个社会主义制度到底带来了多少好处呢？
Even after the civil war was won, there were famines, repression and millions executed or sent to die in camps,
内战胜利之后，闹饥荒，搞压迫，上百万人被枪毙或被送去做苦力，
while Lenin's successor Stalin established a cult of personality and absolute power.'
同时，列宁的接班人斯大林建立了个人崇拜和极权统治。”
'That wasn't the plan. Lenin never cared for personal gains,
“那不是预料当中的事。列宁从不考虑他个人的利益。
even his enemies admitted that he fully believed in his cause,
就连他的敌人都承认列宁百分之百投入到他的革命事业，
living modestly and working tirelessly from his student days until his too early death.
从他学生年代到他英年早逝，列宁一直朴素地生活着并勤奋地工作着。
He saw how power-hungry Stalin was and tried to warn the party, but it was too late.'
他认识到斯大林对权力的饥饿，所以他想警告党内人士，但那时已经太晚了。”
'And the decades of totalitarianism that followed after?'
“那之后的几十年极权统治呢？”
'You could call it that, but it was Lenin's efforts that changed Russia in a few decades
“你可以那么讲，但是是列宁的所作所为在几十年之内把俄罗斯
from a backward and undeveloped monarchy full of illiterate peasants to a modern, industrial superpower,
从一个都是不识字的农民的极端落后王国，转变成了一个现代化工业强国，
with one of the world's best educated populations, unprecedented opportunities for women,
其中有世界上教育程度最高的人口，有给予女性的新权力和机会，
and some of the most important scientific advancements of the century.
还包括了20世纪最重要的一些科学进展。
Life may not have been luxurious,
人民生活虽然不富裕，
but nearly everyone had a roof over their head and food on their plate, which few countries have achieved.'
但几乎每个人的衣食住行都得到了保障。这在当时是非常了不起的。”
'But these advances could still have happened, even without Lenin and the repressive regime he established.'
“但是就算没有列宁和他建立的独裁政权，社会也是会照样前进的。”
'Yes, and I could've been a famous rock and roll singer. But how would I have sounded?'
“是呀，我说不定可以当一个出名的摇滚乐歌星。不过不知道我会唱得怎么样？”
We can never be sure how things could've unfolded if different people were in power or different decisions were made,
我们不可能知道假如不同的人掌权，或那些人做了不同的决定，历史会如何改变。
but to avoid the mistakes of the past, we must always be willing to put historical figures on trial.
但如果我们不想再犯过去的错误，我们必须愿意审视历史人物的功绩与过错。