希特勒如何造就了俄罗斯这个超级强国

 After suffering more than twenty million military and civilian¹ deaths in World War II Russia has little cause to thank Hitler.

在二战中遭受超过二千万军民死亡的俄罗斯没有任何理由感谢希特勒。

But with Wednesday June 22 marking the seventy-fifth anniversary ofOperation Barbarossa the Nazi² invasion of the Soviet³ unx it is time to recall one of history’s greatest ironies⁴. Adolf Hitler was obsessed⁵ with turning Russia into a vast German colony and the Russian people into slaves. Instead half of Germany was occupied by the Red Army its people subjects of the Russian empire. When four million Nazi soldiers crossed the Soviet border in the early hours of June 22 1941 they dreamed of seeing the spires⁶ of the Kremlin. Instead they unleashed⁷ a chain of consequences that still shape the world today.

但是在今年6月22的周三，即纳粹入侵苏联的巴巴罗萨行动75周年纪念日，是时候让我们重新回顾一下这个历史上最大的讽刺事件。阿道夫.希特勒沉迷于将俄罗斯变成德国最大的殖民地，以及奴隶俄罗斯人民。可笑的是最终一半德国领土被红军占领，人民臣服于俄罗斯帝国。当400万纳粹士兵于1941年6月22日穿过苏联边境时，他们幻想着看到克林姆宫的塔尖，事与愿违的是这次行动造成的一系列后果至今影响着世界。

To claim that Russia was not a great power before Hitler would be silly. Abundant in territory resources and population Russia has been a heavyweight since at least the eighteenth century a behemoth strong enough to destroy the army of Napoleon (who also thought Russia would be easy prey). Yet three-quarters of a century later it is hard to appreciate just how different the global balance of power was back then.

如果认为希特勒之前的俄罗斯不是强国，那么这种想法是愚蠢的。丰富的自然资源和人口使俄罗斯至少从18世纪开始就是一个大国，一个足以摧毁拿破仑军队的庞然大物（拿破仑当时也认为俄罗斯很容易被征服）。在75年后，我们很难想象那时的世界权力格局与当今有多么不同。

In the late 1930s the United States had an army smaller than Romania’s. Britain whose destroyers today can’t sail in warm water owned a quarter of the Earth’s surface and was reckoned to have the world’s most powerful navy. France now the butt⁸ of many “I surrender” jokes was considered to have the most powerful land army in Western Europe. Germany whose military todayappears barely functional⁹ had been terrifying its neighbors since 1870.

在1930年代末时，美国的军队规模小于罗马尼亚，现今驱逐舰都不能航行在温水海域的英国在当时占有全球四分之一领土，并且被认为拥有全球最强大的海军。如今经常被“我投降”拿来开涮的法国在当时的西欧拥有最强大的陆军。如今被认为不具有军事力量的德国，从1870年代开始就威胁其邻国、

And then there was Russia the enigmatic Communist colossus racked by Stalinist purges¹⁰ the giant with feet of clay that could barely subdue¹¹ tiny Finland in 1939–40. It wasn’t just Hitler and his generals who believed Russia would collapse¹² like a house of cards; even British and American experts did not expect Moscow to survive Hitler’s blitzkrieg. Yet in May 1945 it was Britain that was broke France devastated¹³ and Germans who watched Russian tanks clank through the rubble¹⁴ of Berlin. Like a boxer¹⁵ bloodied¹⁶ but still triumphant¹⁷ it was Russia that remained on its feet and became one of the world’s two superpowers for more than forty years.

在1930至1940年代时，神秘的社会主义国家俄罗斯正因斯大林式的清洗迫害而深陷泥潭中，甚至都不能征服弱小的芬兰。不仅是希特勒和他的将军们认为俄罗斯会像纸牌屋一样倒塌，甚至英国和美国专家也不认为莫斯科能挺过希特勒的闪电袭击。然而在1945年5月，英国和法国一样变得满目疮痍，德国人亲眼目睹俄罗斯坦克开过柏林废墟。就像鲜血淋漓依然依然获得胜利的拳击手一样，俄罗斯最终站了起来，并在接下来超过五十年的时间里成为世界两个超级大国之一。

What would Russia look like today if World War II had never happened? What if Hitler had remained a failed painter in Vienna or had been blown up by an assassin’s bomb in a Munich beer hall?

如果二战没有发生，如果希特勒依然是维也纳一个失败的画家或者在慕尼黑的啤酒大厅中炸弹暗杀中身亡，今天的俄罗斯会是什么样？

1 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

2 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

3 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

4 ironies   

n.反语( irony的名词复数 )；冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事；嘲弄

参考例句：

• It was one of life's little ironies. 那是生活中的一个小小的嘲弄。
• History has many ironies. 历史有许多具有讽刺意味的事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

6 spires   

n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Her masts leveled with the spires of churches. 船的桅杆和教堂的塔尖一样高。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• White church spires lift above green valleys. 教堂的白色尖顶耸立在绿色山谷中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。

9 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

10 purges   

清除异己( purge的名词复数 )； 整肃（行动）； 清洗； 泻药

参考例句：

• Mandelshtam perished in the purges of the 1930s, Akhmatova remained silent. 曼杰利什坦姆在30年代的清洗中死去，阿赫玛托娃也销声匿迹。
• He purges his subconscious and meditates only on God. 他净化他的潜意识且只思念上帝。

11 subdue   

vt.制服，使顺从，征服；抑制，克制

参考例句：

• She tried to subdue her anger.她尽力压制自己的怒火。
• He forced himself to subdue and overcome his fears.他强迫自己克制并战胜恐惧心理。

12 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

13 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

14 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

15 boxer   

n.制箱者，拳击手

参考例句：

• The boxer gave his opponent a punch on the nose.这个拳击手朝他对手的鼻子上猛击一拳。
• He moved lightly on his toes like a boxer.他像拳击手一样踮着脚轻盈移动。

16 bloodied   

v.血污的( bloody的过去式和过去分词 )；流血的；屠杀的；残忍的

参考例句：

• his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子
• His pants leg was torn and bloodied when he fell. 他跌交时裤腿破了，还染上了血。 来自辞典例句

17 triumphant   

adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的

参考例句：

• The army made a triumphant entry into the enemy's capital.部队胜利地进入了敌方首都。
• There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。