被德國誤解的“統(tǒng)一總理”科爾

With hindsight I should have seen it coming. My question to Helmut Kohl was pretty straightforward: how healthy was it for a democracy to have one party with one leader seemingly hell-bent on staying in power forever? The location was a stuffy barn in the grounds of a dreamy priory in Bavaria where the grandees of Germany’s ruling centre-right parties had gathered to agree an electoral pact for an unprecedented fifth term in office. I had recently broken my collarbone, so my arm was in a sling. And it was this that gave the German chancellor the ammunition for a gruff, quick-witted response: “Looking at you I’d say that you’re the one with the health issues round here.” Cue laughter and one red-faced young correspondent.

事后看來，我本該預(yù)見到這種結(jié)果的。我提給赫爾穆特•科爾(Helmut Kohl)的問題相當(dāng)直接：一個政黨的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人似乎執(zhí)意永遠掌權(quán)，對于一個民主國家而言是否健康?采訪地點是在巴伐利亞州一個夢幻般的修道院庭院上一個裝滿糧食的谷倉，德國執(zhí)政的中右翼政黨的重要人物齊聚在這里，就史無前例的第五任任期的選舉協(xié)議達成一致。我當(dāng)時弄傷了鎖骨，因此我的胳膊跨在胸前。這給這位德國總理做出不客氣但睿智的回應(yīng)提供了口實：“看著你，我想說，你才是那個有健康問題的人。”此言引發(fā)眾人大笑，還有一個臉紅的年輕記者。

Here was a consummate political operator at the top of his game and well-used to crushing much bigger obstacles in his path. At that time — the summer of 1997 — Kohl had been in office for almost 15 years and was the pre-eminent force in European politics — the man who, having delivered German unification, went on to be the driving force of continental integration.

他是一個爐火純青的政治操盤手，那時處于登峰造極的境界，習(xí)慣于粉碎在他面前的道路上大得多的障礙。當(dāng)時(1997年夏季)，科爾已執(zhí)政近15年，是歐洲政界一位首屈一指的人物，這位帶來德國統(tǒng)一的人，繼續(xù)推動著歐洲一體化。

Yet a year later Kohl and his Christian Democrats were voted out of office. The result was a stinging rebuke for Kohl, who died last week. But by then he had already long secured his place in the history books as the “unification chancellor”.

然而，一年后，科爾及其領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的基民盟(CDU)下臺。這個結(jié)果對科爾是一種無情的批評;他在上周去世。但當(dāng)時，他早就確保了自己在史冊上的“統(tǒng)一總理”地位。

It seems strange to recall now, but before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 Kohl was actually in a tight spot. The German press was brimming with talk of a party coup that would see the provincial bumpkin, noted for his appetite for generous helpings of Saumagen (pig stomach) , replaced by any number of more urbane rivals whose names no one now remembers. Many Germans saw Kohl as a bit of an embarrassment.

現(xiàn)在回憶起來有點奇怪，但在1989年11月柏林墻倒塌之前，科爾實際上正處于困境。德國媒體充斥著黨派政變的傳言，稱科爾這個鄉(xiāng)巴佬(以愛吃德式灌豬肚腸大餐聞名)將被更像城里人的競爭對手取代(現(xiàn)在沒有人記得這些人的姓名)。很多德國人當(dāng)時認為科爾讓他們難為情。

The fact that he had a PhD in history and the sharp elbows of a politician who had fought his way up from the grassroots may have been lost along the way. He was the butt of jokes; his imposing physical presence earned him the nickname Birne — pear. His government’s policies were sound, if uninspiring. The idea that such a figure would emerge as the driving force of unification seemed implausible to say the least.

科爾擁有歷史學(xué)博士學(xué)位，他是一位精明的政治人物，從最底層一路打拼上來，這些可能都漸漸被人拋在腦后。他成為了笑柄;他的碩大體型使他得到了“梨子”的綽號。他領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的政府的政策是穩(wěn)健的，即便不能振奮人心。有關(guān)他將成為統(tǒng)一推動力的想法，說的客氣一點似乎是令人難以置信的。

How wrong we were. Whether criss-crossing East Germany — where rallies would end with him leading the crowd in singing the national anthem, the words of which many of those present did not know — or cajoling the international powers to endorse unification, Kohl was an ever-present force.

那時我們錯得多么離譜。無論是在東德奔走動員——那里的集會總是以他帶領(lǐng)人群唱國歌結(jié)束，而在場的許多人不知道歌詞——還是說服各大國支持統(tǒng)一，科爾都是一股無時不在的力量。

Much of what we would now called the metropolitan liberal elite was horrified at the speed and manner of the whole affair. The sudden eruption of patriotic feeling in a country that until then had felt uneasy about its identity was deeply unsettling. But as they wrung their hands, Kohl ploughed on. It all culminated in a slightly chaotic ceremony of unification in front of the Reichstag in October 1990.

我們現(xiàn)在會稱為大都會自由主義精英的人，當(dāng)時大多對整件事的進展速度和方式感到恐懼。在一個直到不久前還對自己的身份認同感到不安的國家，突然爆發(fā)的愛國情感令人深感不安。但在這些精英焦慮的背景下，科爾堅定推進。1990年10月在國會大廈前一場略顯混亂的統(tǒng)一儀式，為這一切畫上了句號。

In less than 11 months after the breaching of the Berlin Wall the division of Germany and Europe had been overcome, the second world war formally brought to an end.

在柏林墻倒塌后不到11個月，德國乃至歐洲的分裂就被彌合，第二次世界大戰(zhàn)正式宣告終結(jié)。

Along the way Kohl displayed a disregard for economics that was remarkable, refreshing and, arguably, right. There was a small window in which to achieve unification and he took it, putting politics ahead of the concerns of the hand-wringing chart merchants. Yes, the result was costly. But from a national perspective it was worth every pfennig.

在整個過程中，科爾展現(xiàn)出一種對經(jīng)濟面的無視——非同凡響、別具一格的，也可以說是正確的。實現(xiàn)統(tǒng)一只有一線機會，而他抓住了這個機會，將政治置于那些焦慮不安地看著圖表的人的擔(dān)憂之上。沒錯，結(jié)果代價高昂。但從國家的視角看，這錢花得值。

Germany today is quite different to the country that Kohl found when he became chancellor in 1982. It is more liberal and outgoing, a world away from the politically restrained, self-doubting West Germany of the early 1980s. But it is also one that he made possible.

今天的德國與1982年科爾出任總理時的德國截然不同。今天的德國更加自由派和外向，與上世紀80年代初政治氣氛壓抑、自我懷疑的西德有著天壤之別。但今天的格局也是科爾幫助塑造的。

It is poignant that his death came on the eve of the start of negotiations between the UK and its EU partners over Brexit — a direct repudiation of the greater integration of Europe that Kohl championed. Yet at the same time Brexit, combined with the election of Emmanuel Macron, has spurred speculation of a revived Franco-German motor at the heart of Europe. The French president is said to be keen to emulate his predecessor François Mitterrand. It remains to be seen whether Angela Merkel, Kohl’s successor, is quite as enthusiastic.

令人傷懷的是，科爾離世之時，正是英國和其歐盟伙伴即將就英國退歐展開談判前夕——而英國退歐是對科爾支持的歐洲一體化的直接否定。然而，在英國退歐的同時，埃馬紐埃爾•馬克龍(Emmanuel Macron)當(dāng)選法國總統(tǒng)，促使人們猜測法德兩國將再次成為歐洲的核心驅(qū)動力。據(jù)稱馬克龍熱切希望效仿前任弗朗索瓦•密特朗(François Mitterrand)。科爾的后繼者安格拉•默克爾(Angela Merkel)是否也懷著同樣的熱情，仍有待觀察。