Was he a Horrible Person or a Freedom Fighter, or somewhere in between? Personally, I'd go with the third option: admittedly, some people in his government did commit some terrible crimes, I won't deny that, but I don't think he was a true HP, either. He did get Russia out of the terrible malaise that was Tsarist misrule & corruption, and for a little while things were looking up for the world's largest country....but then came Stalin, and the rest is history; perhaps if Trotsky or another less extreme personality had taken over.....well, I suppose we may never know for sure now. (But perhaps if the Tsars after Alexander II had been more willing to bring their country up to date with the rest of the West, there wouldn't have been the need for a revolution in the first place).
So, my verdict: Sadly not really a bonafide FF, due to the various unfortunate things that did occur, but not quite a total HP, either. I place him somewhere in the middle, roughly around where I'd put Napoleon, perhaps, though leaning notably more HP than Signeur Bonaparte.
Lenin stands for all that is wrong in the world, and cannot be defended. His "accomplishments" do not wipe the blood off his hands.
