The following were three reasons for the outbreaks of revolutions in Eastern Europe in 1989:

(i)Strong sense of nationalism in Eastern European countries
(ii)Sinatra Doctrine
(iii)Glasnost

Which contributed most to the outbreak of revolutions? Explain your answer. [13]


Introduction:
The 1989 Revolutions in Eastern Europe brought the Cold War to an end. This essay will be an attempt to understand the causes behind the outbreak of these revolutions.

Main Body:
The introduction of Glasnost meant that there was a greater freedom of expression in the USSR. These meant that the Eastern European countries could introduce such changes likewise. Therefore, people in Eastern Europe began to organise protests to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with their respective communist governments. Previously, such protests would not have been allowed. With Glasnost, these open expressions of discontent stirred up more anti-government feelings, which contributed to the overthrow of the communist governments eventually.

Besides Glasnost, Gorbachev also introduced the so-called Sinatra Doctrine whereby he was willing to allow the Eastern European governments to develop their countries without Soviet interference. This meant that Soviet Union would not be using the Soviet Army to support the communist governments in Eastern Europe. Such assurance gave the people hope that Soviet intervention that occurred during the 1956 Hungarian Uprising and 1968 Czechoslovakian Crisis would not be repeated. As such, the people began to demand for reforms. The communist governments found themselves severely weakened by the absence of Soviet support and thus, could not stop the people from ousting them from authority.

Finally, the rising nationalist feelings of the Eastern European countries gave the people the urge to be independent of Soviet control. Decades of Soviet control had resulted in much frustration among the people of Eastern Europe, especially with the communist systems that were imposed on them. Given the choice, many people in Eastern Europe would want to break free from Soviet control and set up democratic, capitalist countries, where they were more likely to be freer and more prosperous, just like the Western European countries. Such desires were most evident in East Germany, where the gap between the two Germanies in terms of development was huge. Thus, when the opportunity arose in 1989, most people in the Eastern European countries had no hesitation in supporting an end to the communist systems.