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The East European Revolution of 1989 is coined the year of miracles for many reasons. In a short period of time, the Eastern European satellites had revolutions and freed themselves from the tyrannical Soviet Union. The revolutions that occurred were relatively non-violent and were even a surprise to most academic specialists on the Soviet Union. In this essay I will describe and explain the political, cultural, historical and economic causes of the East European revolutions of 1989. I will also look at major similarities and differences among the several eastern European states. Finally, I will look at the rationale for the revolutions being relatively non-violent and why they came as a surprise to the academic specialists.

To begin this essay we must speak upon the rescinding of the Brezhnev Doctrine. Mikhail Gorbachev’s choice to rescind the Brezhnev Doctrine can be considered the death sentence to the Soviet Empire and the eventual Eastern European Revolutions of 1989 that followed. The Brezhnev Doctrine was the Soviet Unions stance that once you become Communist, you have to stay that way. The Red Army simply will not let you turn to a Capitalist country. Any forces that have hostility towards socialism and try to turn a socialist country towards a capitalist one, is a concern to all of the socialist countries. Gorbachev announced to the satellites that the Soviet forces could not be used in satellites by Soviet regimes to keep them in power. In other words that meant that the Soviet regimes could not count on the Red Army. Within one year of Gorbachev rescinding the Brezhnev Doctrine, all of the Communist regimes that were under the Soviet Union fell.

The Eastern European Revolutions of 1989 began in Poland. After the cru...

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...ese Eastern European satellites states had a history of being nationally homogenous states. It must have been difficult for a Pole to call himself a Soviet. Ethnic nationalism has to be seen as a driving factor in the Eastern European Revolutions. No ethnically homogenous people would want to be ruled by another ethnicity, especially when there is a history of that ethnically homogenous satellite state being and independent country.

One final similarity that I will discuss is that in most cases the reformist communists came in low during the free elections of each satellite state. For example, in Poland the reformed communist party came in 4th place. In most of the countries the reform communist parties came in last place. One could conclude that each of the satellite states wanted a different form of government that the Soviet Communist regime forced onto them.