I don't think it can be stressed enough the influence Gorbachev had on the revolutions of 1989. After we discussed it in class it became clear to me what exactly his role was in the revolutions. While he did not directly cause the revolutions he was more of a gate keeper. He opened the gate with his reforms and his U.N. speech. The reforms gave hope to the people of the U.S.S.R. that things could get better and the the U.N. gave the people that extra confidence boost. In the speech Gorbachev stated that he felt that it was wrong for one country to interfere with another countries affairs. With this speech Gorbachev opened the door to revolutions. Any other time that a country had attempted to revolt before the Soviets came in and crushed the rebellion with Prague Spring. The promise that the Soviets would no longer invade took immense fear away from the people. No longer did they have to fear the mighty Russians coming in, they only had to overthrow their own government. Now the reason for the revolutions was years of abusive governments and poor living conditions. While Gorbachev may not have caused the reasons for the revolutions he allowed them to happen.
