The ‘orange revolution’, which received extensive coverage in the Western media, gave a fundamental shake-up to former Soviet bloc countries. But for all the fuss created, it was only one of a number of ‘velvet revolutions’ which have followed each other at an ever-increasing pace. The first was in Slovakia in 1998, then Serbia in 2000, Georgia in 2003 (the ‘rose revolution’), Ukraine in 2004 (the ‘orange revolution’) and most recently, in 2005, Kyrgyzstan had its ‘tulip revolution’. Whilst the leaders of these democratic revolutions—Vojislav Kostunica, Mikheil Saakashvili, Viktor Yushchenko and Kurmanbek Bakiev—are well known in the West, the true driving forces behind them remain somewhat obscure. For example, we know little about the youth movements which have blossomed from the joint effect of Western non-governmental organisation (NGO) action and the home-grown desire for change in these countries in transition. Nevertheless, they were particularly active in preparing for the ‘velvet revolutions’ and in getting them off the ground. The movements, called Otpor (Resistance) in Serbia, Kmara (Enough) in Georgia, Pora (It’s time) in Ukraine and both Birge (Together) and Kel-Kel (Stand up) in Kyrgyzstan, all emerged rapidly from the post-Soviet stagnation that had stricken these countries and succeeded with remarkable ease in mobilising civil populations during the elections.

Gene Sharp: inspiration for the velvet revolutionaries

Their modes of action were similar, based on non-violent resistance and drawing inspiration from the writings of the American professor Gene Sharp, of the Albert Einstein Institute, who is considered the world expert on non-violent transition of authoritarian regimes to democracy. At the beginning of the 1980s, the Institute initiated a far-reaching programme of democratisation, encouraging democratic opposition movements and also intervening directly in some vastly different countries, such as Burma, Poland (Solidarnosc—Solidarity) and Lithuania (Sajudis—Unity). At the end of the 1980s Sharp moved to Sweden, from where he advised the Baltic independence movements.

The non-violent resistance of Lithuanian militants in January 1991 avoided widespread bloodshed and forced the introduction of a state of emergency at the time of the attack on the Vilnius television tower by Soviet special forces. The Baltic States followed Gene Sharp’s advice very closely in order to create a positive image of their independence movements. The transfers of power in these republics occurred without violence and were centred on ‘singing revolutions’, where all who wanted to defend the rebirth of their nation made their voices heard through mass choirs.