'Color revolutions' or 'Flower revolutions' are the names given collectively to a series of related movements that developed in
post-communist societies in
Central and
Eastern Europe, and
Central Asia. Some observers have called the events a
revolutionary wave.
Participants in the color revolutions have mostly used
nonviolent resistance to protest against governments seen as corrupt and/or authoritarian, and to advocate
democracy and
national independence. These movements all adopted a specific
color or
flower as their symbol. The color revolutions are notable for the important role of
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and particularly
student activists in organizing creative nonviolent resistance.
So far these movements have been successful in
Yugoslavia (especially
Serbia - the
2000 Bulldozer Revolution),
Georgia (the
2003 Rose Revolution),
Ukraine (the
2004 Orange Revolution), and (though more violent than the previous ones)
Kyrgyzstan (the
2005 Tulip Revolution). Each time massive street protests followed disputed elections and led to the resignation or overthrow of leaders considered by their opponents to be
authoritarian.
Color revolutions
Post-communist states
★ The '
5th October revolution' in
2000, which led to the overthrow of
Slobodan Milošević. These demonstrations are considered by many to be the first example of the peaceful revolutions that followed. However, the
Serbians adopted an approach that had already been used in parliamentary elections in
Slovakia (1998) and
Croatia (2000), characterized by civic mobilization through get-out-the-vote campaigns and unification of the political opposition. The nationwide protesters did not adopt a color or a specific symbol, however the slogan ''"
Gotov je"'' (Готов је, ''he is finished'') did become an aftermath symbol which celebrated the completion of the task. Despite the commonalities, many others refer to Georgia as the most definite beginning of the series of "color revolutions." The demonstrations were supported by the youth movement
Otpor, some of whose members were involved in the later revolutions in other countries.
★ The '
Rose Revolution' in
Georgia, following the disputed
Georgia legislative election, 2003, led to the overthrow of
Eduard Shevardnadze and his replacement by
Mikhail Saakashvili after
new elections were held in March 2004. The Rose Revolution was supported by civic resistance movement
Kmara.
★ The '
Orange Revolution' in
Ukraine, followed the disputed second round of the
2004 presidential election and led to the annulment of the result and the repeat of the round—leader of the opposition
Viktor Yushchenko was declared president, defeating
Viktor Yanukovych. The Orange Revolution was supported by
Pora.
★ The '
Tulip Revolution', was more violent than its predecessors and followed the disputed
Kyrgyz parliamentary elections, 2005. At the same time it was more fragmented than previous such revolutions. The protesters in different areas adopted different colors for their protests (pink and yellow). This revolution was supported by youth resistance movement
KelKel.
Related usages in the Middle East
The following events, having taken place in the Middle East instead of post-Communist Europe and Central Asia, have nonetheless at times been described as part of the series of colored revolutions, and their popular names designed specifically to draw the parallel. Nonetheless they have marked differences with the revolutions described above, and thus their inclusion in the series of "colored revolutions" is so far not universally accepted.
★ The '
Cedar Revolution' in
Lebanon, unlike the revolutions in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, followed not a disputed election, but rather the assassination of opposition leader
Rafik Hariri in 2005. Also, instead of the annulment of an election, it demanded the withdrawal of
Syrian troops from Lebanon. Nonetheless, some of its elements and some of the methods used in the protests have been similar enough that it is often considered and treated by the press and commentators as one of the series of "color revolutions". The
Cedar of Lebanon is the symbol of the country, and the revolution was named after it. The peaceful demonstrators used the colors white and red, which are found in the
Lebanese flag.
★ "'
Purple Revolution'" was a name first used by some hopeful commentators and later picked up by
United States President
George W. Bush to describe the coming of democracy to
Iraq following the
2005 Iraqi legislative election and was intentionally used to draw the parallel with the Orange and Rose revolutions. However, the name has not achieved widespread use in Iraq, the United States or elsewhere. The name comes from the color that voters' index fingers were stained to prevent fraudulent multiple voting.
★ "'
Blue Revolution'" was a term used by some Kuwaitis
[1] to refer to demonstrations in
Kuwait in support of
women's suffrage beginning in March of 2005; it was named after the color of the signs the protesters used. In May of that year the Kuwaiti government acceded to their demands, granting women the right to vote beginning in the 2007 parliamentary elections.
[2] Since there was no call for regime change, this cannot be categorized as a true color revolution.
Influencing factors
Anti-Communist revolutions
Many have cited the influence of the series of revolutions which occurred in Central and Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s, particularly the
Velvet Revolution in
Prague (
Czechoslovakia) in 1989. A peaceful demonstration by students (mostly from
Charles University) was attacked by the police - and in time contributed to the collapse of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. Yet the roots of the pacifist floral imagery may go even further back to the non-violent
Carnation Revolution of Portugal in the mid 1970's.
Student movements
The first of these was
Otpor ("Resistance") in Serbia, which was founded at
Belgrade University in October 1998 and began protesting against Milošević during the
Kosovo War. Many of its members were arrested or beaten by the police. Despite this, during the presidential campaign in September 2000, Otpor launched its "
Gotov je" (He's finished) campaign that galvanized Serbian discontent with Milošević and resulted in his defeat.
Members of Otpor have inspired and trained members of related student movements including
Kmara in Georgia,
Pora in Ukraine,
Zubr in Belarus and
MJAFT! in Albania. These groups have been explicit and scrupulous in their practice of
non-violent resistance as advocated and explained in
Gene Sharp's writings.
[3] The massive protests that they have organized, which were essential to the successes in Serbia, Georgia and Ukraine, have been notable for their colorfulness and use of ridiculing humor in opposing authoritarian leaders.
Soros foundation and U.S. influence
Opponents of the color revolutions often accuse the
Soros Foundation and/or the
United States government of supporting and even planning the revolutions in order to serve western interests. It is noteworthy that after the
Orange Revolution several
Central Asian nations took action against the
Open Society Institute of
George Soros with various means --
Uzbekistan, for example, forced the shutting down of the OSI regional offices, while
Tajik state-controlled media have accused OSI-Tajikistan of corruption and nepotism.
[4]
Evidence suggesting U.S. government involvement includes the
USAID (and
UNDP) supported Internet structures called
Freenet, which are known to comprise a major part of the Internet structure in at least one of the countries -
Kyrgyzstan - in which one of the color revolutions occurred.
''The Guardian'' claimed that
USAID,
National Endowment for Democracy, the
International Republican Institute, the
National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, and
Freedom House are directly involved.
[5] Information on these organizations' websites (of which the first four are funded by the US federal budget) is consistent with these claims.
Activists from
Otpor in
Serbia and
Pora in
Ukraine have said that publications and training they received from the US based
Albert Einstein Institution staff have been instrumental to the formation of their strategies.
Reactions and connected movements in other countries
★ '
Armenia'
Aram Karapetyan, leader of the
New Times political party, has declared his intention to start a "revolution from below" in April 2005, saying that the situation was different now that people had seen the developments in the
CIS. He added that the Armenian revolution will be peaceful but not have a color.
[Time for Revolution Armenian Diaspora]
★ '
Azerbaijan'
A number of movements were created in Azerbaijan in mid-2005, both inspired by the examples of Georgia and Ukraine. A youth group, calling itself
Yox! (which means No!), declared its opposition to governmental corruption. The leader of Yox! said that unlike
Pora or
Kmara, he wants to change not just the leadership, but the entire system of governance in Azerbaijan. The Yox movement chose green as its color.
[Azeri youth group makes debut by slamming state corruption Baku Today]
The spearhead of Azerbaijan's attempted color revolution was Yeni Fekir ("New Idea"), a youth group closely aligned with the Azadlig (Freedom) Bloc of opposition political parties. Along with groups such as Magam ("It's Time") and Dalga ("Wave"), Yeni Fekir deliberately adopted many of the tactics of the Georgian and Ukrainian color revolution groups, even borrowing the color orange from
the Ukrainian revolution.
[Young activists posed to assume higher political profile in Azerbaijan EurasiaNet][Baku opposition prepares for 'color revolution’ ISN Security Watch]
In November 2005 protesters took to the streets, waving orange flags and banners, to protest what they considered government fraud in recent parliamentary elections. The Azerbaijani color revolution finally fizzled out with the police riot on November 26, during which dozens of protesters were injured and perhaps hundreds teargassed and sprayed with water cannons.
[Baku police crush opposition rally with force ISN Security Watch]
★ '
Belarus'
There have been a number of protests against President
Alexander Lukashenko, with participation from student group
Zubr. One round of protests culminated on
March 25,
2005; it was a self-declared attempt to emulate the Kyrgyzstan revolution, and involved over a thousand citizens. However, police severely suppressed it, arresting over 30 people and imprisoning opposition leader
Mikhail Marinich.
A second, much larger, round of protests began almost a year later, on March 19,
2006, soon after the
presidential election. Official results had Lukashenko winning with 83% of the vote; protesters claimed the results were achieved through fraud and voter intimidation, a charge echoed by many foreign governments. Protesters camped out in
October Square in
Minsk over the next week, calling variously for the resignation of Lukashenko, the installation of rival candidate
Alaksandar MilinkieviÄ, and new, fair elections; the crowds reached 30,000 at their peak.
[Belarusian Opposition Holds Election Protest in Minsk (Update1) Bloomberg]
The opposition originally used as a symbol the white-red-white former
flag of Belarus; the movement has had significant connections with that in neighboring Ukraine, and during the Orange Revolution some white-red-white flags were seen being waved in Kiev. During the 2006 protests some called it the "
Jeans Revolution" or "Denim Revolution",
[Fraud claims follow Lukashenko win in Belarus election ABC Online] blue jeans being considered a symbol for freedom. Some protesters cut up jeans into ribbons and hung them in public places. It is claimed that Zubr was responsible for coining the phrase.
Lukashenko has said in the past: "In our country, there will be no pink or orange, or even banana revolution." More recently he's said "They [the West] think that Belarus is ready for some 'orange' or, what is a rather frightening option, 'blue' or 'cornflower blue' revolution. Such 'blue' revolutions are the last thing we need".
[6] On
19 April, 2005, he further commented: "All these colored revolutions are pure and simple banditry."
[7]
★ '
Moldova'
The opposition in Moldova, is reported to have hoped and urged for some kind of Orange revolution, similar to that in Ukraine, in the follow up of the
Moldovan parliamentary elections, 2005, while the
Christian Democratic People's Party adopted orange for its color in a clear reference to the events of Ukraine.
A name hypothesized for such an event was "grape revolution" because of the abundance of vineyards in the country; however, such a revolution failed to materialize after the governmental victory in the elections. Many reasons have been given for this, including a fractured opposition and the fact that the government had already co-opted many of the political positions that might have united the opposition (such as a perceived pro-European and anti-Russian stance). Also the elections themselves were declared fairer in the OSCE election monitoring reports than had been the case in other countries where similar revolutions occurred, even though the CIS monitoring mission strongly condemned them.
★ '
Mongolia'
On
March 25,
2005 activists wearing yellow scarves held protests in the capital city of
Ulan Bator, disputing the results of the
2004 Mongolian parliamentary elections and calling for fresh elections. One of the chants heard in that protest was "Let's congratulate our Kyrgyz brothers for their revolutionary spirit. Let's free Mongolia of corruption."
[8]
★ '
Russia'
The liberal opposition in Russia is represented by several parties and movements, the most remarkable of which is
Oborona youth movement. Oborona claims that its aim is to provide free and honest elections and to establish in Russia a system with democratic political competition. This movement is one of the most active and radical ones and is represented in a number of Russian cities.
The opposition in the
Republic of
Bashkortostan has held protests demanding that the federal authorities intervene to dismiss
Murtaza Rakhimov from his position as president of the republic, accusing him of leading an "arbitrary, corrupt, and violent" regime.
Airat Dilmukhametov, one of the opposition leaders, and leader of the
Bashkir National Front, has said that the opposition movement has been inspired from the mass protests of Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan.
[9] Another opposition leader,
Marat Khaiyirulin, has said that if an
Orange Revolution were to happen in Russia, it would begin in Bashkortostan.
[10]
★ '
Uzbekistan'
There has been longstanding opposition to President
Islom Karimov, from liberals and Islamists. The revolution in neighboring Kyrgyzstan began in the largely ethnic Uzbek south, and received early support in the city of
Osh.
Nigora Hidoyatova, leader of the
Free Peasants opposition party, has referred to the idea of a
farmers' revolution. She also said that her party is collaborating with the youth organization
Shiddat, and that she hopes it can evolve to an organization similar to
Kmara or
Pora.
[11] Another nascent youth organization in Uzbekistan is
Bolga.
==Backlash in non-
CIS countries==
When groups of young people protested the closure of Venezuela's
RCTV television station in June 2007, president
Hugo Chavez said that he believed the protests were organized by the West in an attempt to promote a "soft coup" like the revolutions in Ukraine and Georgia.
[1]
In July 2007, Iranian state television released footage of two Iranian-American prisoners, both of whom work for western
NGOs, as part of a documentary called "In the Name of Democracy." The documentary purportedly discusses the color revolutions in Ukraine and Georgia and accuses the United States of attempting to foment a similar ouster in Iran.
[2]
See also
★
April Revolution
★
Carnation Revolution
★
Non-violent revolution
★
Non-violent resistance
★
Red Revolution
★
Rose Revolution
★
White Revolution
References
1. http://www.eluniversal.com/2007/06/04/pol_ava_chavez-propone-que-p_04A879211.shtml
2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6907628.stm
Further reading
★ Pavol Demes and Joerg Forbrig (eds.). ''Reclaiming Democracy: Civil Society and Electoral Change in Central and Eastern Europe''. German Marshall Fund, 2007.
★ Joerg Fobrig (Hrsg.): ''Revisiting Youth Political Participation: Challenges for research and democratic practice in Europe''. Council of Europe, Publishing Division, Strassbourg 2005, ISBN 92-871-5654-9
★ Kurt Schock: ''Unarmed Insurrections: People Power Movements in Nondemocracies.'' University of Minnesota Press, 2005.
★ Joshua A. Tucker: ''Enough! Electoral Fraud, Collective Action Problems, and the Second Wave of Post-Communist Democratic Revolutions''. Arbeitspapier, vorgestellt auf dem ersten jährlichen Danyliw Forschungsseminar zum Studium ukrainischer Zeitgeschichte, Ottawa, 30. September - 1. Oktober 2005
External links
★
The Center for Democracy in Lebanon
★
Central Asian Backlash Against US Franchised Revolutions Written by K. Gajendra Singh, India's former ambassador to Turkey and Azerbaijan from 1992-1996.
★
"Sowing seeds of democracy in post-soviet granite" - the future of democracy in post-Soviet states Written by Lauren Brodsky, a PhD candidate at the Fletcher School in Medford, Mass., focusing on US public diplomacy and the regions of Southwest and Central Asia.
★
United 4 Belarus Campaign British campaign website drawing attention to the political situation in Belarus ahead of
2006 presidential elections.
★ Michael Barker,
Regulating revolutions in Eastern Europe: Polyarchy and the National Endowment for Democracy, 1 November 2006.
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