History and Memory

The Revolutions of 1989-91

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6288258
AutoresAleksander Smolar, Magdalena Potocka
Año2001
Volumen12
Número3
Páginas5-19
Fecha de publicación2001-07-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of democracy (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1045-5736 • E-ISSN: 1086-3214
EditorialProject MUSE (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1353/jod.2001.0058
OpenAlexW2002446655
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas7
Referencias citadas2

During the years 1989-91, people had the impression that they were living through political events comparable in scope and importance to the French and American Revolutions. With the downfall of communism,decades of Cold War and the threat of global annihilation came to an end, and the bipolar world was consigned to the past. For some, this meant "the end of history" in a philosophical sense: the disappearance of a plausible alternative to a liberal democratic order. For others, by contrast, it meant that history was just opening its doors, enabling previously suppressed countries, nations, and continents to regain their ability to shape their own destiny. Still others feared that the political changes would lead to cataclysms: chaos, anarchy, civil war, ethnic conflict, and the threat that "rogue states" or terrorist gangs would use weapons of mass destruction. The bipolar world, it was noted, had at least brought a certain order and predictability. Articles appeared prophesying the return of the demons of the past. It was recalled that World War I, World War II, and the Cold War had all begun in that part of Europe that lies between East and West, the meeting point of great empires and great religions: Western Christianity, the Orthodox Church, and Islam

Christianity · Communism · Democracy · Economic history · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Terrorism · History · Law · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration · Philosophy · Political theory and Gramsci · Religious studies · Social Media and Politics