The Peaceful Revolution in the Eastern Bloc:
'A Model of Change for Scotland and its People'

History constantly reminds us that Empires are mortal, and in this respect 1989 will surely be remembered in the history books of the future as the year when the people of Eastern Europe took to the streets to claim their birthright of freedom, justice and democracy. The Soviet Empire, from Berlin to the Baltic States, and from Budapest to the republics of Yugoslavia, has effectively crumbled at the hands of "People Power" - that ideal force of revolutionary change.

Although the process of change is still under way, and the tide of democracy has a long way to go before it sweeps over the whole of communist Europe, there is no doubt that the momentous events of this year will have profound and far-reaching implications not only for those countries, but inevitably for the world at large. The nationalist community in Scotland and also those among our people who are only beginning to understand the plight of our country, can take heart from the awakening of the oppressed nations of the East. The once hard-line communist states have, under the pressure of popular demonstrations and social upheaval, been drawn down the road to democracy.

It was the people who forced changes and reforms in Hungary, the communist party of that country conceding that it could no longer have the monopoly of power. It was the people who caused a policy of rehabilitation of the heroes from the 1956 uprising and it was the people again who initiated a total reappraisal and indeed recognition of Hungary's proud history.

In Poland, the once outlawed trade union Solidarity, backed by the overwhelming majority of the Polish people, brought the communist party to its knees, and, with the mandate given to them by free elections, have since formed Eastern Europe's first non-communist government. In Eastern Germany, mass demonstrations all over the country toppled the corrupt hard-line government and forced the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, all this after tens of thousands of people had fled the country in search of freedom. In Czechoslovakia, recent events initiated by civil unrest and demonstrations have caused the resignation of yet another communist government, and it is perhaps significant that it is a playwright, Vaclav Havel, and not a political figure, who has been at the forefront of the freedom and democracy movement. Trade unionists in Poland, writers in East Germany, and historians in Hungary have received the trust of the people and have come to share in the decision-making of newly formed governments. Change was won through the unity of the people, not through the bargaining of politicians, it would seem. Nationalist unrest in Yugoslavia has once again put a real question mark on the future of artificially created States which encompass, to their mutual disadvantage, so many nationalist communities, one of which inevitably imposes its laws and values on its other smaller neighbours.

This year has seen the growing aspirations of the Croatians, Bosnians, Slovenians and ethnic Albanians come to fruition as it were, and it now seems certain that the majority community, the Serbs, have every intention of going it alone also - separate identities have never been levelled enough to prevent nationalist unrest, and Yugoslavia, as a unitary state, will probably not see the end of the coming decade. The same could also be said of Eastern Europe's giant, the Soviet Union, which has of course undergone much reform and change over the last year or so, with increased pressure coming from the people to make good the policies of 'Perestroika' and 'Glasnost' promised by President Gorbachov. It is however to the Baltic States, to the Caucasus and to Central Asia that one must look to for proof of the Soviet system's impending end. The oppressed nations on the fringe of the Soviet Russian Empire have now openly and irreversibly expressed their aspirations of freedom and democracy. Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia have demonstrated through 'People Power' that their destiny is their own, as it was in the past.

The people of Scotland must look to the events in Eastern Europe as tangible proof that history is not static, that momentous change can be achieved given the will, the unity, the strength and above all, the conviction. If ruthless repressive police states can be dismantled, so then can the comparitively "benign" tyrannies of successive English governments in Scotland, whether of a Labour or Conservative hue. The people of Scotland must unite under the banner of Freedom, Justice and Democracy, assert their identity and demand the power to shape their own destiny as a Nation.

We owe it to ourselves, and to future generations of Scots, to take up the example set by our Polish, Hungarian and Lithuanian counterparts, and show those who oppress us that nothing can stop a people on the march.

Scottish People Power
The Only Way To Independence

© Siol nan Gaidheal, 1989