The struggle against economic injustice

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

The failure with the Czechoslovakian experiment in 1968 to create “socialism with a human face” strengthened the widely predisposed opinion that communism could not achieve peaceful change and democratic openness, that nonviolence may well function in India or USA but never in a communist regime. This provided fuel for The Cold War and the nuclear weapons race and the opinion that a Third World War was unavoidable. Few took note of the part of the Czechoslovakian experiment which contained indications of “peoples power” – the revolutions that would come during the 80´s.

The 1968 invasion of the Warsaw pacts armies was expected to crush all resistance within the period of a couple of days. It took eight months. Czechoslovakians large and well trained army was ordered to remain in barracks while the population answered in creative and nonviolent ways. The Czech news agency refused to report disinformation such as the leader of Czechoslovakia had asked for the invasion. Road signs were turned the wrong way to confuse the invaders. Students sat in the way for oncoming tanks, others climbed up on the tanks to discuss with the tank crews. People did not fight physically with the invaders but refused to cooperate. Secret messages via the radio helped to maintain a good moral in the population at the same time as radio programmes spread vital information about calling a general strikes. The Czech leaders succeeded in retaining their positions and continuing some reforms until resistance started to give way.

Twelve years later, in 1980 neighbouring country Poland took up the flag of nonviolence when the shipyard workers went on strike. With prayers and meetings the union movement Solidarity was born. Through strikes, sit ins and demonstrations, Solidarity gave the workers an independent voice and started a “grass roots movement” which quickly spread over the whole of Poland. The government immediately proclaimed a State of Emergency in December 1981. Instead of this destroying Solidarity, people started creating an alternative society from below; they chose to live “as though they were free”. A new society was born in the shell of the old one. When eventually general elections were held in 1989, Solidarity won a landslide victory.

The Polish elections were helped by the revolutionary changes in the Soviet Union. Gorbachevs´s reforms which started in1985 opened the dams of longing for change – which ultimately would wash away even Mikhail Gorbachev and the Soviet Block. One after another the totalitarian regimes of Eastern Europe are overthrown by people armed with truth and bravery. A critical mass had been reached by a growing body of people. The symbol of change was 9th November 1989 when the Berlin Wall fell the old order collapsed and with exception for Rumania⁴⁷ very little violence and loss of life occurred.

In the wake of the fall of the Eastern Block a number of nonviolent revolutions have taken place, Serbia,⁴⁸ Georgia, the Ukraine…. In Serbia the Otpor organisation used many often creative methods. When the news was shown on TV people vacuum cleaned their balconies to show that they had better things to do than watch propaganda. When the police forced Otpor to move they used empty moving crates which they carried as though they were heavy as a way of delaying the move. When police in an effort to speed up the move lifted a crate which he thought to be heavy the impetus of the lift caused him to land on his backside. It is important to remember that Otpor worked for several years, with resources in the form of money and non-violence training from different quarters and that finally became a mass movement which could not be stopped.

Belarus on the other hand, Sweden’s nearest dictator and Europe’s last is among the least reformed countries of the former Soviet Union. When independence came to Belarus the country did not have a national identity and the economy was in a state of crisis, which contributed to creating prerequisites for political populism. Simple solutions and security were demanded, Aleksander Lukasjenko was elected president in 1994. As a result of a number of referendums since then the role of the president has become increasingly powerful. There is no sharing of power in the country and relations between Belarus and the western world are strained.⁴⁹

Intensive efforts are in progress in different quarters to democratize Belarus. One of democracy’s nonviolence leaders is Olga Karach. Olga is one of the leaders for the resistance movement in Belarus, Zubr; partly inspired by Otpor in Serbia. The work is not without its dangers. Olga tells of friends whose parents have betrayed them to the KGB. Their own parents! It becomes possible for the whole system in Belarus to be built on fear and completely break people. Olga herself has lost her place as a teacher and has on several occasions been interrogated by security police. She is now also active as a politician in opposition. After the election 2004, the parliament of Belarus does not have any politicians in opposition!

Belarus has no free media. Olga says that it is difficult to get a newspaper officially registered, and without registration the maximum circulation number is 299. It is also the official number for the newspaper “Our House” in which Olga participates once a fortnight. In reality the circulation is about 35,000, says Olga. Their resources are small. Olga and her friend spend a lot of time producing information material and knocking on doors to spread the information, talking to people about Belarus and how the country can be democratized and what can be done.

There are several organisations in Sweden working for democracy in Belarus, for example PeaceQuest., Landsrådet för Ungdomsorganisationer (LSU) Svenska Freds och Skiljedomsföreningen. Although a lot has happened in the former Soviet States there is still a lot to achieve in Belarus, until Belarus also becomes an example of the success of non-violence.⁵⁰