Arab Spring Vs Eastern European Revolution

We learned about many different events throughout the history of both the Middle East and Europe. And the two that struck me as the most similar were the Arab Spring in the Middle East and the Eastern European Revolution. Both the Arab Spring and the Eastern European Revolution, were revolutions of the people against oppressive leaders. The point of these revolutions was to create new governments that gave more power to the people, stopped human rights violations, and improved the economies of the countries. The revolutions in the Middle East exploded the tensions and disagreements that the strong autocratic leaders had kept a “tight lid” on. While in Eastern Europe, the weakness of the Soviet Union, its poor industrial output, as well as the war in Afghanistan weakened its influence in Europe, and allowed the people to revolt. The

The Arab Spring and the revolutions in Eastern Europe have many things in common such as their beginning. Both the Eastern European Revolution and the Arab Spring, were very similar. They both started with one person, who was fed up with the oppression and corruption of the government. Lech Walesa started the Solidarity movement in Poland, and Mohamed Bouazizi self immolated, both of whom started revolutions that spread throughout the region. Walesa’s strikes in the 1980s and Bouazizi's self immolation showed the people around them that they were not helpless and could stand up for their own rights. These beliefs spread to countries such as Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia in Europe, and Tunisia and Yemen in the Middle East. The big revolts and uprisings caused some more strict leaders of countries to become angrier and crack down on their citizens. For example, in Bahrain, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa declared a state of emergency and allowed the police to raid protest camps and houses, causing