What Is a Revolution? Reflections on the Significance of 1989/90

Abstract

Before 1989, few people expected the overthrow of what was called “really existing socialism.” Although that euphemism signaled a kind of political pessimism it also expressed a shared understanding that, whatever name the rulers gave it, this was not the socialism that had inspired and given courage to so many people for well over a century. That may be one reason that, once the Wall had fallen, everyone seemed to have his or her own explanation of why the rupture was inevitable. The fact that only a few expected it does not mean that no one wished for change, even radical and systemic change; but the other fact, that everyone thought that they could understand it after it had occurred, does not mean that the roots of change could actually have been understood prior to its occurrence. That is the nature of politics: there is no certainty of success, yet, after the fact, the results seem to have been preordained.