territory. The inspiration for their courage and determination had its origins in the 1989 revolutions of Eastern and Central Europe.
The Turning Point: Poland
The staggering changes here began with the election of a Polish Pope, John Paul II, in 1978. Secular commentators, trying to discover the catalyst for the changes, frequently make no reference to the powerful cocktail of faith and politics. John Paul's election was the single most important element in the crucial role played by the Churches between 1978 and his summit meeting with Gorbachev in Rome in November 1989. His election kicked open the door to change. Any observer who fails to examine the role of the Churches will not understand the future shape of Europe or the attitude of millions of its people. Notwithstanding the flexible response of Mikhail Gorbachev to the changes, it is absurd to present him as a twentieth-century Hercules, moving from one task to another - first, cleaning out the Augean Stables, then taking a swipe at a manyheaded hydra. Gorbachev was in charge of the KGB. It was inevitable that someone who had spent his life observing how other societies are organised would be amongst the first to realise the corrupt nature of Soviet society in comparison. Brave men and women throughout Eastern and Central Europe have wrested power from his Party's hands. Allowing this to take place was not an altruistic or enlightened measure. Gorbachev simply accepted the inevitable. In the game of grandmother's footsteps played out across the Soviet colonies, Gorbachev became a bystander, probably as dumbfounded by events as everyone else. Soviet reactions to the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the attempts to form coalitions, to allow limited attempts at power-sharing, and to install reform Communists, all indicate that the Communists did not realise either the depth of their unpopularity or the scale of what would happen. Gorbachev did not have a script which anticipated the collapse of the socialist republics. The Soviet Union lost its colonies more by accident than design. To his credit, Gorbachev ruled out the use of force in the European satellite states (knowing also what it would cost in economic terms and through loss of credibility in the West). In dealing with the Soviet republics the mask of reasonableness has frequently slipped. Many Soviet citizens regard Gorbachev with enmity while the people of Eastern Europe feel no special sense of gratitude. In Eastern Europe they were responsible for their own revolutions and the overthrow of hated tyrannies. So from where did their inspiration spring?