Ancient history

2004 Orange Revolution

The Orange Revolution of 2004 is how popular protests that took place in Ukraine became known after allegations of fraud in the election for president of the country.

TheOrange Revolution of 2004 it was an event that had a major political impact in Ukraine and was marked by popular protests against the fraud that had taken place in the country's presidential election. The population took to the streets of Kiev, the capital of the country, and civil disobedience actions spread across Ukraine.

Through the Orange Revolution, a new presidential election took place, and the victory of Viktor Yushchenko was secured with 52% of the vote. With Yushchenko's inauguration, Ukraine's polarization between east and west increased and Ukraine's relations with the Russian government were severely strained.

Also read: How did the democratization of Eastern Europe take place?

Summary on the 2004 Orange Revolution

  • It happened in Ukraine, in 2004, and was marked by major protests.

  • It began after allegations that fraud had taken place in the country's presidential election.

  • More than a million people took to the streets of Kiev, and acts of civil disobedience spread across Ukraine

  • The Supreme Court annulled the presidential election in December 2004, and a new one had to be organized.

  • Viktor Yushchenko, opposition candidate, won the new election with 52% of the vote.

Ukrainian Independence

Ukraine gained its independence after the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, and followed the paths of many of the former nations that formed the Soviet territory. Ukraine had the emergence of governments with authoritarian characteristics and remained very close to the Russian government.

At the same time, the Ukrainian government attempted to get closer to Western nations , and for that it maintained a facade liberal democracy, which sought to mask the existence of a semi-authoritarian government . In addition, Ukrainian governments acted to benefit a group of Russian businessmen, who became considerably rich during Ukraine's early years.

These businessmen were called oligarchs and used all their wealth to influence the policy and the direction that Ukraine took. Finally, corruption was a recurring problem in Ukraine, and the country's first two governments were heavily scarred by corrupt practices. These governments were those of Leonid Kravchuk (1991-94) and Leonid Kuchma (1994-2004).

This scenario ofgrowing social inequality , corruption and government with authoritarian tendencies caused the population to demand radical changes at the turn of the 20th century to the 21st century.

Ukrainian opposition:one of the factors that led to the 2004 Orange Revolution

In 2000, the political conditions were created for the emergence of an opposition movement in Ukraine against the government of Leonid Kuchma. What gave strength to this movement was a scandal that happened in the country, when an opposition journalist was murdered under mysterious circumstances . The journalist was named Georgiy Gongadze.

Somed statements linked the journalist's assassination with the president himself Ukrainian government, and this created a wave of indignation in the country that affected the popularity of the Kuchma government and led to the establishment of an opposition movement by the name of Our Ukraine . Along with this movement, some people, like Yulia Tymoshenko, Viktor Yushchenko and Oleksandr Moroz, gained a lot of popularity.

The strengthening of the opposition took place with the consent of the Ukrainian president, since no there was use of the semi-authoritarian structure to weaken opponents . Much of this was also due to the interest of the Ukrainian governments to reinforce the image of a liberal democracy for Western nations.

Thus, the opposition was consolidated and, in 2001, Viktor Yushchenko made Our Ukraine a political party. In 2002, popular protests spread across Ukraine due to parliamentary elections marked by allegations of fraud and manipulation in favor of candidates for the Kuchma government.

The protests did not result in any practical changes, but they consolidated the willingness of the Ukrainian population to demand improvement s for your country. In addition, Yushchenko was preparing for his big test:the presidential election that would be held in 2004.

Presidential Election and 2004 Orange Revolution

Opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko's popularity and growing Leonid Kuchma's unpopularity, especially after the journalist's death scandal in 2000, made the Ukrainian president give up the idea of ​​fighting for a third term. With that, Leonid Kuchma nominated his prime minister, Viktor Yanukovych, as a candidate.

The election took place and the result announced announced the victory of the ruling candidate . Then, complaints from Ukraine itself, but also from international observers, pointed out that there waselectoral fraud and lack of transparency in the election . These denunciations started the Orange Revolution.

Thus,a Ukrainian population took to the streets of Kiev , the country's capital, and more than one million people were registered in these protests. Many people camped in the streets in the middle of winter to demonstrate their commitment to the cause they were fighting for:ending corruption and holding clean and transparent elections.

The protests swayed the country, and civil disobedience actions spread from Kiev to other Ukrainian cities. Also, Protestants used the color orange as their symbol , because it is the same color as Viktor Yuschkenko's party. The protests in Ukraine lasted more than two weeks.

In December, the Supreme Court of Ukraine decided to overturn the result because of the manipulation and lack of transparency of this claim, so that u a new election was organized, and Viktor Yushchenko won 52% of the votes in it, being elected president of Ukraine.

Learn more: English Revolution — the revolution that managed to fight the absolutist state in England

Effects of the Orange Revolution

With the Orange Revolution and the victory of Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine began a phase of rapprochement with the West . This reinforced the country's division between those who defended this rapprochement and those who wanted to strengthen ties with Russia, a neighboring country that has cultural and historical encounters with Ukraine.

This division has been noticeable since the election, as Yushchenko was more towards the West and Yanukovich towards Russia. In addition to the polarization in Ukraine, that country's relations with Russia have been affected , and friction with Russian President Vladimir Putin began, especially when Ukraine approached the European Union and NATO.

Politics, once again, disappointed the Ukrainian population, as Yushchenko's government did not deliver what was expected on issues of combating social inequality and corruption, for example. In addition, Yushchenko's government suffered from the strong impacts of the 2008 economic crisis.

Image credits

[1] Alexandr Zadiraka / Shutterstock

[2] Alexander Kalina / Shutterstock