An Irresistible Tide

With Moscow's apparent acquiescence, reformers in Bulgaria and protesters in Czechoslovakia follow East Germany in pressing for democracy

In the ebb and flow of history, there is sometimes a tide that can sweep in the most profound changes. The people of Eastern Europe sense just such a tide washing over them now, a political swell that has already propelled Solidarity to power in Poland, transformed Communism to socialism in Hungary and punched through the Wall in Berlin. Last week the irresistible tide reached Bulgaria and even pounded at the entrenched Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. Men and women across the full breadth of the East bloc were attempting to catch the wave, aware that it must be done before a...

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