The
Orange Revolution () was a series of
protests and political events that took place in
Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate aftermath of the run-off vote of the
2004 Ukrainian presidential election which was claimed to be marred by massive corruption, voter intimidation and direct
electoral fraud.
Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, was the focal point of the movement's campaign of
civil resistance, with thousands of protesters demonstrating daily.Andrew Wilson, “Ukraine's 'Orange Revolution' of 2004: The Paradoxes of Negotiation”, in
Adam Roberts and
Timothy Garton Ash (eds.),
Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present, Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 295-316. Nationwide, the democratic revolution was highlighted by a series of acts of
civil disobedience,
sit-ins, and
general strikes organized by the opposition movement.
The protests were prompted by reports from several domestic and foreign election monitors as well as the widespread public perception that the results of the run-off vote of November 21, 2004 between leading candidates
Viktor Yushchenko and
Viktor Yanukovych were rigged by the authorities in favor of the latter.Paul Quinn-Judge, Yuri Zarakhovich, ,
Time, November 28, 2004 The nationwide protests succeeded when the results of the original run-off were annulled, and a revote was ordered by
Ukraine's Supreme Court...
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