Sinatra Doctrine

• Gorbachev’s foreign policy reforms led to the rise of nationalism
• Under Khrushchev and Brezhnev, Soviet-controlled states in Eastern Europe were only allowed limited freedom
• Gorbachev rejected the Brezhnev doctrine in August 1989, renouncing the Soviet Union’s right to intervene in the affairs of other socialist countries
• The new doctrine, named the Sinatra Doctrine, allowed greater freedoms across Eastern European countries
• As a result, during October and November 1989, communism fell across Eastern Europe, with new leaders winning democratic elections and peaceful revolutions against Communist rule
• Gorbachev allowed these changes to happen, refusing to use Soviet troops against democracy
• Revolution in Eastern Europe had implications for the Soviet republics, with nationalists in non-Russian republics hoping to regain their independence.