We may see the next ones in Belarus or more probably in Azerbaijan, where there is a similar mixture of disappointed nationalism, thousands of refugees, catastrophically declining living standards and rising anger over corruption amongst the elite. In Serbia, the main issue which prompted the uprising was betrayal. After 13 years Milosevic had broken all his promises. His claim to defend Serbs throughout the former Yugoslavia had ended with more than a million Serbs as refugees from Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. His defiance of the world led to sanctions and a ruined economy, from which only the big-time smugglers and their friends in the regime grew rich.
Most revolutions contain an element of restoration.
They are not only about creating a better future but restoring the best aspects of the past. Nostalgia for the stability of communist times is common throughout the former Soviet Union as well as eastern Europe. So it is not surprising that in this first postcommunist revolution in Europe many middle-aged Serbs remembered the days when Yugoslavs could travel freely throughout western Europe as a golden age. Yugoslavia was the most liberal communist country in Europe, and some had worked in their youth as guestworkers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland when Poles, Hungarians and Czechs were still locked behind the iron curtain. In the hours after Milosevic's defeat it was fascinating to see how dozens of Serbian companies were taken over by their staff.