November–December 2004
The Orange Revolution
Mass protests overturn a rigged presidential election.
- Orange Revolution (Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine) — Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine (signed entries by subject specialists), Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (2024)
- The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation (5th ed.) — Andrew Wilson, Yale University Press (2022)
- Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation — Serhy Yekelchyk, Oxford University Press (2007)
In November 2004 the presidential run-off between the opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych was marred by massive fraud. Hundreds of thousands of people, many wearing Yushchenko’s campaign orange, occupied Kyiv’s Maidan (Independence Square) for weeks. Ukraine’s Supreme Court annulled the result, and Yushchenko won the repeat vote on 26 December.
- Orange Revolution (Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine) — Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine (signed entries by subject specialists), Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (2024)
- The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation (5th ed.) — Andrew Wilson, Yale University Press (2022)
- Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation — Serhy Yekelchyk, Oxford University Press (2007)
- History of Ukraine (Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine) — Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine (signed entries by subject specialists), Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (2024)
- The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation (5th ed.) — Andrew Wilson, Yale University Press (2022)
Why it matters today
Ukraine
The Orange Revolution showed Ukrainians that peaceful mass protest on the Maidan could change the outcome of an election. Its disappointing aftermath also taught them that winning the square is not the same as reforming the state.