How did it feel, seeing the dictatorships collapse and look at the newspaper and see good news?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Franco 1975
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnation_Revolution 1974
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_dictatorship_in_Brazil 1985
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_South_Korea#Sixth_Republic_(1987–present) 1988
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Reorganization_Process 1983


Major optimism, like everyone was breathing a big sigh of relief.
Bit naive perhaps, but there you are.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
That said, it’s still much better today, just that power brokers never change - they just always look for the new way to sell the same old ideas.
The Hapsburgs didn’t go away, they just changed team jerseys so people wouldn’t realize it was still them.