Why did Mikhail Gorbachev have trouble retaining support from hard-line communists?

Gorbachev’s policy of not using Soviet military force to suppress uprisings in Eastern Europe angered hard-line communists, who favored preserving communist rule by force. His refusal to crush those rebellions helped communist governments fall and weakened the hard-liners’ support for him. The correct choice is “He refused to crush rebellions in Eastern Europe.”

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