The correct answer is - b) The people increased their demands for more freedom from Communist Party rule.
The reforms that Mikhail Gorbachev implemented pretty much marked the end of the of the Communist rule in the Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe. The people were not afraid anymore, and they demanded more freedom, democracy, where their rights will be respected, freedom of speech, and overall change of the system.
That led to a quick fall of the Communist Parties across this part of the world, somewhere peacefully, somewhere violently. Lot of new nations were formed as well, especially from the fall of the Soviet Union.