Baltic Way
Sign in to save1989 peaceful demonstration in the form of a human chain
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The Baltic Way was a peaceful human chain formed in 1989 that stretched across the three Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. The demonstration represented the unified desire of these nations for independence from Soviet control and became a powerful symbol of nonviolent resistance during the Cold War's final years.
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The Baltic Way (Lithuanian: Baltijos kelias; Latvian: Baltijas ceļš; Estonian: Balti kett) or Baltic Chain (also "Chain of Freedom" ) was a peaceful political demonstration that occurred on 23 August 1989. Approximately two million people joined their hands to form a human chain spanning 675 kilometres (419 mi) across the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, with a combined population of around eight million citizens, who had been subject to the Soviet Union's repression for more than 45 years before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. At the time, the three Baltic countries were occupied by the Soviet Union.
The demonstration originated from "Black Ribbon Day" protests held in Western cities in the 1980s. It marked the 50th anniversary of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, in which Poland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania were (as "spheres of influence") divided between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. The Soviet-Nazi pact led to the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 and the Soviet invasion and occupation of the Baltic countries in June 1940.