Baltic Way

The Baltic Way (Lithuanian: Baltijos kelias; Latvian: Baltijas ceļš; Estonian: Balti kett) or Baltic Chain (also "Chain of Freedom"^[1]) 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 subjected to the Soviet Union's occupation and communist repression for more than 45 years, precisely speaking, between the Soviet Union's re-occupation of the Baltic states in 1944 (which took place alongside Soviet Union's Red Army's counteroffensive towards the west during the final years of World War II) and the Singing Revolution (a series of Baltic independence movements between 1987 and 1991), which culminated in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania's independence, that was achieved just before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.^[2] The central government in Moscow considered the three Baltic countries constituent republics of 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.

Estonian Rahvarinne, Latvian Tautas fronte, and Lithuanian Sąjūdis were the Baltic pro-independence movements that planned, organized, and led the 1989 events with the primary goal of drawing global attention by demonstrating an overwhelming popular desire for independence and showcasing solidarity among the three nations. Contemporary historians generally agree that the Baltic Way represented an effective publicity campaign and an emotionally captivating, as well as visually stunning scene.^[3][4]

The event presented an opportunity for the Baltic activists to publicise the Soviet rule and position the question of Baltic independence not only as a political matter, but also as a moral issue. The Soviet authorities responded to the event with intense rhetoric,^[3] but failed to take any constructive actions that could bridge the widening gap between the Baltic republics and the rest of the Soviet Union. Seven months after the protest, Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to declare independence.

After the Revolutions of 1989, 23 August has become an official remembrance day both in the Baltic countries, in the European Union, and in other countries, known as the Black Ribbon Day or as the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism.