9 Balti kett (The Baltic Chain)

Calls for the publication of the secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, in which dictators had divided Europe into spheres of influence, had mounted ever since the 1987 Hirvepark demonstration. Two years later, to mark the 50th anniversary of the pact signed by Hitler and Stalin’s foreign ministers, the Popular Fronts of the three Baltic countries decided to organize a 600-kilometre-long human chain stretching through the capitals of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The world had not seen the likes of such a gathering before. Baltic Chain, also known as Baltic Way, was the top story on international wire services. The awareness of the three captive republics reached households around the world. The Baltic Chain put pressure on Moscow’s international position and also contributed to the fall of the Berlin Wall two and a half months later.

Two decades later, UNESCO gave the Baltic Way Memory of the World status as a phenomenon of non-violent resistance.

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