A 676km singing human chain

August 23 1989 — Approximately 2-million people join hands to form a 676km-long unbroken human chain across the three Baltic states — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — as part of the Baltic Singing Revolution. It marks 50 years since, on August 23 1939, the Soviet Union and Germany, in the secret protocol of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, divided spheres of interest in

Eastern Europe, which led to the Soviet occupation of the three states. The demonstration — linking the three capitals, from Tallinn in the north, through Riga to Vilnius — was organised to draw the world’s attention to the common historical fate which these three countries suffered. The demonstrators peacefully link hands for 15 minutes at 7pm. The protest is one of the earliest and longest unbroken human chains in history. Documents recording the Baltic

Way are added to Unesco’s Memory of the World Register in 2009 in recognition of their value in documenting history. The Singing Revolution refers to gatherings where musical traditions of the region played a key role from 1987 in regaining independence. Despite the often harsh response from the Soviet Union at the developments, independence is restored in Lithuania on March 11 1990, in Estonia on August 20 1991 and in Latvia on August 21 1991.