HomeEuropeOn this day, in 1989, nearly 2 million people from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania linked hands and created the “Baltic Way” for the independence of their countries
On this day, in 1989, nearly 2 million people from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania linked hands and created the “Baltic Way” for the independence of their countries
August 23, 2024
On this day, in 1989, nearly 2 million people from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania linked hands and created the “Baltic Way” for the independence of their countries
Direct translation from Estonian would be Baltic Chain, because people were linked together.
I wonder what the reactions were outside of the trio.
Well, outside of the communist politbureau’s because we all know it couldn’t be positive.
I was there. My parents took me when I was 2. Still hear stories about it.
I, I vaguely recall that. It was a crazy time in the former Soviet countries. So muxh freedom!
It’s mind-blowing to read about the scale of those events:
>Exactly 35 years ago, on August 23, 1989, a unique action “Baltic Way” took place in the Baltic States. About two million people – that is, about 25% of the population of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia – lined up in a living chain 670 kilometers long, connecting the capitals of the three countries (at that time – still Soviet republics). In this way, people drew the attention of the international community to the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, as well as to the desire to secede from the Soviet Union
This is what Juris Kaja, a Latvian-American journalist, who was reporting on the Baltic Way for Swedish television in those days, told Meduza:
>The impressions were incredible! Such frenzied self-organization happened without social networks and mobile communication. People were standing along the roads, waving flags and posters, waiting for the moment when everyone would hold hands and say, “We are for independence from the USSR!” That was the end of the Soviet myth. It became obvious that it was no longer possible to “fix” the Union. In such a country, it seemed that nothing could happen – but suddenly it did! I flew over the demonstration and felt that the beast was about to topple over on its back and give up its breath.
Maja Zvejniece (one of the participants) calls the events of August 23, 1989 “a dam bursting”, after which “there was no turning back”.
>So quickly things began to change then. Suddenly it was possible to say something – something that previously could not be said even in a whisper. It was psychologically important for every person. It was not only a public action, but also an internal one. Before the Baltic Way, I was a bit afraid to go out, I was a Soviet child. But after it – not anymore. We felt that the three Baltic republics thought the same way.
Our wester friends underappreciate how magnificent was the accomplishment in a totalitarian state to organize two million people in a singular chain. It is crazy to listen to people who were part of the process going in-depth how they measured the distance of hand reach and how they organized the three nations as one.
In history it looks like a heartwarming act, which it also of course was but the cold calculation behind this act and times was “there is 2 millon of us, You cannot kill us all”
Some cases also did not went so well, in Lithuania many people died defending the TV tower and also Riga – only by a miracle noone died in Estonia.
You have to be fucking brave to stand up to a nuclear powered political system – Putin is playing this game again. We only wait for the Russians to form their own huma chain. We already saw it in Belarus with the last election – the moustache man flew away to Russia being scared. With Russia help he stayed in position.
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[Atmostas Baltija – Baltic Trilingual Song of the Singing Revolution (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCpesg8Rv4E)
Direct translation from Estonian would be Baltic Chain, because people were linked together.
I wonder what the reactions were outside of the trio.
Well, outside of the communist politbureau’s because we all know it couldn’t be positive.
I was there. My parents took me when I was 2. Still hear stories about it.
I, I vaguely recall that. It was a crazy time in the former Soviet countries. So muxh freedom!
It’s mind-blowing to read about the scale of those events:
>Exactly 35 years ago, on August 23, 1989, a unique action “Baltic Way” took place in the Baltic States. About two million people – that is, about 25% of the population of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia – lined up in a living chain 670 kilometers long, connecting the capitals of the three countries (at that time – still Soviet republics). In this way, people drew the attention of the international community to the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, as well as to the desire to secede from the Soviet Union
This is what Juris Kaja, a Latvian-American journalist, who was reporting on the Baltic Way for Swedish television in those days, told Meduza:
>The impressions were incredible! Such frenzied self-organization happened without social networks and mobile communication. People were standing along the roads, waving flags and posters, waiting for the moment when everyone would hold hands and say, “We are for independence from the USSR!” That was the end of the Soviet myth. It became obvious that it was no longer possible to “fix” the Union. In such a country, it seemed that nothing could happen – but suddenly it did! I flew over the demonstration and felt that the beast was about to topple over on its back and give up its breath.
Maja Zvejniece (one of the participants) calls the events of August 23, 1989 “a dam bursting”, after which “there was no turning back”.
>So quickly things began to change then. Suddenly it was possible to say something – something that previously could not be said even in a whisper. It was psychologically important for every person. It was not only a public action, but also an internal one. Before the Baltic Way, I was a bit afraid to go out, I was a Soviet child. But after it – not anymore. We felt that the three Baltic republics thought the same way.
Our wester friends underappreciate how magnificent was the accomplishment in a totalitarian state to organize two million people in a singular chain. It is crazy to listen to people who were part of the process going in-depth how they measured the distance of hand reach and how they organized the three nations as one.
In history it looks like a heartwarming act, which it also of course was but the cold calculation behind this act and times was “there is 2 millon of us, You cannot kill us all”
Some cases also did not went so well, in Lithuania many people died defending the TV tower and also Riga – only by a miracle noone died in Estonia.
You have to be fucking brave to stand up to a nuclear powered political system – Putin is playing this game again. We only wait for the Russians to form their own huma chain. We already saw it in Belarus with the last election – the moustache man flew away to Russia being scared. With Russia help he stayed in position.