To raise awareness of their plight and get some international media coverage Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania decided to make the longest human chain the world had ever seen. This peaceful demonstration was organised by three groups: Rahvarinne of Estonia, the Tautas fronte of Latvia, and Sąjūdis of Lithuania. It was an impressive spectacle. The three countries had shared a similar and harsh history and all were eager to get away from the threat of gulags and mass starvation.
The Soviet response to all of this commotion was to develop an internal smoke screen. They called Estonian workers’ strikes “hysteria” driven by “extremist elements” pursuing selfish “narrow nationalist positions” against the greater benefit of the entire Soviet Union. But their days were numbered.
The three down trodden countries had meetings to discuss the best course of action and petitions with hundreds of thousands of signatures were gathered during the late 80’s. The powers that be could not face a fire fight with the Russians, that would have been suicide, so they erred on the side of peaceful protests.
So on August 23rd, 1989 the three countries decided to make a human chain that connected the capitals of all three countries and called it the Baltic Way. The chain traveled from Vilnius, Lithuania to Riga, Latvia and finally Tallinn, Estonia. Free buses were laid on and many employers gave workers the day off. Special radio broadcasts helped coordinate the efforts.
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