The Lithuanians: The Baltic Way 20th Anniversary

The Baltic Way 20th Anniversary

On 23 August 1939, the foreign ministers of the USSR and Germany Vyacheslav Molotov and
Joachim von Ribbentrop signed a treaty which divided the spheres of influence of the two countries
and led to the incorporation of the three Baltic States - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - to the then USSR.

50 years later, on 23 August 1989, the three nations demanded recognition of the secret clauses
in the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and the re-establishment of the independence of the Baltic States.

On the same day, approximately two million people joined hands to create a 373 mile / 600 km long human chain from
Vilnius, Lithuania to Tallinn, Estonia , crossing Riga, Latvia on its way.

The event remains in history under the name “the Baltic Way”.

This event led to eventual Independence of the Baltic States
http://www.thelithuanians.com/