The Baltic Way or Baltic Chain was a peaceful political demonstration that occurred on 23 August 1989. Approximately two million people joined their hands to form a human chain spanning 690 kilometres (430 mi) across the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which at the time were occupied and annexed by the USSR and had a combined population of approximately eight million. The central government in Moscow considered the three Baltic countries constituent republics of the Soviet Union.
The Baltic Way: The human chain connecting the three Baltic capitals – Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius.
The 23 August 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact divided "the Baltic States (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania)" into German and Soviet "spheres of influence" (German copy)
Poster denouncing the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
Diagram assigning each city and town a stretch of the road to cover
A human chain is a form of demonstration in which people link arms or hands as a show of political solidarity.
Human Chain for Basque Self-determination, 2014