On August 23, 1989, thousands of people formed a human chain linking the three Baltic capitals – Vilnius, Riga, and Tallinn -- in a peaceful demonstration for personal freedom and national independence. The event marked 50 years since the signing in Moscow of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, in which the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany agreed on the division of power in Europe and the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states.
