Sunday, August 26, 2018

The 10th Anniversary of the "Baltic Chain", Estonia

The days between Sunday Stamps seem to pass really quickly, so here we are at the second episode of the third season of the A-Z game.

I seem to have quite a lot of B-related stamps, so it was a tough choice, but the final decision fell on this joint issue among Estonia-Lithuanua-Latvia, from 1999, commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the Baltic Chain.  On the cover her is the Estonian mini-sheet.





The Baltic Chain (or the Baltic Way) was an uninterrupted 675.5 kilometre human chain uniting the Baltic capitals of Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius, in which two million indigenous people of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, then still occupied by the Soviet Union, joined hands to demand freedom and independence.
It was organised by the joint efforts of the three Baltic countries’ Popular Fronts on the 50th anniversary of the Nazi-Soviet pact of 23 August 1939, which served as a basis for the Soviet Union to occupy the Baltic countries in 1940. The aim of the Baltic Chain was to draw the world’s attention to continuing Soviet occupation of the Baltic countries and emphasised the non-violent nature of the Baltic nations’ struggle for freedom.

675.5 kilmetres... that is so hard to grasp, leaves me in awe at the thought of it and how it had looked in reality.


For more B-related posts, simply click here.

7 comments:

  1. I agree, that is a really amazing human effort. The mini sheet commemorating this event is nicely done.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like the joining of flags, attractive sheet. I remember the amazing event and can't believe nearly 30 years have past.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It is amazing what the human spirit can accomplish when people reach out...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Amazing thing it is to read about the Baltic Chain!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Did you know that the Baltic Way was the inspiration for the Catalan Way in 2013? (400 km long)

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalan_Way

    ReplyDelete
  6. Fabulous sheet. I'm ashamed that I did not recognise the term 'Baltic Chain' although being aware of the three countries.

    ReplyDelete