The KGB were everywhere in occupied countries in the post WWII Soviet Union, and Estonia was no exception. The Baltrics were pawns in a chess game that Germany played with Russia, trying to appease them with territory they had lost in the wake of the Russian Revolution so they wouldn't come to the aid of Europe, at least not to begin with. On August 23, 1939 Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union surprised the world by signing the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, in which the two countries agreed to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years. The pact also contained a secret agreement in which the Soviets and Germans agreed how they would divide up Eastern Europe, divvying up countries between them in a very aggressive way. The museum of this underground prison from the Soviet times tells this story as well as the story of Estonians who fought against the Soviet invasion, both during and after the war.
On August 23, 1989, several months before the Berlin wall came down, and on the 50th anniversary of the pact that destroyed Baltic independence, two million people joined hands from Tallinn to Riga to Vilnius, spanning 675 kilometers, each nation singing their own national songs. The event was organised by the Baltic pro-independence movements: Rahvarinne of Estonia, the Tautas front of Latvia, and Sąjūdis of Lithuania. The protest was designed to draw global attention by demonstrating a popular desire for independence and showcasing solidarity among the three nations.
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