Baltic Way links millions in a human chain

Voters chose members of a new national legislature under reformed electoral rules. The elections opened a public arena for criticism, though reserved seats and party structures limited equal political...

Soviet Interior Ministry troops attacked demonstrators, killing civilians and injuring many others. The violence deepened opposition to Soviet rule and became a turning point in Georgia’s independence...

The republic asserted control over its resources and legal system, following Estonia’s sovereignty declaration. Such claims challenged the Union center and expressed a growing demand to restore...

Candidates backed by the independent trade union movement won nearly all openly contested seats. The outcome reflected years of worker and civic organizing and accelerated the end of one-party rule in...

Miners struck over wages, shortages, working conditions, and local control. Their committees became an important form of worker organization and connected economic demands with questions of...

East German authorities opened crossings after mass protests and a confused public announcement. Soviet leaders did not intervene militarily; East Germans and neighboring societies drove the changes...

The Congress declared the secret protocol legally groundless and invalid from the moment it was signed. The decision acknowledged a Soviet role in the partition of Eastern Europe and supported...

The Lithuanian Supreme Council declared the restoration of the independent state. The act followed mass mobilization and elections and challenged the Soviet Union’s claim over a republic...

Latvia’s Supreme Council declared restoration while allowing a transition period. The decision asserted that Soviet annexation had not extinguished Latvian statehood and advanced a legal claim...

The Russian republic asserted the priority of its laws and sovereignty within a proposed renewed Union. Since Russia was the largest republic and housed the Union capital, the declaration weakened the...