Baltic Way Footprints (Riga)

On August 23, 1989, the people of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia organized a protest against the Soviet Union (of which the three nations were then a part).  Two million people, constituting approximately one third of the population of the Baltic nations, joined hands to form a 600-kilometer-long human chain (about 370 miles long) called the Baltic Way, which spanned from Vilnius, Lithuania, to Tallinn, Estonia, via Riga, Latvia.

The date of the demonstration was chosen specifically to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in which Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union had agreed that the latter could assert control over the Baltic nations.  The Baltic Way demonstration, and the lack of a forceful response from the Soviet Union towards the people involved in it, were part of what eventually led to the Baltic nations gaining independence while the Soviet Union collapsed and eventually ceased to exist.

In 2013, three memorial sculptures, in the form of footprints carved into red granite, were installed into the sidewalks in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia’s capitals to memorialize the Baltic Way. In Riga, Latvia, the footprints were installed on Kaļķu iela within sight of the Freedom Monument.

Surrounded by a series of commercial businesses (including a McDonald's) that reflect the westernization of Latvia since it regained its independence, the footprints may be easy to overlook, especially when the walkway is particularly busy, yet they still serve as a subtle reminder of the mass protest that took place decades ago.