25 years ago on this date, the Baltic independence movement, called the Singing Revolution, reached a peak when the Latvian People’s Front joined with its counterparts in Estonia and Lithuania to form a 373-mile human chain (600km) connecting the three capitols, Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius with 2 million people united in a call for democracy and an end to Soviet control. The Singing Revolution lasted more than four years, with various protests and acts of defiance. Lithuania was the first of the three Baltic states to start the movement. In Estonia, on the Tallinn road, they sang national songs and hymns, which had been strictly forbidden during the years of Soviet occupation, while rock musicians played. In 1991, as Soviet tanks were rolling throughout the countryside in an attempt to quell the Singing Revolution, the Estonian Soviet Legislature together with the Congress of Estonia proclaimed the restoration of the independent State of Estonia and repudiated Soviet legislation. Estonians stood as human shields to protect radio and TV stations from the Soviet tanks. As a result of the revolution, Estonia won its independence without any bloodshed. Additionally, when the USSR invaded the already independent state of Lithuania, thousands of people stood against the tanks and machine guns without fighting, but singing, emphasizing the idea that peaceful action can lead to victory.