On this day October 24 in 1982; twenty-five thousand people joined hands in Stockholm to form a human chain encircling the embassies of the United States and the Soviet Union. They called their demonstration The Peace Ring.
The Peace Ring stretched seven kilometers and was part of a United Nations initiative known as Peace Day. The UN organized the event to call for a ban on nuclear testing and advocate for the elimination of nuclear weapons from the arsenals of the two superpowers.
Participants hoped that officials from both embassies would step outside, join hands, and become part of the ring—but the embassy doors remained closed. The Peace Ring was accompanied by marches across various parts of Europe.
The wave of opposition to nuclear weapons continued across Europe. In April 1983, nearly one hundred thousand people formed a 14-kilometer human chain in protest against the environmental destruction caused by the frantic race to produce nuclear arms. This massive demonstration took place in Greenham, Britain, near a proposed site for a nuclear weapons base.
