Most of us know about the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution that overthrew the centuries of Tsarist rule in Russia and ushered in 74 years of communist control and the creation of the Soviet Union.

But how many have heard of an earlier revolt that became known as the Blood Sunday Massacre?

On January 22, 1905 — with Russia in the midst of a losing war against Japan, and general unrest among the populace due to poor living conditions, government corruption and authoritarian rule — a group of workers led by a radical priest, Georgy Apollonovich Gapon, marched to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg with a list of demands. Instead of the negotiation they were seeking, they were met with gunfire from the Imperial forces.

Hundreds were killed and wounded. In response, strikes and riots broke out throughout the country, forcing Tsar Nicholas II to promise the creation of a series of representative assemblies known as Dumas, to work toward reform. [“This Day in History, History.com, January 22, 2026.]

But the promised changes failed to materialize. And during the next decade, revolutionary groups began to form, including Vladimir Lenin’s Bolsheviks, until — on October 25, 1917 (old calendar) — that first blank shot was fired from the AURORA in St. Petersburg, signaling the start of the revolution that changed the world forever.

“Bloody Sunday” was a sort of rehearsal for the real thing, and while it didn’t seem at the time to have accomplished anything, it was the first step in the Russian people’s march toward what they hoped would be a better life. But there are two, antithetical lessons to be learned from that day:

• First, you gain nothing if you don’t try; and even though the desired result may not be immediate, any effort is better than doing nothing; and
• Second, be careful what you wish for. As it turned out for the Russians, the next 74 years were just a different kind of hell.
  

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep trying. We just need to be sure, before destroying what we have, that there is something better waiting to take its place.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/22/26