16 June 1905

Rotten Meat on the Potemkin

Not the socialist ideal, but rotten meat triggered the mutiny of the crew of the Russian battleship Potemkin on June 14, 1905. The leader of the mutineers, Grigori Vakulenchuk, died during the ensuing fight. His body lay in state on a quay in Odessa, where revolutionary ideas were rising. Vakulenchuk's funeral on June 16 led to political demonstrations and further violent confrontations. Part of the czarist army sided with the insurrectionists. This is why the mutiny on the Potemkin is considered a first step in the process of the Russian Revolution.

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