The events of Bloody Sunday in St. Petersburg on January 9, 1905, when hundreds of peaceful protestors were slaughtered by their tsar, inspired Latvians to show their solidarity with the workers of the Russian capital by staging a strike during which meetings were held, songs sung and demands for greater autonomy made. This ominous powder keg was finally lit a few days later on January 13 when peaceful demonstrators met a Russian military force near the River Daugava. Shots were fired and panic ensued. Some demonstrators were killed by bullets and others fell through the ice in the river and drowned. All told, at least 70 perished and another 200 were injured. A decidedly Soviet statue with two proletarians hoisting a flag now approximates the spot where the carnage occurred and the street is also named after the incident – 13.janvāra iela.
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