Seeds of Fire: A People’s Chronology

Recalling events that happened on this day in history.
Memories of struggle, resistance and persistence.

Compiled by Ulli Diemer

January 21, 1775
Emelyan Pugachev, the leader of a peasant and Cossack rebellion against the imperial Russian government in 1774-1775, is executed. The rebellion arose out of the severe oppression of the peasants by the nobility and the imperial government; Pugachev’s main goal was the end of serfdom. More than fifty peasant revolts occurred in the Russian empire between 1762 and 1775; Pugachev’s rebellion was the largest. (January 10 according to the old calendar.) Related Topics: Execution – Peasant Uprisings – Russian History
January 21, 1793
The deposed French king, Louis XVI, is guillotined after being convicted of treason. Related Topics: Execution – French Revolution – Monarchy
January 21, 1919
The Dáil Éireann, the revolutionary Irish parliament, proclaims Irish independence and an end to British rule. Britain does not recognize the proclamation, and fighting breaks out the same day. In the ensuing Irish War of Independence, Irish guerrillas fight against British forces until a truce is declared in 1921. Negotiations then lead to the recognition of the Irish Free State, although the six northern counties (Ulster) remain under British rule as Northern Ireland. Related Topics: Anti-Colonialism – Colonies/British – Irish History – National Liberation Movements
January 21, 1924
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin dies. He had been ill and largely unable to participate in political activity in the last year-and-a-half of his life. His death sets off a power struggle in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which ends with Josef Stalin achieving control of the party and the state. Further Reading: Victor Serge: From Lenin to Stalin Related Topics: Bolshevism – Lenin, V.I. – Leninism – Russian History – Russian Revolution