The Turning Year of 1917

Petya walks in the narrow alley, his soulful blue eyes looking up at the gray sky overhead. Though not a religious man, he quietly voices a prayer, "Please bring us peace," as he holds the edges of his thick coat tightly, the fabric coarse against his palms. His gaze turns forward at the palace up ahead in the distance. With the golden spires, it seems like a relic from a different time—a time that feels as distant and foreign as the fairy tales his mother used to tell him.

Pausing to stare for a moment longer, he wonders, will the palace stand or be torn down by the mob? A shudder runs through him, knowing the people's anger is not easily contained. People have been calling for overthrowing the monarchy and bringing in Socialism for almost the entire year. The memory of the February Revolution still lingers. He watched then as angry crowds flooded the streets, enraged over poverty, famine, and the seemingly endless and disastrous Great War. The people had smashed windows and set fire to buildings. That day took an unexpected turn when soldiers commanded to fire on the rioters refused the order and, instead, joined the crowd. They, too, were fed up. The Tsar abdicated his throne shortly after. It had felt unreal then. Now, the fury and changes seem almost normal. Yes, 1917 is different.