The Baltic Triangle

Here is an example of history repeating itself that I have never seen pointed out, involving St. Petersburg.

The October Revolution, of 1917, was the beginning of world Communism. The revolution actually began on board a navy ship that was docked at St. Petersburg, the Aurora. A gun of the ship then fired the blank shot that signalled the beginning of the revolution. Image from Google Street View.

The following year was the November Revolution, in Germany. It resulted in the overthrow of the Kaiser, just as the October Revolution had resulted in the overthrow of the Tsar. The October Revolution is so-called because Russia was still using the Julian Calendar. Both revolutions were actually in November by the Gregorian Calendar. The November Revolution also began with ships, by a mutiny by sailors at Kiel. We saw this revolution in the posting "The End Of The First World War", November 2018.

Communism ended in Eastern Europe in 1989. The end of Communism is considered to have begun with the formation of the Solidarity movement. This also involved ships. The movement began among workers in what was then called the Lenin Shipyard, in Gdansk. Image from Google Earth.

What is so interesting is that all three of these revolutions began with ships or shipyards on the Baltic Sea. This is the shallow sea between Scandinavia and continental Eastern Europe. 

In the following image, from Google Earth, the red dot in the upper right, to the northeast of Estonia, is the site of the beginning of the October Revolution. The yellow dot below Denmark is the site of the beginning of the November Revolution. The magenta dot on the coast of Poland is the site of the beginning of the Solidarity movement.