MIA: Encyclopedia of Marxism: Glossary of Events
On the ninth of January, 1905, by order of the tsar, a peaceful demonstration of St. Petersburg workers were brutally shot down. The workers had been lead by the priest Gapon, and were marching towards the Winter Palace to present a petition to the tsar.
A wave of mass political strikes and demonstrations ensued all over Russia, under the slogan of "Down with the autocracy!" The events of January 9 marked the beginning of the revolution of 1905-07.