A baby carriage with a child inside rolls down the steps as the crowd runs in panic from the soldiers firing at them… This scene, from Battleship Potemkin, is one of the most iconic in world cinema. The film is about a mutinous Russian naval ship during the Revolution of 1905, which shook the entire empire.
Imperial fleet
The Potemkin, which was the Russian Navy's most powerful and modern ship at that time, stayed in the Black Sea port of Odessa after the uprising, and was joined by a smaller ship that the rebels also managed to take over. The mutiny onboard the Potemkin provoked unrest throughout the city, and government soldiers killed scores of people when quelling the disturbances, although, as some historians argue, the famous scene on the steps never took place.
