As Burma’s tyranny begins its latest attempt to beat its people into submission, there may be a chance to give the generals pause before the crackdown that began on Wednesday turns into the sort of bloodbath that ended the mass protests of 1988.

It is not a very big chance. The demonstrations that were triggered by a fivefold increase in fuel prices last month have snowballed into a struggle for power. Unlike the 1988 uprising led by students, this challenge is being co-ordinated by a determined alliance of Buddhist monks, who have called for the overthrow of the military junta.