Thousands gather in Cairo on anniversary of Egyptian revolution January 25, 2012 -- Updated 0515 GMT (1315 HKT) The mood among people in Cairo's Tahrir Square is somber and tense They gathered to mark the one-year anniversary of the start of the country's revolution Some Egyptians are frustrated with the pace of change after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak There are fears of fresh clashes between protesters and the military on Wednesday Cairo (CNN) -- Thousands of people gathered under rainy skies in Cairo's Tahrir Square early Wednesday, exactly one year after the start of the revolution that ousted longtime Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak but, many say, accomplished little else. The mood among the crowd in the square was somber and tense, not celebratory, amid fears that violence could break out later in the day between protesters and the military. People in the square held banners and chanted against the country's military leaders. Large stages and dozens of tents had been set up amid cold temperatures. The upheaval in Tunisia in January 2011 reverberated out across North Africa and the Middle East, helping to spur the revolution in Egypt as well as uprisings in countries such as Libya, Yemen and Syria. But signs of progress toward a more democratic system in Egypt after the revolution that began in Tahrir Square are mixed with the feeling that the real changes protesters had hoped for have not been realized. Egypt's democratically elected parliament met Monday for the first time since Mubarak was ousted after decades of authoritarian rule. But the country's influential military, which stepped into the vacuum as Mubarak teetered last year, retains much of the decision-making power. Pro-democracy activists, frustrated by what they say is the slow pace of change, have clashed with the military in Cairo's streets in recent months. "It is ironic that the most times I've ever been beaten, the most times I've ever felt the threat of danger, was after Mubarak stepped down," Nour Nour, an activist who was 20 at the time of Mubarak's fall, said in a recent interview. And all of these are very basic indications that the regime that is ruling us at the moment is merely a continuation of the Mubarak regime. In the recent parliamentary elections, established Islamist parties like the Muslim Brotherhood performed much more strongly than the liberal parties that represented some of the protesters. And a new constitution has yet to be drawn up. Some Egyptians have said the hopes forged by protesters in the heady days of January and February last year were always likely to be disappointed. "There were too many expectations," said Hisham Qasim, a newspaper publisher and human rights activist. Raising the expectations was probably the biggest mistake, and media probably have a great part to do with that. CNN's Ben Wedeman contributed to this report.