Matt's Today in History: The Tiananmen Square Massacre, June 4, 1989. Listen here Today in 1989, elements of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army entered Tiananmen Square with the intention of ending the massive protests occurring there. This marked the beginning of the end of the unrest both in Beijing and in other cities across the country. Tiananmen Square is located near the center of the city of Beijing and is named after the Tiananmen, or Gate of Heavenly Peace, located at the northern end of the Square. With a total area of over 526,000 square yards, it is the largest publicly accessible square on Earth. The Square was created in the early years of the 20th century, but was not enlarged to its present size until the 1950’s.
During the decade of the 80’s, a series of reforms were put into effect in China in hopes of creating a market economy and creating a more open and pliable political system. Another group was also against the reforms, but only because they believed they had gone too far. By 5:40AM on June 4th, Tiananmen Square was cleared. Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. From New World Encyclopedia The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 culminating in the Tiananmen Square Massacre (referred to in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident, to avoid confusion with two other Tiananmen Square protests) were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in the People's Republic of China (PRC) between April 15 and June 4, 1989.
They were mainly led by Beijing students and intellectuals. The protests occurred in a year that saw the collapse of a number of communist governments around the world. The protests were sparked by the death of pro-market and pro-democracy official, Hu Yaobang, whom protesters wanted to mourn. The movement lasted seven weeks from Hu's death on April 15 until tanks cleared Tiananmen Square on June 4. Naming of incident Background Tiananmen Square as seen from the Tiananmen gate in 2004. Some students and intellectuals believed that the reforms had not gone far enough and that China needed to reform its political system. Protests escalate.
Chinese students begin protests at Tiananmen Square — History.com This Day in History — 4/21/1989. Six days after the death of Hu Yaobang, the deposed reform-minded leader of the Chinese Communist Party, some 100,000 students gather at Beijing's Tiananmen Square to commemorate Hu and voice their discontent with China's authoritative communist government. The next day, an official memorial service for Hu Yaobang was held in Tiananmen's Great Hall of the People, and student representatives carried a petition to the steps of the Great Hall, demanding to meet with Premier Li Peng.
The Chinese government refused such a meeting, leading to a general boycott of Chinese universities across the country and widespread calls for democratic reforms. Ignoring government warnings of violent suppression of any mass demonstration, students from more than 40 universities began a march to Tiananmen on April 27. On June 3, with negotiations to end the protests stalled and calls for democratic reforms escalating, the troops received orders from the Chinese government to reclaim Tiananmen at all costs.
What does the Chinese government say happened at Tiananmen Square? This week marks the 20th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Western media characterize the incident as a brutal government crackdown on peaceful protesters. What does the Chinese government say about it? Very little. Neither the 1989 protests nor the ensuing massacre is included in Chinese textbooks, and many students today have never heard of these events. For the most part, the government avoids discussing the issue at all. The government does acknowledge that the People's Liberation Army intervened after seven weeks of demonstrations and that people were killed.
But the official line is that, rather than crushing a peaceful protest, the military simply defended itself—and the country—against violent counterrevolutionary elements. The state did give its own version of events immediately after the violence in 1989. Since then, the government's attitude toward Tiananmen Square has shifted from countermessaging to dismissal.
Got a question about today's news? BBC ON THIS DAY | 4 | 1989: Massacre in Tiananmen Square. 1989: Massacre in Tiananmen Square Several hundred civilians have been shot dead by the Chinese army during a bloody military operation to crush a democratic protest in Peking's (Beijing) Tiananmen Square. Tanks rumbled through the capital's streets late on 3 June as the army moved into the square from several directions, randomly firing on unarmed protesters. The injured were rushed to hospital on bicycle rickshaws by frantic residents shocked by the army's sudden and extreme response to the peaceful mass protest. Demonstrators, mainly students, had occupied the square for seven weeks, refusing to move until their demands for democratic reform were met. The protests began with a march by students in memory of former party leader Hu Yaobang, who had died a week before. But as the days passed, millions of people from all walks of life joined in, angered by widespread corruption and calling for democracy.
Tiananmen-1989. Tiananmen, April-June 1989 'SONG OF TIANANMEN SQUARE' by David Rice - HEAVENLY PEACE Can a single human being make a difference? Can he or she stop the forces of evil dead in their tracks? A courageous young man captured the imagination of the whole world, when he singlehandedly stopped the advance of a tank column by standing in its way... Support Democracy in China and Christus Rex et Redemptor Mundi, a private, non-profit organization, have assembled a pictorial history of Tiananmen 1989.
The heroic fight of thousands of young men and women has played a crucial role in the events that ultimately led to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and in the former Soviet Union. "Victory belongs to us forever! " The Quest for Freedom - 64 images The Confrontation - 65 images The Repression - 57 images The Massacre - June 4, 1989 - 50 images The Worldwide Protest - 37 images Return to Christus Rex home page.