China: The Protest at Tiananmen Square and the "Tank Man"

1989

From April 15 until June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square played host to the largest political protest in Communist China?s history.

On April 15, 1989, thousands of students flocked to Tiananmen Square to express their sadness at the death of reformist General Hu Yaobang, and their dissatisfaction at the pace of political change in China. In the weeks that followed, thousands more joined the protest in Beijing and inspired countless movements around the country.

The government?s appeal for compromise was unsuccessful and, when the demonstrations showed little sign of subsiding, the Chinese government decided on another course of action. From the night of June 3 into the early hours of the following day, People?s Liberation Army tanks pushed into the square in an effort to forcibly remove the protestors. By 6am on June 4, the streets around Tiananmen had been cleared, but not without meeting resistance by one brave man, who obstructed the path of the advancing tanks. The image of an unknown man has become an enduring and symbolic image of the power of one peaceful act in the face of violent oppression.

Both the Chinese people and government struggled to deal with the events of April to June 1989, but the bravery of the protestors as well as ?Tank Man?s? act of defiance inspired a generation. Less than a year after the events in Beijing, people across the Soviet Bloc poured into the streets demanding political freedom.