Causes Of The Tiananmen Square Massacre

The shootings that occurred at Kent State University, Ohio, on May 4, 1970 have been a dark spot in American history for almost 36 years. It is a day remembered by many names, THE KENT STATE SHOOTINGS, MAY 4 or the KENT STATE MASSACRE. Four students were killed and nine were wounded, all of America suffered.

On April 27, 1989, hundreds of Chinese protestors took a stand against the oppressive and corrupt government to fight for reform and democracy by occupying Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. The protests were preceded by a memorial for Hu Yaobang, a Communist leader unpopular amongst Party members for his liberal ideas and lack of enthusiasm for Marxism and Maoism. Marxism is the political theories of Karl Marx which became the basis of Communism and the inspiration for Mao Zedong to create Maoism. Approximately 100,000 students had traveled to Tiananmen Square for Hu Yaobang’s memorial. Following the memorial, students presented a petition to meet with Premier Li Peng which the government refused. This led to a boycott of universities but also led to more demand for democracy. Catalyzing the protests was the unfair treatment of the Chinese people at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party. Along with students, civil servants, scholars and laborers joined the protests, risking their lives, jobs and reputations. By June of 1989, negotiations were in place to end the protests, now amounting to over a million people and for democratic reform. Mao Zedong had ordered troops

According to Document C , the most fundamental concept of democracy “ is the idea that the government exists to secure the rights of the people and must be based on the consent of the governed ”.In the spring of 1989, Chinese university and high school students along with other protesters gathered in Tiananmen Square to protest against government. The protesters called out the government on corruption and demanded for a democracy. The results of Tiananmen Square was that the United States imposed diplomatic and economic sanctions on China. When the nation is based on consent of the governed, the ultimate authority is the people.

The Tiananmen Square massacre happened on June 4, 1989. Chinese troops arrested and killed many pro-democratic protesters at the Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Young students were the majority of the protesters and they wanted the Chinese Communist Party to stop corruption. The protests started in May and continued into June, where they became more violent. When the troops opened fire on the protesters, some fought back. Grace’s description of the massacre was very accurate. She described it as very violent and the troops ran over protesters with tanks. Grace and her Mom went to the

April 20th, 1999, Columbine High School. 2 students went on a brutal killing spree, open firing on the their school. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 of their classmates and 1 teacher. 18 years later, finally healing and having a glorious day off from school to mourn those who died that fateful day. Not just being a day off though, the brutal massacre held up many more legacy’s as well.

Though termed the Tiananmen Square Massacre, this incident actually took place throughout China. What started out as a peaceful protest calling for political and economic reforms, soon turned to bloodshed. (Hu 2015)This greatly impacted China's international relationships. Contact between China and Western nations declined, official visits were suspended. Western powers imposed arms embargoes and economic sanctions, preventing the sale of military equipment, and approval of loans. (The National Bureau of Asian Research) Understanding the causes of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, and its effects on China’s international relationships, aids in better understanding the nuances of this infamous incident.

After the Revolutionary war, many countries were influenced by the Declaration of Independence. During the year of 1989, protesters and students from a Chinese university crowded Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The group protested against the corruption of government and demanded a change to democracy. Unfortunately, the group was suppressed and the protest ended in tragedy, about 3,000 people were

The event that I chose was the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City by an ex-Army soldier and security guard named Timothy McVeigh. He parked a rented Ryder truck in front of the building loaded with a powerful bomb made out of a deadly cocktail of agricultural fertilizer, diesel fuel, and other chemicals. The bomb went off at 9:02 a.m. When the smoke cleared the area looked like a war zone. Half of the building had been reduced to rubble, surrounding cars were incinerated and nearby buildings were damaged or destroyed. The death toll was very devastating: 168 people, including 19 children were killed that day not to mention several hundred more injured in the blast. The bombing was considered the worst act of homegrown terrorism in the nation’s history (fbi.gov).

In the town of My Lai on March 16, 1968 was not a day you would be wanting to visit. U.S troops were ordered to conduct a massacre killing 500 plus innocent old men, women, and children.

From my perspective, the Tiananmen massacre of 1989 was not justified. The students and protestors protested because they had a strong agreement of opposition about their current Chinese government system that needed to be addressed. They wanted democracy for more individual rights and freedom. Even though illegal organizations were violating laws such as forcibly occupying the Tiananmen Square and vandalizing establishments, it does not justify the poor government attempt to control the riots with fully armed military soldiers. The government, Chinese Communist Party and the military was suppose to improve China’s economy and unity, and serve the citizens. Instead they ended up massacring civilians and fueling the already violent protest (rioters

With thousands left wounded, a seemingly countless number of citizens reported dead, and a country left with a reputation in jeopardy. All of these were the consequences of a shocking and devastating event which happened on the 4th of June 1989, the Tiananmen Square massacre. Overtime this has been viewed as a major turning point in Chinese history. It catalyzed movements for generations across the world.

The location acts as a symbol of national power to the government, aided by the historical significance of the location to the Chinese Culture. Ai Wei Wei addresses/warns his audiences of the dangers that the power of the Chinese Communist Regime has attained. Ai Wei Wei references the events of June 4th 1989, also known as the Tiananmen Square massacre in which student protestors were targeted by the Chinese military from orders of the Communist government. Ai Wei Wei captures this social change to once again warn society and his audiences to the devastating power that the government has on the Chinese population and wishes to warn audiences of possible future possibilities to his

One of such events that shook the world became the student protest on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, in 1989 which eventually

The Shanghai (Xinjiang) Riots and Tiananmen Square Massacre were a direct result from government corruption. The Shanghai (Xinjiang) riots developed around 1994. It began with about 10,000 “incidents” with 730,000 participants, it grew to 74,000 “incidents” with 3.8 million participants. There have been many casualties or as referred to by the government “incidents” by these riots, in 2000, there were 5,500 and in 2003 there were 58,000. These riots are due to overworked textile workers striking, villagers trying to keep their land from being taking over, but mostly because of poor victims of the transition to a market economy. This was directly a cause of government corruption due to unequal distribution of wealth and police abuse. A rioter stated “people can see who corrupt the government is while they barely have enough to eat.” However, this problem originated before those riots occurred. 5 years before that happened; a more famous incident took place, the Tiananmen Square Massacre. July 4th, 1989, thousands of students gathered outside Tiananmen Square to protest for a more democratic government. Chinese government sent officials

The bloody body of a dead student removed from the street right after the Tiananmen Square crackdown on June 4, 1989. Web page http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/china/china.html