Tiananmen Square Massacre

The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, widely known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, in China referred to as the June Fourth Incident to avoid confusion with the two other Tiananmen Square protests, are a series of demonstrations led by labor activists, students, and intellectuals in the People's Republic of China (PRC) between April 15 and June 4, 1989.

While the protests lack a unified cause or leadership, participants are generally against the authoritarianism and economic policies of the ruling Chinese Communist Party and voice calls for democratic reform within the structure of the government.

The demonstrations center on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, but large-scale protests also occur in cities throughout China, including Shanghai, which stays peaceful throughout the protests.

In Beijing, the resulting military crackdown on the protesters by the PRC government leaves many civilians dead or injured.

The reported tolls range from 200–300 (PRC government figures), to 300–800 (The New York Times), and to 2,000–3,000 (Chinese student associations and Chinese Red Cross).Following the violence, the government conducts widespread arrests to suppress protesters and their supporters, cracks down on other protests around China, bans the foreign press from the country and strictly controls coverage of the events in the PRC press.

Members of the Party who have publicly sympathized with the protesters are purged, with several high-ranking members placed under house arrest, such as General Secretary Zhao Ziyang.

The violent suppression of the Tiananmen Square protest causes widespread international condemnation of the PRC government.

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