Twenty five years ago, almost one million protesters, many of which were students, crowded the streets of Tiananmen Square; however, they were unaware of the tragic consequences they would be forced to face only a few weeks later. The group of protesters held daily vigils, marched, and chanted for three weeks, and then armed Chinese troops stormed through the square. Many of the student protesters tried to escape, however there were a few who chose to fight back against the Chinese forces. According to Marquand, “The victims were not only students, but ordinary people who were outraged that the soldiers of a people’s army had been given warrant to shoot the people” (Hay 47). The Tiananmen Square Massacre remains a significant historical event because it was the first major pro-democracy protest in China, and the incident ignited similar protests across the country.
The events before, during, and after the massacre were both inspiring and tragic. In mid-May 1989, three weeks before the heartbreaking Tiananmen Square Massacre, nearly one million protesters gathered into the square. Most of the pro-democracy protesters were young students. This was the first of three main events that took place during the incident. The next major occurrence took place when the Chinese government sent tanks into Central Beijing. In early June, Chinese troops and security
Chester 2 police charged through central Beijing aimlessly firing into the group of protesters. Most of the young protesters tried to escape, however a few attempted to fight back. “I couldn’t believe that the students were so brave. They rushed at the vehicles. Many were killed” (Hay 142). The cruel killing of the protesters was the final event of the massacre.
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...ssion, also an effect of the brutal killings in Tiananmen Square, occurred in Chicago. Thousands of students from universities in the Midwest marched in this fake procession to mourn the loss of the Chinese protesters.
The protest that occurred in Central Beijing had effects in China as well as many other countries, and it reflected the discontent of the Chinese people toward their government. The Tiananmen Square Massacre was a tragic event, nevertheless it must be remembered in order to prevent similar events from arising in the future.
Works Cited
Hay, Jeff, ed. The Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989. Detroit: Gale Cenage Learning, 2010. Print.
Szczepanski, Kallie. "The Tiananmen Square Massacre, 1989." About.com. About.com, 2014. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
"Tiananmen Square Massacre Takes Place." This Day in History. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
Kelman, Herbert C., Hamilton, V. Lee. “The My Lai Massacre: A Military Crime of Obedience”. Writing & Reading for ACP Composition. Ed. Thomas E. Leahey and Christine R. Farris. New York: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2009. 266-277. Print.
Particularly during the Vietnam War, tensions had been brewing over civil rights and pacifist movements, often headed by young people or students who felt that the government were not listening to their opinions and interests. With the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King, racial tensions came to a head, sparking riots and animosity towards the government, who some perceived as countering or hindering the civil rights movement. The police and National Guard reacted violently to these riots, and in the case of student protests, many of which were peaceful, such during as the 1970 Kent State ‘Massacre’ where four were killed and nine injured during an anti-war demonstration. This was particularly damning as unarmed students were killed, and the reaction was immense. The Kent State ‘Massacre’ made it clear that to many social dynamics, the police, and by extension the government, were becoming the
Ah Xian born in Beijing in 1960 left china following the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989, also known as tank man incident, and moved to Sydney Australia. Having moved from his native country, Ah Xian wanted his work to represent that “cultural identity is permanent and no matter what other places and influences one
of the rape of a 14 year old girl by twenty GIs ... in front of the
In Ukraine there are people that are gathering at the Independence Maiden Square in Kiev. They all gathered at the square to rally against their PresidentYanukovych because he was not doing what they were hoping they will do. The government launched an attack against their own state because of the rallies that are happening. Petrou said, “Kyiv’s Independence Square is a blood-and-shoot warzone” (Petrou 127). Special police units went to the Independence Square, and they started to attack all the demonstrators with clubs, tear gas, and stun grenades. It was estimated that the police battered up 25,000 protesters, and while the police was busy with the protesters, other people went around and seized up some government buildings across the western part of Ukraine. Yulia Tymoshenko, a former Prime Minister, was jailed on dubious charges, but she is a deeply divisive figure among Ukrainians; she urged the people to take the streets to protest the government’s decision on the EU deal. After some time of being jail, she is now free and is walk...
The March on Washington. 2013. The. 23 April 2014 www.history.com/topics/black-history/march-on-washington>. March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Everyday people in China are suffering from their government. From being wrongly accused to being executed for petty crimes. In a country where you cannot speak your opinions, talk poorly about government officials, speak about Chinese communist failures, or even browse the internet freely. China has kept its citizens in the void. One example is the great firewall of china, which sensors most social media and other sites. This essay will go into some individual stories of the Chinese government's unfair social injustices towards its people.
...re massacres, but it serves the purpose of reminding us of what some people have gone through. The Rape of Nanking is important because it shows us what we could be going through, but luckily, we aren’t going through any of what the Chinese had to deal with. Yes, at any time a country could attack the United States and attempt to take over North Tonawanda, but in this day in age it seems more unlikely. I’m not sure if I feel this way because I live in the United States and know my country has a strong and powerful military, but it could be different for other people in other countries. Some may be facing starvation, or poverty, but at least they aren’t getting raped by multiple soldiers, decapitated, and used as bayonet practice. The Rape of Nanking is important because it’s able to tell us to be grateful for our lives now becausewe could have it so much worse.
“Barriers were built around most of the protest sites; in Beijing, subway service was reportedly cut in the student dominated area of the city to prevent anyone from traveling to the location at all.” (Swartz 2)
Chinese Revolution is about making the entire country into Communists and killing each and one the people who hates Mao Tse-Tung. Mao Tse-Tung is the leader of China at this time who believes in equality and everyone should have the same rights. The Red Guards is a military group in which includes a group of children that eliminates the Chinese population due to hatred for Mao. If any of these events happen to our generation, most youth are smart enough to know that Mao is a bad leader and killing innocent people by the case of bitterness for Mao is wrong. The Chinese youth got swept up in the Cultural Revolution by Mao because the youth were easy to persuade into doing something. To expand this idea further, the Chinese youth weren’t old enough, not on this specific age, to realize whether Mao’s actions were virtuous or inaccurate. On the other hand, they thought that working for Mao and joining the Red Guards will help their country out, but they never knew the truth behind Mao’s plans. The truth about the Cultural Revolution was to kill anybody that gets in the way of Mao’s plans and destroying all the old buildings so that it would be replaced with new buildings or reconstruct the old buildings to become brand new again. In addition, the Chinese youth had no idea that joining the Red Guards will give a highly chance of getting killed. In other words, the adults were smarter than the youth because joining the Red Guards means the opposite of helping the country out. Mao just made them think that joining will help their country, even though it was the other way around like someone apologizing to their neighbor in which manipulating their minds that they’re now cool, but they were still rude to them afterwards. To repeat this, t...
... to keep their opinions to themselves. It would take years for them to find their voice again. Not, only did this movement silence millions, but it was also the moment for many Chinese, when the cracks in the party started to show. The man who had been revered as a god, had made a mistake, and people started to question themselves and their beliefs.
The 1960s and early 1970s were a complicated era were young adults offered serious critique about major aspects of the nation. In 1960s and 1970s, students were involved in movements like the civil rights movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement, and the women’s movement. In essence, those movements reformed the government policy and changed almost every American life today.During the 1960s and early 1970’s students protesters sought to fix issues they endured in society. For instance, the student protesters aimed to gain more democracy. Nonetheless, it is not very easy to just demand aspects and hope they will come true. Furthermore, those student protestors faced problems and obstacles. In attempt of facing issues they choose nonviolence
Walder, Andrew G. The Beijing Red Guard Movement: Fractured Rebellion. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009.
The Rape of Nanking, also known as the Nanking Massacre was a six week period when mass numbers of Chinese men and woman were killed by the Japanese. Embarrassed by the lack of effort in the war with China in Shanghai, the Japanese looked for revenge and finally were able to win the battle. The Japanese moved toward the city of Nanjing also known as Nanking and invaded it for approximately six months. Even though the people of Nanjing outnumbered the 50,000 Japanese, they were not as masterful in warfare as their opponents. Chinese soldiers were forced to surrender to the Japanese and the massacre began in which around 300,000 people died and 20,000 women were raped. The Japanese leaders had different methods of killing that were instructed to the soldiers. However, the prisoners of this “City of Blood” soon found their liberation and their justice was served.
This was one of the many protests that were led by the civilians of the P.R.C. in the latter half of the 1980s that protested the communistic government that was in place which sought to have a democratic government established. However, it took a turn for the worse when the Chinese military started firing on the pro-democracy protesters on June 4, 1989 and killed hundreds of them (Richelson and Evans). This massacre caused the U.S. President George Herbert Walker Bush to announce sanctions on China that prevented the U.S. and China from commercially selling weapons to each other (Richelson and Evans). This differed from the past actions of former presidents in that they did not send troops over to defend the people of China like they did in sending troops to South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.