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Death of Hu Yaobang
Former General Secretary of China Hu Yaobang suffers a shock heart attack and passes away -
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Tiananmen Sqaure protests
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Mourning of Hu
Small gatherings of students begin to mourn the death of former secretary Hu -
March to Tiananmen Square
3,000 students from Peking University begin their march to Tiananmen Square rallying support along the way -
Police seize control
Police entered the square to disperse any remaining protestors;minor clashes occured -
Students deny police control
100,000 students ignore police orders and return to the square for Hu's funeral. -
Hu's funeral
Statewide funeral for the former secretary at the grand hall in Tiananmen Square -
Political paper publishes editorial
A political paper worte an article outlining the protestors as opportunists which enraged them and antagonized the students against the state -
Zhao gives sympathetic speeches
Secretary Zhao ZiYang gave two speeches labelling the protests as patriotic and the reasoning of protesting which is to end corruption as legitimate -
Movement weakens
Majority of students end class boycott and lose interest in movement -
Students introduce radical measures
The persisting student union called for more radical measures and began to gather students for the hunger strike -
Hunger strikes
Student-led hunger strikes galvanise support and spreads to 400 cities nationwide -
Hundreds of thousands flock to the streets
Almost a million Beijing residents join the movement and demonstrate their solidarity -
Martial Law
Martial Law is imposed giving the military control over designated areas including central Beijing -
300,000 troops are mobilized to Beijing
Troops are assigned to meet at Beijing awaiting orders -
Premier calls protestors terrorists
Premier Li Peng refers to the protestors as terrorists enraging them and only escalating the protests -
Innocent civilians killed
Police jeep kills three civilians sparking fear of military advancements -
Weapons enter central Beijing
Students and residents catch disguised troops smuggling weapons into the city -
Troops given orders
Authorities give order to clear the square by any means necessary -
Shootings begin
Troops begin to fire at protestors at about 10:30 p.m. -
End of protests
The square is finally cleared early in the morning as troops set up a blockade -
Tiananmen Square is off-limits for another two weeks