"The students asked me what we were going to do next. I wanted to tell them that we were expecting bloodshed, that it would take a massacre, which would spill blood like a river through Tiananmen Square, to awaken the people. But how could I tell them this? How could I tell them that their lives would have to be sacrificed in order to win?" ~Chai Ling, student protest leader
Massacre
Students and workers were taking a stand for democratic reform all over China. Almost all of China's people wanted reform, but the Chinese government would not allow it. Premier Li Peng thought that he was losing control of China. Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev's visit to China from May 16 to May 18 was disrupted by the protests and hunger strike in Tiananmen Square, which was an embarrassment for the Chinese government. Peng declared martial law on May 20, giving the government the ability to crackdown on the protesters and stop the demonstrations. On June 3 and June 4, 1989, the Chinese army forced the protesters to leave the Square. Protesters and civilians went to the streets and blocked the soldiers from entering the Square. The soldiers started firing into the crowds to make way (Burgan). This was the beginning of the massacre that went on into the night and the next day. Protesters were shot and killed or wounded every minute this was going on. Many wounded protesters were carried off the streets by bikes and motor vehicles. Hundreds, even thousands, of people died and even more were wounded. (Archive)
(Kristof, "Troops Attack")
"Shots in the front line caused panic. The young man in front of me fell dead. I fell over him." ~BBC News reporter (Archive)