In mid-April, 1989, students gathered in China's historic Tiananmen square in a hunger protest for democracy. The protests would grow, gather support from their countryman, and shake the Communist country to its core. And they would end in bloodshed, as the Chinese army used live ammunition and tanks to clear the square.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view."The tank man" became an international symbol of the protests for Democracy in Tiananmen Square in 1989. The man, holding his groceries, stopped a column of tanks. He was arrested and has never been fully accounted for, or named.Arthur Tsang/Reuters
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Students started a mass rally in Tiananmen Square, demanding democracy. The protests spread. Here a worker shouts pro-democracy slogans in support of the student hunger strikers.Catherine Henriette/AFP/Getty
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Burned and destroyed armored personnel carriers, Fuxing Road, Beijing, China June 1989.Alon Reininger/Contact Press Images
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Crowds gather near Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China, May 1989.Alon Reininger/Contact Press Images
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.A blood-covered protester holds a Chinese soldier's helmet following violent clashes with military forces during the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989.Shunsuke Akatsuka/Reuters
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Tanks deploy in eastern Beijing, China, June 5, 1989.Liu Heung Shing/AP
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.The protests began on in mid-April and by early June the situation with the government was increasingly tense. On the night of June 3, 1989, the government began to clear the square and fired on the protesters. Catherine Henriette/AFP/Getty
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Students and citizens responded to the government violence with rocks and molotov cocktails. Here a student tries to stop the advance of a burning armored personnel carrier on June 4, 1989.Jeff Widener/AP
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.The official death toll was listed at 200-300, but Amnesty International puts the real death toll at close to 1,000. AP
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Today Tiananmen Square is a symbol of China's vast security apparatus. The country has blocked access to articles and images from the 1989 protests and the brutal crackdown, especially of the famous "tank man."Petar Kujundzic/Reuters
