Hey /his/torians.
I know this seems like a really dumb question for someone who found themselves on /his/ to ask, but I was wondering if anyone could explain the background to the Tank Man photo? More specifically, the Tianamen Square protests. I've read about it, on Wikipedia and what-not, but never really understood it other than it was a protest by college students against political repression in China.
Thanks.
>>1401990
Here's a quick summary:
>Communist Party lets blacks from Africa attend Chinese Universities to bolster Sino-African relations
>Chinese college students hate blacks and protest
>Protests spread to the point that students convene in the capital to complain
>Government offers concessions, but students are too drunk on power to stop now
>Government sends in tanks
>Jerk walks in front of the tanks. The tanks try to drive around him. He keeps on walking in front of them to force them to keep on turning.
>>1402029
I think there was a bit more to the student protest than racism. Let's talk about the rest of the agenda, and the hunger strikes that led up to the demonstration.
From what I understand, which isn't much.
>China has been gradually reforming since the Mao era
>USSR begins to collapse
>Chinese students, and other middle class people begin to wonder whether they can also experiment with democracy
>the answer is no
>>1402093
It was connected directly to too much civil freedom for the radicals in society, and the inspiration of the East European anti-Communist protest movements of the late 80's.
>>1402103
>experiment with democracy
This is a Western media meme. Most of the protesters gave zero fucks about democracy. They wanted more monetary freedoms and more government-provided privileges.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeFzeNAHEhU
THE ABSOLUTE MADMAN
>>1401990
>it was a protest by college students against political repression in China.
It was mostly a protest for more economic liberalization and government-provided priveleges like state jobs and university slots.
The "political repression" meme, is a meme.
Had many of the deaths in that protest happened by the time tank man did his thing, or did the gov't mow down a few hundred unarmed people after this?