Tiananman Square 

Background: 

China under martial law took place in Tiananmen Square  on April 15, 1989 just outside of Beijing, China. Mostly students protesting led the march. The martial law took place because the people in Beijing were demanding more democracy. The march continued on until June 4, 1989 when Chinese military fought their way into Beijing and crushed the movement killing hundreds of people.^[1] At the height of the movement over 1 million people marched in the streets of Beijing.^[2] Martial law is a temporary government controlled by the military authorities of a territory or state. It is proclaimed when it is necessary for the public's safety. Also martial law applies to all people and stays in power until the incident is resolved.^[3] The system of rules of government applies only to those in the military service.  The martial law does not exist if the civil government remains in power, but uses military forces to maintain order.^[4] Tiananmen Square is between the Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tiananmen) and the Front Gater (Qianmen). There are two gates that mark a walled approach to the Imperial city. Tiananmen Square is approximately 1,000 acres. It is the world's largest urban public square and major tourist attraction.^[5]

Significance:

This event was significant because so many people world wide heard about the event that occurred. Today still, China hides all information that was written about Tiananmen Square. They are hiding this information because they don't want people to know that they had issues in theirs country. They don't want other countries to know that they still have problems that need to be fixed and that they still have a long way before becoming a country like the U.S. This was a significant event because many people in China wanted to receive more democracy, so many people started a protest and it put a bad name on China. Another reason why is because many people in China still do not know that this event occurred and the Chinese Government was trying to act like nothing happened when something actually did happen,which was the march in Tiananman Square.