It took the Chinese army until 4th June to completely clear the square of the protesters for democratic reform. Hundreds were killed and thousands arrested.

Trouble had started back in April 15, following the death of Hu Yaobang who had supported democratic reforms. 100,000 students and protesters took to the streets to mourn his passing. A group of students requested a meeting with Premier Li Peng on April 22nd to discuss democratic reforms, but were refused, and thus students boycotted universities across the nation.

They congregated in Tiananmen Square where, by the middle of May, the crowd had growing to close to a million.

Martial law was declared on May 20th.

The authorities moved to the military option after talks stalled on 3rd June. Infamous pictures of students blocking the army's progress (one man stood in front of a tank) flashed around the world.

The West, for a very short time, imposed economic sanctions, but by the end of 1990 trade had resumed again.