what was a goal of the student protestors in tianamen square in 1989
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 Set against a backdrop of rapid economic development and social changes in post-Mao China, the protests reflected anxieties about the country's future in the popular consciousness and among the political elite. The reforms of the 1980s had led to a nascent market economy which benefitted some people but seriously disaffected others; the one-party political system also faced a challenge of legitimacy. Common grievances at the time included inflation, limited preparedness of graduates for the new economy, and restrictions on political participation. The students called for democracy, greater accountability, freedom of the press, and freedom of speech, though they were loosely organized and their goals varied.[6][7] At the height of the protests, about a million people assembled in the Square.[8]
Nationalist government The following year, Chiang Kai-shek became the de facto leader of the Kuomintang (KMT). Chiang led the Northern Expedition through China with the intention of defeating the warlords and unifying the country. Chiang received the help of the Soviet Union and the Chinese Communist Party; however, he soon dismissed his Soviet advisors. He was convinced, not without reason, that they wanted to get rid of the KMT (also known as the Chinese Nationalist Party) and take over.[2] Chiang decided to strike first and purged the Communists, killing thousands of them. At the same time, other violent conflicts took place in the south of China where the Communist Party fielded superior numbers and were massacring Nationalist supporters. These events eventually led to the Chinese Civil War between the Nationalist Party and the Communist Party. Chiang Kai-shek pushed the Communist Party into the interior as he sought to destroy them, and moved the Nationalist Government to Nanjing in 1927.[3] Leftists within the KMT still allied to the communists, lead by Wang Jingwei, had established a rival Nationalist Government in Wuhan two months earlier, but soon joined Chiang in Nanjing in August 1927. By the following year, Chiang's army had captured Beijing after overthrowing the Beiyang government and unified the entire nation, at least nominally, marking the beginning the Nanjing Decade.