1989 Tiananmen Square protests The nomenclature of the former is consistent with the customary names of the other two great protests that occurred in Tiananmen Square: the May Fourth Movement of 1919 and the April Fifth Movement of 1976. June Fourth refers to the day on which the People's Liberation Army cleared Tiananmen Square of protesters, although actual operations began on the evening of 4 June. Names such as June Fourth Movement (Chinese: , "liù-sì yùndòng") and '89 Democracy Movement (Chinese: , "bā-jiǔ mínyùn") are used to describe the event in its entirety. Outside mainland China, and among circles critical of the crackdown within
Defend Tiananmen Square Headquarters through student pickets and entered the square, demonstrating the inability of the pickets to resist the army. Once the crackdown began, the responsibilities of the pickets widened to include maintaining order during the square’s evacuation, as well as physically protecting the Defend Tiananmen Square Headquarters leaders, which facilitated the escape of Chai Ling, Feng Congde, Li Lu, and Wang Chaohua. Attempting to exercise effective authority, the Headquarters established a central location so that they could create security lines and be found easily. It is important to note that the intended use of these security lines differs between the English and