1989 Tiananmen Square protests trying to block the military's advance towards Tiananmen Square. The number of civilian deaths has been estimated variously from 180 to 10,454. Set against a backdrop of rapid economic development and social changes in post-Mao Zedong 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 and 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
Student propaganda during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests throughout the country." Student propaganda during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests During the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 student demonstrators created and distributed a large variety of propaganda. The first of these were memorial posters dedicated to Hu Yaobang, which were placed in Peking University following his death on Saturday April 15, 1989. On April 16th and 17th, pamphlets, leaflets and other forms of propaganda began to be distributed by university students both in Peking University and at Tiananmen Square where large congregations of students began to form in what became the beginning stages of the protest. These were used