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support from intellectuals and teachers. Within a few weeks, the
hunger strike was backed by millions of people. The number of protes-
tors in the square reached half a million. Zhao Ziyang, a moderate who

tried to establish dialogue between the students and the government,
was shortly afterwards forced to resign. Deng Xiaoping's uncompro-
mising attitude forced him to resign, as did the declaration of a state of
war by Deng and almost all the elderly members of the Politbureau.
Their idea that violence was necessary to put down the student protest
led to the bloodiest operation since the brutal days of the Cultural
Revolution.
On the eve of martial law, a huge number of students poured into
Beijing. According to Railway Ministry figures, some 57,000 students
entered Beijing between May 16 and 19 by train alone. The vast crowd
of students, most of whom came from
outside the city, was made up
representatives of 319 separate
T he protest begun
78
schools. The rising numbers in
by university stu-
the square alarmed the govern- dents in
ment even further. The declaration Tiananmen
Square in 1989
of martial law al-
was ruthlessly
punished by
the
Communist
Party.

Harun Yahya - Adnan Oktar