A Day the World Changed

June 4th, 1989 was a Big Day; We Seldom Recognize It

Most of us recognize momentous days. For instance, on June 6th, 1944, eighty years ago Thursday, the Allied Forces began an amphibious assault on Normandy, re-establishing themselves on the European continent and opening up a western front in against the Nazis in World War II. That day, and the many who sacrificed during those hellish hours, did nothing less than save the world. That’s a momentous day. We genuinely recognize what they did and appreciate it. ¹

But we don’t really recognize the world changing events that happened on June 4th, 1989 quite as often. There are reasons for that, but let’s get into what occurred on that date first.

Poland Ousts Communism

Poland and all the Eastern Bloc countries bordering the former Soviet Union were all monolithically communist, ruled by authoritarian cronies of the Kremlin. Following WWII, when everyone else went home, Stalin and the occupying Soviet forces stayed. Whatever Moscow wanted in these countries, Moscow got. They were essentially occupied countries in all but name.

At the beginning of the 1980s, Polish laborers (mostly dockworkers and shipbuilders) began striking against the communist government, wanting greater liberties. Led by Lech Walesa and the Solidarity movement, the unions grew in popularity over the decade until they attained enough political power to actually force parliamentary elections. In April, 1989, Poland announced the Communist Party would no longer have a monopoly on party elections. Those elections, held on June 4, 1989, went decidedly in Solidarity’s favor. They won EVERY seat they were allowed to contest in the Polish assembly and all but one Senate seat (an independent won that). It was a resounding defeat for the communists, and demonstrated how truly anti-communist the country had become. The former Soviet Union was crumbling. The social reforms that Gorbachev (Glastonost) advocated and economic reforms (Peristroika) had opened up opportunities; voters in Soviet satellite countries no longer wanted to take their cues from the east.

The Polish elections were but the first in a series of events over the summer that would eventually lead to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of Soviet Communism around the globe.

China Cracks Down in Tiannemen Square

Tianneman Square in Beijing, at 4.7 million square feet, is one of the largest city squares in the world. In 1989, due to the death of a pro-reform President, Hu Yaobang, during a period of growing economic and social freedom, many in China felt anxious. A large group of young protesters, mindful of the growing economic disparities, and the fear of backsliding against social reforms, took to the square in protest. Most wanted greater freedoms, more democratic and political due process, and more economic opportunities. Starting in April, the protests continued to grow in size and discontent, reaching over a million people. The protests also spread to squares in other Chinese cities as well, fueling a growing anti-government movement.

On the evening of June 3, 1989, after failing to reach a peaceable solution to disperse, the Chinese Politburo declared martial law and on the morning of June 4th, began violently cracking down on the protesters. Tanks were brought into the square and armed military were given approvals to evict the protesters by force if necessary. Thousands died in a bloody masssacre. The lasting moment of the event, the picture at the top of the page of a single man standing in front of a line of tanks, has become a symbol around the world. To this day, nobody knows who the man was, and in China today, all mention of the massacre are scrubbed or blocked online.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini Died

Khomeini had been a thorn in the side of the United States ever since he returned from exile to Iran in 1979. The storming of the U.S. embassy in Tehran and the subsequent rise to authoritarian power by Khomeini has been a black mark for American hegemony in the Middle East ever since. He enacted a regressive social policy and strict Islamic cultural revolution that turned back the clock in Iran hundreds of years.

So it was with a sense of cautious optimism that things might change in June 4th when the aged cleric died. When his funeral turned into a mass bedlam of pro-reform and hard line forces, it seemed revolutionary anxieties surfaced once more.

Many in and out of the Foreign Service suspected it may be an opportunity for a change of policy or opening of Iranian society again. This would prove disappointing as hard liners quickly took control and maintained it ever since.

So Why Isn’t June 4th Recognized So Much?

All of these events were huge events. Each on their own would be the top headline on any newspaper around the world (in most, the Tiannemen Square Massacre and that picture of the lone protester was the top story). It’s not often that days happen where so many consequential events seemingly occur at the same time.

However, the reason may be because these very events were in the end not as consequential as they were on first glance, or were overshadowed by others. Tianneman Square is known throughout the world for the draconian measures taken by the Chinese government against its own people. After a short duration of economic sanctions, the world shrugged and realized they were willing to look the other way for access to a market with a billion people in it and growing economic wealth. In Iran, everyone hoped for change but none ever materialized. There have been glimmers of opportunity here and there, usually sparked by a crackdown or some event, but in the end the Iranian Republic has been able to maintain control each time. As for the Polish elections, those were VERY consequential, the first in a line of dominoes that lead directly to the Berlin Wall falling. But most don’t remember how it started, they remember the big finish.

1989 was one of the single most consequential years in modern history. That so much happened on a single day and we hardly remember tells you all you need to know about what we think of those events, and how little impact they seem to have on the thoughts and minds of people today. I can think of nothing sadder.

PurpleAmerica’s Recommended Stories

Revolution 1989 is one of my favorite books, documenting the closing of the Cold War and culminating with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990. It’s actually broader than that, giving a day by day takedown of how hundreds of little events around the globe slowly and slowly added up until the world turned upside down. It is definitely worth your time.

PurpleAmerica’s Cultural Corner

Few movies get the Cold War right. Movies that came out at the time played it up and now looking back they seem more emblematic of their time than they do some sort of historical re-creation. Others use the songs and movies and events of the time as a backdrop meant to seemingly put you there, but more often than not it all seems inauthentic.

But one that DOES get it right, and is one of my favorite films of all time, is the movie “The Lives of Others.” The German winner of the Best Foreign Film Oscar, it takes place in the early 1980s in East Germany. A Stasi officer and interrogator is assigned to monitor a bohemian couple to try and dig up information that would chuck the man in a prison and free up the woman to be scooped up by some high level communist apparatchik. Everything about this, from the way people talked in subtleties, to the oppressive feeling of society, to the open scenes at the end after Germany is reunified feels genuine. It’s a stellar film.

PurpleAmerica’s Obscure Fact of the Day

The protests presented an embarrassing pickle for the Chinese government during a visit from the Soviet Union’s Mikhail Gorbachev, the first visit from a leader of China’s communist peer in 30 years. The Chinese had scheduled a state banquet in the Great Hall of the People at the edge of the Square in May, as the protests raged. Gorbachev ended up having to go ignominiously through the back door to avoid the protests.

PurpleAmerica’s Final Word on the Subject

“He who puts his hands to stop the wheel of history will quickly have his fingers crushed.”

—Lech Walesa

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Footnotes and Fun Stuff

1. Except for Donald Trump, who at the 75th anniversary of D-Day asked his Chief of Staff, “I don’t get it, what was in it for them?” and then refused to attend another cemetary commemoration because it was raining and he thought veterans, with their amputated limbs and gravestones “made him look bad.”