The development of the May 20th Movement

In May 1947, under the leadership of local party organizations, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Peiyang University, Nankai University, Central University and other schools actively organized anti-civil war and anti-hunger committees and launched a massive class strike , marches, and petitions, students shouted the battle slogan "Declare war on hunger! Declare war on those who create hunger!" and posted slogans such as "Civil war will not stop, hunger will not stop." The Kuomintang Chiang Kai-shek clique ignored the voices of the majority of young students and took various measures to suppress the student movement. It urgently promulgated the "Interim Measures for Maintaining Social Order during the Rebellion Period", prohibiting petitions of more than 10 people and all strikes, class strikes, and demonstrations. .

The high-pressure policies of the reactionary Kuomintang authorities have further aroused the students' indignation. Under the leadership of party organizations, many schools are planning to hold larger-scale demonstrations. On May 19, the day after the "Temporary Measures for Maintaining Social Order" were promulgated, more than 7,000 students from 14 schools in Shanghai organized a joint petition to send farewell to the national colleges and universities in Shanghai and Hangzhou to rescue the education crisis. Marches against hunger and civil war were held. The parade held high banners such as "Ask for food from the muzzle of the cannon". On May 20, students from North China, Ningbo, and other places held "anti-hunger, anti-civil war, and anti-persecution" demonstrations in Peking, Tianjin, Nanjing, and Shanghai. The students chanted slogans such as "anti-civil war, anti-hunger, and anti-dictatorship," "oppose military conscription and grain requisition," "increase education funding," and "abolish spy organizations," and actively prepared to launch a class strike on June 2. Teach, strike, strike. Demonstrations in various places were brutally suppressed by Kuomintang agents and military police. That day was the opening day of the third session of the fourth session of the National Political Suffrage Association. The Kuomintang authorities deployed heavy troops in the capital Nanjing to prepare for the joint demonstration. More than 6,000 students from 16 junior colleges and above in Nanjing, Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou who went to Nanjing to hold a joint demonstration were met with water cannons by the Kuomintang military and police. , whips, and sticks, 19 students were seriously injured, 104 were slightly injured, and 28 were arrested; 17 Tianjin students were arrested and nearly 50 were injured; this was the "May 20" tragedy that shocked the whole country.

The Kuomintang caused the "May 20" tragedy in the capital, shocking the whole country. After the tragedy, the Nanjing School Committee, under the instruction of the Nanjing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, held a press conference to report the tragedy, electrify the country, expose the crimes of the Kuomintang authorities, and call on students across the country to unite and fight resolutely against the Kuomintang reactionaries. struggle. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China promptly issued instructions requiring the flexible use of struggle strategies to advance the mass struggle in the direction of opening up the second battlefield in Chiang Kai-shek's area.

According to the instructions of the central government and under the leadership of local party organizations, the movement quickly expanded to more than 60 large and medium-sized cities in the Kuomintang-controlled areas. Students in Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangzhou and other places went on strike to protest against the "May 20th Incident" After the massacre, the anti-hunger, anti-civil war, and anti-persecution movements of students from various places quickly merged into a huge torrent of patriotic and democratic movements, which strongly impacted the reactionary rule of the Kuomintang. Under the influence of the student movement, 68 groups of the Shanghai Federation of People's Organizations issued a declaration on behalf of 400,000 citizens to support the students; Changxindian workers went on strike for three days to support the students; Nanjing workers and citizens actively donated money to the students; the China Democratic League, Peasants and Workers The Democratic Party, National Salvation Association and other party groups have issued statements to support the students' righteous actions and call on the people to rise up and fight. Many university professors and social celebrities jointly issued opinions to protest against the atrocities committed by the reactionary Kuomintang authorities and to support the students' just actions. The student movement received widespread sympathy and support from Chinese and foreign public opinion and all walks of life, and soon formed a patriotic people's movement against Chiang Kai-shek.

In response to the student movements in North China, Nanjing, and Shanghai to rescue the education crisis, under the leadership of the Yunnan Provincial Working Committee of the Communist Party of China, students from Kunming University and Vocational School also launched a struggle to demand an increase in public funding. Seven secondary vocational schools, including Kunhua Polytechnic School and Kunhua Business School, jointly formed the Yunnan Provincial Federation of Publicly Funded Schools and issued an appeal to all walks of life in the city to increase public funding and improve benefits. More than 2,500 students from eight schools including Kunhua Normal University went to the Provincial Department of Education to petition, demanding higher public funds and higher salaries for teaching staff. After a struggle, the provincial education department was forced to agree to improve the treatment of students.

At the same time, Yunnan University issued the "Declaration of Strike for Living Security", proposing to increase public funds, improve the treatment of faculty members, increase national education funding, immediately abolish the four requirements of the "Measures for Maintaining Public Security Order", and decided to strike for 5 days starting from May 21. sky. In order to support the May 20th massacre and protest against the atrocities of the Kuomintang reactionaries, more than 40 universities and middle schools in Kunming announced a one-day strike on June 2. More than 10,000 university and middle school students gathered at the Yunnan University Square to hold anti-civil war and anti-hunger demonstrations. , anti-atrocities conference and held a massive demonstration. The students chanted slogans such as "Begging for food from the muzzle of the cannon", "Oppose the civil war", "Oppose the indiscriminate issuance of money", "Increase education funding", "Severely punish the May 20 murderers", and sang "Those who want to eat, stand together" etc. They sang songs, wrote slogans along the way, and performed makeup performances, gaining support from people from all walks of life. There was even a scene where the police smiled at the students when they wrote slogans on the police box.