1966 |
Cultural Revolution begins. |
1968 |
Red Guards sent to countryside. |
1971 |
Lin Biao incident |
1976 |
Deaths of Zhou Enlai (January)
& Mao Zedong (September). Purge of Gang of Four and official end of Cultural
Revolution. |
1978 |
Deng Xiaoping Reform Program
begins. |
1979 |
Democracy Wall. |
1980 |
Trial of Gang of Four. |
1981 |
Hu Yaobang replaces Hua Guofeng
as Party leader. |
1983 |
Campaign against "spiritual
pollution." |
1986 |
Student demonstrations for
political reform. |
1987 |
Hu Yaobang forced to resign, Zhao
Ziyang becomes Party General Secretary. Campaign against bourgeois liberalization. |
1988 |
Li Peng becomes Prime Minister. |
1989 |
Mass movement for democracy,
terminated by June 4 Beijing Massacre. Jiang Zemin replaces Zhao Ziyang as Party leader. |
1992 |
14th Party Congress,
Intensification of market reforms. |
1997 |
Death of Deng Xiaoping, return of
Hong Kong to China |