A Brief History
On June 16, 2019, over 2 million people in Hong Kong protested the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance, an extradition law enacted by the Chinese communist government of Hong Kong as well as alleged police brutality. The protests had started over a variety of reasons months earlier and continued until disrupted by the pandemic of 2020.
Digging Deeper
Ever since Hong Kong reverted to Chinese control in 1997, protests have been a frequent event on that fabled island and its associated territory. Some other massive protests vying for the “largest” in history include:
The Baltic Way human chain across the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, when at least 2 million people joined hands for a 430 mile long chain to protest against the communist governments.
Earth Day in 1970, when 20 million Americans took to the streets to demonstrate for the environment.
And, the Indian Farmers Protest of 2020-2021, when 250 million Indians demonstrated against produce policies.
Question for students (and subscribers): What would you call the biggest protest? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see..
Deol, Sir-Inder. The Indian Farmers Protest (The Resistance Collection): The Largest Protest in Human History 2020 – 2021. TDF Books, 2022.
Yeung, Bernard. Hong Kong’s 2019-2020 Social Unrest: The Trigger, History And Lessons. World Scientific, 2020.
The featured image in this article, a photograph by Studio Incendo, is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.
