Great Strike of February 7

The Great Strike of February 7th or Peking-Hankow Railway Workers' Great Strike was a general strike which took place in February 1923.

Great Strike of February 7th Peking-Hankow Railway Workers Great Strike
Part of the first labor movement upsurge in China
After the founding of New China, in July 1951, a public trial sentenced Zhao Jixian to death, who was considered a culprit behind the deaths of the workers. On the walls in the photo, portrayed are Ge Shugui, Wu Zhen, unknown, Shi Yang and Li Xiangqian, who died in the strike.
Date	4th–7th Feb 1923
Location	along the Peking–Hankow railway, mainly Changxindian Subdistrict, Zhengzhou and Hankou
Caused by	At the beginning of the 20th century, Chinese workers were treated poorly and were deeply exploited; The establishment of trade unions was blocked.
Goals	Remove Zhao Jixian, director of the Railway Bureau, and Feng Jun, chief of the southern section; remove and investigate Huang Dianchen; The Road Bureau compensated the loss of 6,000 yuan for the inaugural meeting; Withdraw the garrison of the Zhengzhou branch trade union, return the plaque to the Federation of Trade Unions and apologize; Set Sunday and one week off during the lunar new year as paid rest days.
Methods	Strikes, processions, collective agreements, solidarity actions and picketings
Resulted in	Failed. Wuhan, Changxindian, and Zhengzhou were under martial law. The Beiyang Army and police entered Jiang'an and Changxindian to intervene and disperse the striking workers. Before the National Revolutionary Army's Northern Expedition to liberate Wuhan, the trade unions went underground.
Parties
Chinese Communist Party Kuomintang Beijing-Hankou Railway Federation of Workers' Unions Workers of Peking-Hankow railway Zhili clique Peking-Hankow Railway Bureau
Lead figures
Zhang Guotao Xiang Ying Chen Tanqiu Luo Zhanglong Lin Yunan Lin Xiangqian Yang Defu Shi Yang Wu Peifu Cao Kun Xiao Yaonan Zhang Housheng Zhao Jixian Feng Yun Drucker
Casualties and losses
52 dead 200 or more injured

Zhengzhou Memorial Tower for Great Strike of February 7 in Zhengzhou, Henan

At the beginning it was only an internal rally, but under the intervention of Beiyang cliques it eventually developed into a general strike. The situation uncontrollably escalated into bloody clashes in which soldiers and police shot workers, 52 of whom were killed. In the strike also about hundred people injured and thousands of workers were expelled.

See also

• Beijing–Hankou railway
• Protest and dissent in China