Lhasa uprising

The Lhasa Uprising began March 10, 1959 (Kopel). This uprising was one of the many against the Chinese communist movement that tried to take over Tibet during the 1950s. When the Dalai Lama left Tibet March 10, 1959 because of rumors that he might be abducted, Tibetan monks took to the streets in protest (Kopel). Though the protests were not meant to be violent, they quickly turned when Chinese authorities came to silence them. While most of the fighting took place within the city, the Chinese also focused some of their attention on the country's monasteries because they contained the majority of ammunition and food supplies that fighters used (Patterson). Among those attacked were Sera, Drepung, and Ganden. In terms of numbers, 3,000 Tibetan army men, 10,000 Khampas, and 20,000 Buddhist monks fought against the Chinese communists at the beginning of the uprising (Kopel). By 1967, the Chinese army was able to suppress the uprising (Kopel). The final amount of casualties from this uprising was more than 87,000 people (Kopel).

Timeline Leading Up to Lhasa Uprising:1950: Mao Tse-Teng's Red Army invades Outer region of Tibet1951: Dalai lama signs seventeen-point agreement declaring China's presence in Tibet.1952: Uprisings break out in Eastern Tibet; 68,000 Tibetans and 12,000 fighters from Chinese Nationalist Army.1954: Chinese 18th Army suppress a 25 day revolt.1955-56: Kanting Rebellion (Kopel)

References

* [http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=8,3916,0,0,1,0 Kopel, Dave. “The Dalai Lama’s Army”. National Review, April 5, 2007.]
* [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0305-7410%28196104%2F06%290%3A6%3C81%3ATSIT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-J Patterson, George N. The Situation in Tibet The China Quarterly, No. 6. (Apr.-Jun., 1961), pp 81-86.]
* [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0362-8949%28196007%2929%3A7%3C102%3ACCIOTT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R Ginsburg, George and Mathos, Michael. Communist China’s Impact on Tibet: The First Decade. Far Eastern Survey, Vol. 29, No. 7. (July,1960), pp. 102-109.]