Long March of China, 1934 -A short Summary

Mao Zedong

What is Long March of China:

The Long March China was taken out in 1934 by the Chinese communists under the banner of Mao Zedong to find a safe heaven from the atrocities of the Nationalists. 

After the death of Sun Yat-Sen, father of modern China, two persons came forward with an aim to unite China. One was Chiang Kai-shek, the talented disciple of Sin Yat Sen. Thus, he managed to take the reins of China. The other was Mao Zedong, who was greatly inspired by the philosophy of Vladimir Lenin and Karl Marx. Mao was the commander of the Communist party in China. Initially, both were united to work together for the unification and upliftment of China, but later Chiang began to turn his mind away from Mao and followed a hostile policy towards the communists. As a result, the communists also began to retaliate and set for revolution under the banner of Mao Zedong.

In 1931, Communist leader Mao Zedong finally occupied Jiangxi province in the southeast and established the Soviet Republic of China and became its chairman. An independent state in China was a great challenge for Nationalists. Resultantly, a civil war broke out in China between the Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek and the Communists.

Between 1930 and 1934, the Nationalists launched a series of five campaigns against the Chinese Soviet Republic. Under the leadership of Mao, the Communists employed guerrilla tactics to successfully resist the first four campaigns. But later Auto Brown sent by Stallin became the chairman and Mao was removed. The new Communist leadership employed more conventional warfare tactics instead of guerrilla warfare. He chose to fight in the ground face to face to make the Nationalists realize their power and might. 

However in the fifth campaign, Chiang raised a massive force and built a strong fortification around the Communist positions in Jiangxi province. It was hard for the communists to withstand the force of the Nationalists, Auto Brown suggested for a Long March to a safe place. However it was not that easy. From Jiangxi Province, southern China, finally a long March set out in October 1934 with 80000 communists with heavy luggage.  

However, the nationalists got wind of it and followed the March. But on the way, a war broke out between the two that incurred a heavy loss on the communists. The communists got disappointed from Russian help and replaced Mao Zedong with Auto Brown as chairman of Communist party.

To escape from nationalists, Mao took arduous mountainous route. However nationalists did not give up and, throughout the course, they were fired, attacked and resisted. Finally, with 8000 survivors, Mao Zedong reached Shaanxi Province where he was warmly welcomed by other communists that have come to help them.

The Long March

The Long March lasted from October 16, 1934, to October 19, 1935,, and it killed 90 percent of them. They trekked 6,000 miles over 370 days, and only 8,000 survived out of 80,000 people. Now, Mao Zedong rose as a leader. Modern Chinese Communist mythology celebrates the Long March as a great victory. The Long March also solidified Mao's position as the leader of the Communist forces. It plays such an important role in the Communist Party's history.  

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