Long March

The Long March (長征) was a massive retreat taken by the Chinese Communist Army to evade the pursuit of Kuomintang. The Communist Army, led by Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, was on the brink of complete annihilation by Chiang Kai-Shek's troops in Jiangxi Province in October 1934. A retreat was started which ultimately covered some 8,000 kilometers. The route branched off several threads through perhaps some of the most difficult terrains of China.

Along the way, the Communist Army continued to confiscate properties and weapons from local governments and landloards, as well as recruite peasants and the poor. Nevertheless, only some 20,000 out of more than 90,000 soldiers who started the march had ultimately made it to the final destination of the Shangxi Province. A variety of setbacks contributed to the loss - fatigue, sickness, desertion, to name a few.

However, the Long March proved to be a excellent military maneuver for the CCP as it finally ended, allowing its army to recuperate and rebuild. Following the end of World War II, the Communist Army, a.k.a. Eighth Route Army (and later People's Liberation Army, drove the Kuomintang out of the mainland to the island of Taiwan. Upon the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the Long March has since been glorified as the party's symbol for strength and resilience.

Among participants of the Long March who later became prominent members of the CCP are, besides Mao and Zhou, Liu Shoqi, Zhu De, Lin Biao and Deng Xiaoping.