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 to the north 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 about 90,000 soldiers who started the march had ultimately made it to the final destination of the Yan'an in 1935. 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 (八路軍) (and later People's Liberation Army (人民解放軍), 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.
The Long March was also a significant event which solidified Mao's role as the undisputed leader of the CCP. Many participants of the March also went on the become prominent party leaders. Besides Mao and Zhou, they are Liu Shoqi, Zhu De, Lin Biao and Deng Xiaoping.