Chinese Red Army
 Flag of Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army | |
| Active | 1928 – 1937 |
|---|---|
| Country | Republic of China |
| Allegiance | Communist Party of China |
| Branch | Central Military Commission |
| Engagements | Chinese Civil War |
The Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (traditional Chinese: 中國工農紅軍; simplified Chinese: 中国工农红军; pinyin: Zhōngguó Gōngnóng Hóngjūn), renamed Chinese People's Red Army (traditional Chinese: 中國人民紅軍; simplified Chinese: 中国人民红军; pinyin: Zhōngguó Rénmín Hóngjūn)[1] in 1936, commonly known as the Chinese Red Army, or simply the Red Army (traditional Chinese: 紅軍; simplified Chinese: 红军; pinyin: Hóngjūn), was the armed forces of the Communist Party of China from 1928 to 1937. They were incorporated into the National Revolutionary Army as part of the Second United Front with the Kuomintang to fight against the Japanese when the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937. In the later stage of the Chinese Civil War, they were eventually renamed as the People's Liberation Army.
History
The Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was created on May 25, 1928, at the beginning of the Chinese Civil War. Between 1934 and 1935, the Red Army survived several campaigns against the Nationalist forces who were led by the Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and engaged in the Long March. By the time of the 1934 Long March, numerous small units had been organized into three unified groups, the First Red Front Army (紅一方面軍), the Second Red Front Army (紅二方面軍) and the Fourth Red Front Army (紅四方面軍). When the anti-Japanese war broke out on July 7, 1937, the communist military forces were nominally integrated into the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China forming the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army units. At the time of the Second Sino-Japanese War, it had 1 million armed men.
After the Communist Party assumed power in 1949, veterans of the Red Army have been venerated in Mainland Chinese culture, and are distinguished from those who joined to fight with the Communist Party after the integration with the Nationalists or during the second civil war.
- August 1, 1927: Nanchang Uprising
- 1927: Autumn Harvest Uprising
- 1930 to 1931: First Encirclement Campaign[2]
- 1931: Second Encirclement Campaign[2]
- July 1931: Third Encirclement Campaign[2]
- 1932 to 1933: Fourth Encirclement Campaign[2]
- 1933 to 1934: Fifth Encirclement Campaign[2]
- 1934 to 1936: Long March[2][3]
Main leadership
First Red Army:
- Commander: Zhu De
- Political Commissar: Mao Zedong
Second Red Army:
- Commander: He Long
- Political Commissar: Ren Bishi → Guan Xiangying
Fourth Red Army:
- Commander: Xu Xiangqian → Zhang Guotao
- Political Commissar: Chen Changhao
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