Mao Zedong had trouble gaining power and rising through the ranks of the Communist Party in the early nineteen thirties. With Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist army closing in on the Communist forces, the Chinese Communist Party was in need of a new leader. The Long March was the event that made Mao Zedong the clear leader of the Chinese Communist Party and later the People’s Republic of China.
Mao Zedong, or Tse-tung, was born in a small, isolated village in Hunan Province on December 26th, 1893 to a wealthy peasant family. As the first son to survive infancy, his parents gave him the name Tse-tung, which means, “to shine on the east”. Mao’s name reflects his parents’ hope and desire for their son to be successful and their belief that …show more content…
They were united in their efforts to unify China and its people under a common cause (Meisner 21). After four years this alliance met a bitter end when in 1927 Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek turned on the Communists and began purging members, in a single year membership for the Communist party went from 58,000 to less than 10,000. This sparked a civil war between the Communists and the Kuomintang, which forced the smaller, weaker Communist Party to retreat to the countryside and rely on rural peasants for support (Meisner 28). The betrayal of the Kuomintang and subsequent decimation of Communist Party members left the Chinese Communist Party broken, without a clear leader. This was Mao’s chance to prove himself as a strong leader in the Communist Party. Mao needed to gather supporters to strengthen the Party and develop some battle strategies for the Communist forces. Mao used force and cunning to gain favor and support of peasants by implementing class struggle tactics to inspire support (Spence 375). Mao spent time developing battle strategies and tactics. He felt that guerilla warfare tactics were the best option for the forces he was commanding. Guerilla warfare uses quick and violent blitz attacks by smaller groups of constantly moving troops on usually larger, more traditional militaries (Fairbank 304). This tactic did not require …show more content…
He was then able to assert himself as a leader and establish a new, more powerful Communist base. On October 15th, 1934 the Chinese Communists decide to leave their base in Jiangxi to escape the Nationalist troops that were closing in. The Communists wanted to seek and establish a new base in the north, on the edge of the Nationalist’s power center (Fairbank 305). The Communists departed Jiangxi in October 1934 with about 100,000 men, 85,000 troops and 15,000 government and party officials. In the beginning of the Long March, Mao was not asked to lead or develop battle strategies. Even though Mao’s guerilla tactics had proven successful in the past, the army leaders decided to use more traditional positional warfare tactics in the beginning. This tactic of the army standing ground and fighting as opposed to breaking into smaller groups and attacking on a smaller scale is the main reason for the massive causalities suffered at the beginning of the march (Hsu 674). In January of 1935 the Chinese Communist forces reached Zunyi in south central China. There, Communist officials held the Zunyi conference from January 15th to January 18th. During this conference Mao was named a full member of the ruling standing committee of the Politburo and the chief assistant for military planning (Spence 407). Mao used this promotion as a step in catapulting him to further and greater power within the
Mao Zedong, or Tse-tung, was born in a small, isolated village in Hunan Province on December 26th, 1893 to a wealthy peasant family. As the first son to survive infancy, his parents gave him the name Tse-tung, which means, “to shine on the east”. Mao’s name reflects his parents’ hope and desire for their son to be successful and their belief that …show more content…
They were united in their efforts to unify China and its people under a common cause (Meisner 21). After four years this alliance met a bitter end when in 1927 Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek turned on the Communists and began purging members, in a single year membership for the Communist party went from 58,000 to less than 10,000. This sparked a civil war between the Communists and the Kuomintang, which forced the smaller, weaker Communist Party to retreat to the countryside and rely on rural peasants for support (Meisner 28). The betrayal of the Kuomintang and subsequent decimation of Communist Party members left the Chinese Communist Party broken, without a clear leader. This was Mao’s chance to prove himself as a strong leader in the Communist Party. Mao needed to gather supporters to strengthen the Party and develop some battle strategies for the Communist forces. Mao used force and cunning to gain favor and support of peasants by implementing class struggle tactics to inspire support (Spence 375). Mao spent time developing battle strategies and tactics. He felt that guerilla warfare tactics were the best option for the forces he was commanding. Guerilla warfare uses quick and violent blitz attacks by smaller groups of constantly moving troops on usually larger, more traditional militaries (Fairbank 304). This tactic did not require …show more content…
He was then able to assert himself as a leader and establish a new, more powerful Communist base. On October 15th, 1934 the Chinese Communists decide to leave their base in Jiangxi to escape the Nationalist troops that were closing in. The Communists wanted to seek and establish a new base in the north, on the edge of the Nationalist’s power center (Fairbank 305). The Communists departed Jiangxi in October 1934 with about 100,000 men, 85,000 troops and 15,000 government and party officials. In the beginning of the Long March, Mao was not asked to lead or develop battle strategies. Even though Mao’s guerilla tactics had proven successful in the past, the army leaders decided to use more traditional positional warfare tactics in the beginning. This tactic of the army standing ground and fighting as opposed to breaking into smaller groups and attacking on a smaller scale is the main reason for the massive causalities suffered at the beginning of the march (Hsu 674). In January of 1935 the Chinese Communist forces reached Zunyi in south central China. There, Communist officials held the Zunyi conference from January 15th to January 18th. During this conference Mao was named a full member of the ruling standing committee of the Politburo and the chief assistant for military planning (Spence 407). Mao used this promotion as a step in catapulting him to further and greater power within the