the
Long
March
It’s the CCP!
Catch them
and kill them!!!
The 5th Campaign
The fifth campaign began in Autumn 1933, and this
time with a new method of exterminating the
Communists.
Chiang Kai Shek
General Hans von Seeckt
All
of my extermination
Hmm…
Why don’t we
campaigns
have this
try a new method
failed…
Wecan
should
try
time? We
surround
again
with the
sameand
the Jiangxi
Soviet
method!
build blockhouses.
The campaign went through 4 phases to
get rid of the Communists. The
Nationalists attacked several times and
got the majority of the Communist’s land.
First Phase
Second
Third
Last
Phase
Phase
Phase
th
th December
GMD
First
11
10
April
GMD
attack
1934
attack
again
GMD
1933
on
onCCP.
GMD
attack
the CCP,
attack
again.
and
again.
take more land
from them. (North of Yiqian)
In
Loss
days
of CCP
they
got
Lichuan.
11 3divisions
ofagain.
GMD
VS 9 divisions of CCP
By late September 1934, CCP is left with only 7
Xiaoshi
CCP
lose
was
more
handed
land
because
to
thelose
GMD,
they
because
are
attacked
of theby the
GMD
win
again,
and
CCP
more
land.
towns.
CCP failing to
Nationalists
and
attempt
Warlords.
to take Xiaoshi themselves.
27th April GMD last attack on Guangchang.
CCP attack
They
get squeezed
on fortifications.
into a smaller region.
GMD succeed. 5500 casualties of CCP defenders.
CCP with heavy casualties, after failing again.
Remaining Communists flee to the South & West.
The fifth campaign was successful.
By October 1934
The CCP lost over half their territory
And
There were 60,000 casualties in the Red Army.
In the CCP…
Otto Braun
Disagreement
between the two
Mao Ze Dong
Fighting against the GMD
head-on is better than the
Red Army retreating and
allowing peasants in these
areas to be captured and
killed. Mao’s tactics are
POLITICALLY WRONG!
The Russian leaders from the Jiangxi Soviet helped Otto Braun win
his new tactics over Mao’s, and eventually Mao was expelled from
the Party’s Central Committee.
However…
Otto Braun’s new tactics were not so
successful.
NEW PLAN
Instead of heading straight like they used
to, they twisted and turned, split into
groups and reformed so that the GMD now
wouldn’t be able to predict their
movements.
In order to cross the Dadu
River the CCP had to capture
the Luting Bridge. The Luting
bridge was a suspension bridge
held up by 13 iron chains.
PROBLEMS
22 brave soldiers swung
across the Dadu river to
the other end by using
the iron chains while
under machine gun fire.
Mao faced a small range of high mountains, called the
Snowy Mountains. He could have chosen a route to the
east of the range but that might have exposed the Red
Army to attack by Chiang's forces.
Other Troubles
The Red Army was also attacked by hostile
Tibetans and Warlords who feared of the Red
Army taking over their territory.
The Long March finally ended in October 1935,
when the Red Army reached Yanan.
CCP’s View on the Long March
The communist who survived the long march were
filled with a renewed sense of hope. Most of the
communist principles were born on the long march,
for example their opinions on unending struggle and
how they believed that they were unfairly targeted,
their unselfishness and how they were fighting for
the peasants and their heroic sacrifices for the
people. The power struggles within the party all fell
to
Mao,who
because
in the
view of that
the common
workers
Those
survived
believed
through some
of
the party,
Mao had
saved
them
fromtototal
divine
intervention
they
were
chosen
carry on the
annihilation.
legacy of communism, so due to these factors on
general the communists believed that the long march
was worth all the toil, and along the way they were
able to successfully spread the ideals of communism
to the workers and the peasants. Survival was now a
viable option, so in their opinion the long march was a
success.
Mao Zedong’s view on the
Long March
Mao Zedong viewed the Long
March to be a victorious part of
the communist revolution. Many
details of his opinion can be
found in the speech he made in
December 1935. In his speech
he refers to the long march as
‘the first of its kind in history’.
He also says that it shows to
the rest of the world that the
‘Red Army is an army of heroes,
while Chiang Kai-shek and his
like are powerless’.
PROPAGANDA
• Mao also referred to the
march as a great form of
propaganda. He said in
his speech that ‘ It (the
long march) has
announced to 200 million
people in eleven
provinces that the road of
the Red Army is their
only road to liberation.’
Poem by Mao
‘The Red Army fears not the trials of the March,
Holding light ten thousand crags and torrents.
The Five Ridges wind like gentle ripples
And the majestic Wumeng roll by, globules of
clay.
Warm the steep cliffs lapped by the waters of
Golden Sand,
Cold the iron chains spanning the Dadu River.
Minshan's thousand li of snow joyously crossed,
The three Armies march on, each face glowing.’
How the GMD felt about the long march
• Initially when the CCP escaped from the JiangXi area
the GMD probably considered it a great victory for the
GMD because the encirclement campaign had forced
the CCP to abandon their base area.
• But the Long March also was a great loss for the GMD
because they no longer had the CCP army trapped.
• Although many lives were lost on both sides, the long
march turned into a great propaganda victory for Mao
because he was able to spread the word of
communism across China. This made Chang Kai Shek
incredibly angry, and also made the GMD realize that
they could not wipe out communism by simply killing
enough people but that they had to win the people
over.
• By 1936 Chang Kai Shek was still trying to wipe out
communists even though his allies, including people in
the GMD, wanted to unite with the communists to fight
the Japanese.
Opinions of other historians
• Some historians, even Chinese ones, consider
the Long March to be a legend, similar to that of
America’s Valley Forge.
• Most Taiwanese historians believe that the long
march is just a great
retreat of the
communists as they
were pushed to
extinction by the
GMD.
• There are many that believe that the Long
March was a defining moment in China’s
history, and a defining moment in Mao’s
career.
• “…Mao was a genius. He saw the
propaganda value of the Long March -- for
the party and his own legacy," said
Edmund Jocelyn, coauthor of the 2006
book "The Long March."
This PPT is by
Derek, Samantha
Ye Lin, Muhammad
Fernando, Alicia