The Long March, 1934
In the mid-1930's, China found itself in the midst of massive political upheaval. In a long struggle known as the Chinese Communist Revolution, Mao Tse-tung's Communist army competed with Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist forces for control of China. Until 1934, the Communist troops, known as the Red Army, had maintained their base in the southeastern province of Kiangsi. In 1934, however, Chiang's Nationalist forces launched the Fifth Encirclement Campaign, a military strategy in which Nationalist forces attempted to annihilate the Red Army. As part of this Campaign, Nationalist forces surrounded the Communist base. This blockade gave Mao Tse-tung and other Communist leaders no choice but to evacuate their base and relocate their troops.
What was the point of this Long march? why did so many people die?
Though the destination was initially undecided, a choice was ultimately made by Communist leaders to relocate their base to the northwestern province of Shensi, which, including detours, required a journey of roughly 8000 miles. On October 16, 1934, 100,000 soldiers of the Red Army forced their way through the Nationalist blockade surrounding their base and began their walk toward Shensi. The soldiers walked for nearly an entire year, averaging between 17 and 26 miles a day. During the course of their journey, soldiers of the Red Army crossed 24 rivers, 11 provinces, and 18 mountain ranges, some at an altitude of 16,000 feet or more. In addition to the barriers of nature, the mostly unarmed soldiers of the Red Army were repeatedly involved in battles and skirmishes with Nationalist troops as they progressed toward their destination. Of the 100,000 soldiers that left Kiangsi, only 30,000 survived to finally reach their new base at Shensi in October 1935.