History

The Long March

Would you march through some of the toughest mountains, rivers and roads to achieve your political aims and goals for your country? The survivors of the famed Long March did this and more. The Long March is one of the most important events in modern 20th century history and the defining moment in the Chinese civil war whereby both sides could have won and the course of history would have been different. In the mid 1930s, the Communist army was on the brink of defeat and had to leave their Jiangxi province base and regroup and head to Shanxi to regroup. 100,000 men set out on the journey to escape the KMT forces and traveled 12,500km by foot. By the time, the survivors had arrived at their destination; they had overcome 11 provinces, 18 mountain ranges, and 24 rivers. Over the course of the march, Mao gained an overall grip on the leadership and the legend of the long march survivors was born.