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This clip shows a house and meeting room at Zunyi, the location of the 1935 Chinese Communist Party meeting. Black-and-white photographs of Mao Zedong and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members at the time of Mao’s rise to power are shown. The narrator points out that after 14 years of direction by the USSR Politburo, the CCP chose a Chinese leader, Mao Zedong. Journalist Tony Lawrence is interviewed and talks about the appeal of a Chinese leader who understood the need to eject the Japanese from China. Black-and-white archival film shows CCP communications in the trenches and the education of soldiers, while the narrator points out some of the successful military strategies undertaken under Mao’s direction.

Educational value points

• The Zunyi Conference, referred to in the clip, was crucial in the rise to power of Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party. Whereas Mao had rarely had the majority of the party supporting him before the conference, now for the first time he was elected supreme leader of the CCP. The conference could also be seen as a watershed in the Long March. Before, the communists had to fight against enemies from all directions. Afterwards, their enemy was principally the inhospitable terrain. Politically from this point on the communists had a clear plan, expressed in their slogan 'Go north to fight the Japanese’.

• The clip describes the ascent to power and the influence of Chinese leader Mao Zedong (1893–1976). Leader of the CCP from 1935 and founder of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Mao brought the communists to power in 1949 after a civil war of more than 20 years against the nationalists. The son of a moderately prosperous peasant farmer, he joined the CCP in the 1920s. As Chairman of the PRC he was responsible for unifying China. He also instituted some economically and politically disastrous policies.

• Mao Zedong’s military strategies are referred to in association with the Sino-Japanese war. Mao anticipated a protracted war with the militarily stronger Japanese. He also anticipated that, while large areas of China would have to be conceded to the Japanese initially, Japan would not be able to control these territories in the long term. This would create power vacuums behind the enemy lines, giving opportunities for the Chinese guerrillas to carry out mobile warfare against the Japanese. From 1937 to 1939 the Japanese advanced rapidly but this was followed by a period of stalemate that only ended in 1945, when foreign aid assisted the Chinese forces to engage in a full frontal counter-offensive.

• The Red Army, shown engaged in warfare, came into being in August 1927 when troops of the Kuomintang (KMT) 4th Army rebelled under the leadership of Zhu De and Zhou Enlai during the Nanchang Uprising. Under Mao Zedong, the army was to have a political and social role propagandising, and arming and revolutionising the masses. The Red Army was engaged in a civil war against the nationalists for more than 20 years.

• Mao Zedong saw the army as not just a force for fighting but also a force for promoting the CCP. This required the education of the forces, as shown in the clip, to go out and in turn educate the peasantry. Mao required the army to treat the peasants well during the Long March and this also helped gain their support.

• The clip mentions the role of cadres in Mao Zedong’s Red Army and shows a cadre communicating the meaning of the struggle to the troops. Cadres, who were officials holding responsible positions, were fully indoctrinated in CCP’s ideology. They communicated key messages to the troops, and helped to build a sense of commitment. The use of a hand-held megaphone, as shown in the clip, emphasises the fact that most of the soldiers in Mao’s army were illiterate.

• Nineteen international photographers retraced the route of the Long March and documented the people and areas they encountered. China: The Long March was published in 1986 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Long March, which set up the new People’s Republic of China. Author of the book, Tony Lawrence, is interviewed in the clip.

This clip starts approximately 20 minutes into the documentary.

Footage shows a house and meeting room at Zunyi, the location of the 1935 Chinese Communist Party meeting.
Narrator A Politburo meeting was called, a meeting which dramatically reversed party policy and reshuffled its leadership. For the first time, after 14 years under the direction of the USSR, the fate of the Chinese Communist Party was to be guided by Chinese communist Mao Tse-Tung.

Black-and-white photographs of Mao Tse-Tung and Chinese Communist Party members at the time of Mao’s rise to power are shown.
Narrator Mao offered a style of leadership that the communists needed – a style that could grip the emotions as well as the intellect, that could identify and plausibly exaggerate the few elements of hope in an otherwise bleak prospect.

Tony Lawrence is interviewed. Footage of the Red Army begins to play.
Tony Lawrence First of all, they would issue a national appeal to the whole of China to fight the Japanese and that was going to be very important later on. That attracted a lot of patriotic people that didn’t care tuppence for politics but who bitterly resented the presence of Japanese troops on Chinese soil – that was one big decision. And then the other decision was that they would not just move in a straight line, which they had been doing. It was fatal if you’ve got air forces waiting for you. You’ve only got to measure your progress on a ruler and they can be waiting for you, which is where they like. After this the Red Army did many diversionary marches and big day tours, avoiding the enemy, drawing the enemy off in one direction while the main force went in another. It became a great series of very complicated movements on the map. But, roughly, those were the two big decisions at Zunyi and, by and large, they paid off.
Narrator From Zunyi on, Maoist thought would greatly influence every aspect of the communists’ struggle. On the battlefield, commanders were to keep men informed of any major decision and be more sympathetic to their problems – a move which would prove to be a major boost to morale. Cadres were continually to espouse the aims of the communist movement to the troops who, in turn, were to pass them on to the peasants, with whom they made contact. Mao also began an educational campaign, using ingenious techniques to create an army that could read and write.