How the United States abandoned Chiang Kai-shek

Pyotr Wuchik: In October 1934, the Chinese Communists began their long march, leaving the eastern provinces of Jiangxi and Fujian to the Nationalist army. For today’s Chinese propaganda, that amounts to more than 10,000. How much is a very heroic chapter trip. How was the truth?

Prof. Paulette Jacob: The Long March became legendary in China and shaped the beliefs of the Communists themselves, becoming a staple of Communist Party myths. This was undoubtedly a significant event, as this march saved Chinese communism from annihilation. But in fact, this walk is nothing more than a great escape, an escape into a completely unknown future. Initially, the sole objective was to evacuate Chiang Kai-shek’s army that had destroyed the semi-communist state in Jiangxi and Fujian provinces. The Communists had come full circle and only knew they had to flee to the periphery of the Soviet border (the Soviets abroad considered Mongolia’s outer border). In this regard, the march was successful, although about 100,000 people left, only one in ten arrived there. In fact, only the leaders completed the march, because the thousands of people who traveled with them to Shaanxi Province rarely walked with them from the beginning.

What happened to the rest of the marchers? Chiang Kai-shek’s soldiers killed them?

not necessarily. Communists were received in many places in central China very reluctantly. For example, when Mao’s army hit the border of Tibet, the queen of one of the local tribes said that she would personally cook anyone who might help the communists alive… The other thing was that many soldiers ran away along the way.

It seems that at that time the Nationalists were very close to completely annihilating the Communists …

Soon after the end of the Long March, Chiang Kai-shek’s forces had the opportunity to completely destroy Mao’s forces, trapping them in their last refuge. It was very close to blowing the “torch” of Chinese communism. The march of the Chinese communists could end in a similar way to what happened to the Greek communists who were looking for help, for example. in Poland. They were saved by an unusual event, known in Chinese history as the “Xian Incident”.