Long March

The Long March was the retreat of the Chinese Communist Red Army from its bases in southern China in 1934–35, after Chiang Kai-shek's fifth encirclement campaign. The Central Red Army left Jiangxi in October 1934 and marched some 10,000 kilometres through western China, losing most of its men, before reaching northern Shaanxi in October 1935. During the march, at the Zunyi Conference of January 1935, Mao Zedong rose to the leadership of the party.