Module 4: Strategy and Tactics, the Science of Class Struggle
Class: China’s Long March
Date & Time: Tues, April 9, 6:30-8:30PM
Description: In 1934, after a careful assessment of the situation and the advance of the Nationalist forces, Mao Zedong and the First Red Army evacuated their Jiangxi base, strategically breaking through the weakest point of their encirclement. They began their journey westward, embarking on an arduous 6,000-mile trek across numerous mountain ranges and rivers. By 1935, depleted and scarred by losses, the Red Army, with a fraction of its original strength, reached the Yan’an province. There, they regrouped, recovered and bolstered their strength, took on Japanese imperialist aggression, and ultimately, brought about revolution in 1949. This pivotal retreat became known as the Long March, and marked a critical juncture in China’s revolutionary history, a key moment which established Mao as the leader of the Communist party, and shaped the nature of the Red Army as a people’s army.
Instructor: Ken Hammond, Professor of History at New Mexico State University and author of “China’s Revolution and the Quest for a Socialist Future,” available at 1804books.
