Communists Make Long March (02:00)

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The founders of modern China belong to a different generation. They embarked on the Long March, a massive military retreat undertaken by the Red Armies of the Chinese Communist Party. The Long March began the ascent of Mao Zedong to power.

Chiang Kai-Shek vs. Mao Zedong (03:00)

Fearing that the Shanghai communists had ambitions to seize power on their own, Chiang Kai-shek unleashes a massacre. Mao Zedong believes in the power of the peasants and working class. He organizes them into guerilla forces.

Prelude to the Long March of the Communists (02:42)

In October 1933, Chiang Kai-shek determines to starve out the communists one and for all. Failure in open warfare led the communists, the Red Army, to retreat. They did not know they would embark on a year's journey across 6000 miles.

Red Army Begins the Long March (02:28)

The Long March begins in October 1934. Thirty-five women march among the 86,000 communists, believing that communism was the road to liberation. Mao Zedong liberates women from traditional roles and teaches them to read.

Massacre: Red Army vs. Kuomintang (02:10)

The Red Army reaches the Xiang river where the Kuomintang caught up with them. A massacre ensues in which 50,000 soldiers are lost. Mao Zedong becomes the effective leader of the Long March and leads them north to the Dadu river.

Red Army: Pilgrimage to New Utopia (03:46)

Hungry and exhausted, 30,000 remaining communist soldiers travel through remote country, fighting daily skirmishes with the enemy. Under Mao, the journey became a pilgrimage to a new Utopia. They set up "soviets" in villages.

Red Army Faces Annihilation (03:01)

The Dadu river with its treacherous rocks and whirlpools formed a barrier for the Red Army. Behind them, the Kuomintang were determined to stop. Facing annihilation, Mao marches his troops upstream to the Luding Bridge.

Red Army Heroes of the Dadu (02:22)

At the Luding bridge that links China with Tibet, the Kuomintang removes all the planks, leaving only chains for the Red Army to cross. The advance force of the Red Army sent as assault forces became historical heroes of the Dadu.

People's Republic of China: Future Utopia? (02:45)

Ultimately, 8000 communists finish the Long March in October 1936. The communists indoctrinate local villagers in Maoist ideology and strategies of guerilla war. In 1949, the People's Republic of China with Mao as its leader is proclaimed.