Portrait of Marshal Zhu De, one of the leaders of the Long March. COURTESY OF PAUL AND BERNICE NOLL.
Zhu De founded the Red Army. Under his command the Red Army undertook the Long March to Shaanxi Province. During the War of Resistance against Japan (1937–1945, known outside China as the Second Sino-Japanese War) Zhu commanded the Red Army’s northern forces.
Zhu De (Chu Teh), the man who would found the Chinese Communist army, was the son of a poor tenant farmer. After Zhu graduated from Yunnan Military Academy in 1911, he participated in anti-Manchu activities in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces between 1912 and 1916. In 1922 he went to Europe on a work-study program and participated in Communist Party activities. Zhu returned to China in 1926 and became involved in the army of the Chinese Nationalist Party (Guomindang). After the Nanchang Uprising failed in 1927 Zhu led his troops to Hunan Province, where he joined with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Mao Zedong (1893–1976). In Hunan Province they developed an effective military force that would become the Red Army. The Red Army, under Zhu’s command, defended the Jiangxi soviet (the headquarters of the CCP) undertook the 9,656-kilometer Long March to Shaanxi Province.
During the War of Resistance against Japan (1937–1945, known outside China as the Second Sino-Japanese War) Zhu commanded the Red Army’s northern forces. After Japan surrendered Zhu was commander of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) until 1955, when he became a PLA marshal. He later became chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee and continually was listed in many high positions, although he was not actively involved in politics after 1954.
Further Reading
Gelder, G. S. (Ed.). (1946). The Chinese Communists. London: V. Gollancz.
Smedley, A. (1992). The great road: The life and times of Chu Teh. New York: Monthly Review Press.
Source: Leitich, Keith A.. (2009). ZHU De. In Linsun Cheng, et al. (Eds.), Berkshire Encyclopedia of China, pp. 2651–2651. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing.
ZHU De (Zhū Dé 朱德)|Zhū Dé 朱德 (ZHU De)
