| the 6000-mi. (9654-km) retreat of the Chinese Communist party and Red Army from southeastern China (Jiangxi province) to the northwest (Yanan in Shaanxi province) in 1934–35, during which Mao Zedong became leader of the Communist party. |
An important event in the history of the Chinese communists. Driven from southern and eastern China by Chiang Kai-shek at the end of the 1920s, the communist leader Mao Zedong led his forces on a long march to safety in the northwest part of China. From there, they staged attacks on the Japanese invaders and eventually on Chinese government troops — attacks that led to their conquest of China in 1949.