Northern Expedition And The Long March
Dramatization or Skit
The Northern Expedition & The Long March
The period between 1926 and 1935 presented some of the most significant events in the power struggle between the Guomingdang and the Communists. No two events more appropriately depict this struggle than the Guomindang’s Northern Expedition and the Communist’s Long March. While both of the aforementioned events had a substantial impact on the future of both parties, there were also consequences for those who participated in them at the individual level. After all, China’s revolution was one that grew its power from a grassroots level. To ignore the trials and tribulations experienced by the people who shouldered the burden of this struggle would be a shortcoming. The …show more content…
What began as a united front of Communist and Nationalist organized to eradicate warlordism and imperialism morphed into a cleansing of the Communists by the Guomindang. It could be argued that the ultimate goals of eliminating all warlords and uniting the nation were never achieved. By the end of the Northern Expedition some warlords still remained and the country was ideologically divided between the Communist and Nationalist. The attempt at a united front failed at a time when the country could ill afford to exhaust resources on internal strife as the Japanese were aggressing in Manchuria.
By 1934 the Communists had been confined by the Guomingdang to a small province in South Eastern China called Jiangxi. This is where the Communist leadership had setup their Central Revolutionary Base area. Under the cover of darkness on October 16, 1934 the Jiangxi Communist decided to withdraw from the Nationalist blockade in Jiangxi and began a twelve- month odyssey that spanned some 6,000 miles that came to be known by the world as the “Long …show more content…
Didn’t only 6,000 of the original 85,000 of you survive?”
Juan Guo: “Yes, but those 6,000 were stronger than the 85,000 that started the journey ever were. The bonds were forged at places like Lunding Bridge glued us together as brothers.”
Feng Liu: “Well that must be true, otherwise we wouldn’t being living under Communist rule today. Chaing had his chance to wipe the Communist out and he missed it back in 1934.”
Juan Guo: “Well my friend, Chaing killed many of my Communist brothers, but he never managed to kill our spirit and the ideology it fuelled.”
Bibliography
Cheng, Chester J. “The Mystery of the Battle of La-Tzu-k’ ou in the Long March.” The Association for Asian Studies 31, no. 3 (1972): 593-598.
China A Century of Revolution. Directed by Sue Williams. 20 min. Zeitgeist Films, 2007. DVD.
Nolan, John M. “The Long March: Fact and Fancy.” Military Affairs 30, no. 2 (1966): 77-90.
Spence, Jonathan D. The Search For Modern China. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1999.
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[ 1 ]. Jonathan D. Spence, The Search For Modern China (New York: W.W Norton & Company, 1999), 328.
[ 2 ]. Ibid
[ 3 ]. Ibid,
The Northern Expedition & The Long March
The period between 1926 and 1935 presented some of the most significant events in the power struggle between the Guomingdang and the Communists. No two events more appropriately depict this struggle than the Guomindang’s Northern Expedition and the Communist’s Long March. While both of the aforementioned events had a substantial impact on the future of both parties, there were also consequences for those who participated in them at the individual level. After all, China’s revolution was one that grew its power from a grassroots level. To ignore the trials and tribulations experienced by the people who shouldered the burden of this struggle would be a shortcoming. The …show more content…
What began as a united front of Communist and Nationalist organized to eradicate warlordism and imperialism morphed into a cleansing of the Communists by the Guomindang. It could be argued that the ultimate goals of eliminating all warlords and uniting the nation were never achieved. By the end of the Northern Expedition some warlords still remained and the country was ideologically divided between the Communist and Nationalist. The attempt at a united front failed at a time when the country could ill afford to exhaust resources on internal strife as the Japanese were aggressing in Manchuria.
By 1934 the Communists had been confined by the Guomingdang to a small province in South Eastern China called Jiangxi. This is where the Communist leadership had setup their Central Revolutionary Base area. Under the cover of darkness on October 16, 1934 the Jiangxi Communist decided to withdraw from the Nationalist blockade in Jiangxi and began a twelve- month odyssey that spanned some 6,000 miles that came to be known by the world as the “Long …show more content…
Didn’t only 6,000 of the original 85,000 of you survive?”
Juan Guo: “Yes, but those 6,000 were stronger than the 85,000 that started the journey ever were. The bonds were forged at places like Lunding Bridge glued us together as brothers.”
Feng Liu: “Well that must be true, otherwise we wouldn’t being living under Communist rule today. Chaing had his chance to wipe the Communist out and he missed it back in 1934.”
Juan Guo: “Well my friend, Chaing killed many of my Communist brothers, but he never managed to kill our spirit and the ideology it fuelled.”
Bibliography
Cheng, Chester J. “The Mystery of the Battle of La-Tzu-k’ ou in the Long March.” The Association for Asian Studies 31, no. 3 (1972): 593-598.
China A Century of Revolution. Directed by Sue Williams. 20 min. Zeitgeist Films, 2007. DVD.
Nolan, John M. “The Long March: Fact and Fancy.” Military Affairs 30, no. 2 (1966): 77-90.
Spence, Jonathan D. The Search For Modern China. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1999.
--------------------------------------------
[ 1 ]. Jonathan D. Spence, The Search For Modern China (New York: W.W Norton & Company, 1999), 328.
[ 2 ]. Ibid
[ 3 ]. Ibid,