Mao's Art of War: The Long March and the Chinese Civil War

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After the Warlord Era, the Chinese Civil War was primarily fought between the Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-Shek and the Chinese Communists. Several attempts to defeat the Communists failed because they used effective guerilla tactics or simply evaded the enemy to fight another day, like during the famous Long March.
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Brad Durbin, Jeremy K Jones, Murray Godfrey, John Ozment, Stephen Parker, Mavrides, Kristina Colburn, Stefan Jackowski, Cardboard, William Kincade, William Wallace, Daniel L Garza, Chris Daley, Malcolm Swan, Christoph Wolf, Simen Røste, Jim F Barlow, Taylor Allen, Adam Smith, James Giliberto, Albert B. Knapp MD, Tobias Wildenblanck, Richard L Benkin, Marco Kuhnert, Matt Barnes, Ramon Rijkhoek, Jan, Scott Deederly, gsporie, Kekoa, Bruce G. Hearns, Hans Broberg, Fogeltje
» SOURCES
Bianco, Lucien, Origins of the Chinese revolution, 1915-1949, (Stanford, CA : Stanford University Press, 1971)
Ch’en, Jerome, “The Communist Movement 1927-1937” in Fairbank, John K. & Feuerwerker, Albert, The Cambridge History of China: Volume 13: Republican China 1912-1949, Part 2, (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2008)
Dupuy, Trevor Nevitt, The Military History of the Chinese Civil War, (New York, NY : Franklin Watts, Inc., 1969)
Fewsmith, Joseph, Forging Leninism in China: Mao and the Remaking of the Chinese Communist Party, 1927-1934, (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2022)
Gay, Kathlyn, The Aftermath of the Chinese Nationalist Revolution, (Minneapolis, MN : Twenty-First Century Books, 2009)
Griffith, Samuel (trans.); Mao Tse-Tung, Mao Tse-Tung: On Guerrilla Warfare, (Baltimore, MD : The Nautical & Aviation Publishing Company of America, Inc., 1978)
Jowett, Philip, Chinese Civil War Armies 1911-49, (Oxford : Osprey Publishing Ltd, 1997
Mao Tse-tung, Strategic Problems of China’s Revolutionary War, (Peking : Foreign Languages Press, 1954)
Paine, S. C. M., The Wars for Asia, 1911-1949, (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2014)
»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Mark Newton, Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller & Florian Wittig
Director of Photography: Toni Steller
Sound: Above Zero
Editing: Toni Steller
Motion Design: Toni Steller
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: above-zero.com
Research by: Mark Newton
Fact checking: Jesse Alexander
Channel Design: Simon Buckmaster
Contains licensed material by getty images
Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3
All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2023

[@realtimehistory]

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[@KanekiKen-cg6nd]

Is there an Arabic translation in Nebula?

[@llllll-mp1zr]

I know you are keen on propagating western ideology, but what you said about China's history is too many mistakes, which are totally divorced from reality. You can't wait to play up the opposition. It's so clumsy. At least respect history. Mao was a marginal person in the early days. As you said, Chiang Kai-shek wanted to encircle Mao's regime, which really made people laugh. Moreover, Chiang Kai-shek's leadership of the Kuomintang was full of blood. You didn't say you were worried about the country at all. You even made a mistake in basic common sense. This is what the West called China Studies. In addition to ideology, it is the so-called China who is wrong and thinks he is in his own eyes. An ideological idiot like you will not know that the United States once funded communist party to support Mao Zedong and planned to give up Chiang Kai-shek. History is more than you think.

[@abcdedfg8340]

Dont mind the likely ccp bots, the cpc thing seems pretty new (and the ccp doesnt even seem to care that much). History is history no matter what anyone has to say. If they try to censor you or make fake reports to intimidate you as many channels seem to deal with, talk to other channels, and get in touch with the media to discuss the issue of possible illegal censorship, as that may involve our rights within our respective countries.

[@knightlypoleaxe2501]

1:50 >CCP instead of CPC :l

[@abcdedfg8340]

​​@@knightlypoleaxe2501 Yeah, ccp bots are getting really picky, it seems, even more picky than westerners about how other call their own countries or political parties. Maybe they should just relax. I just hope the channel operator knows that leaving out info to avoid harrasment by alleged bots trying to censor will only hurt the quality of their content and the channel in many cases. Just my opinion.

[@ZxZ239]

It's really really hard to find anything unbiased on China these days. As someone who research Chinese history, thanks for doing this

[@Moeflyer6213]

Unbiased? He used CCP, the derogative term used by western media to refer the Communist Party of China (CPC)!

[@deadbydaylight3168]

it's that asian hate, my boy. people will hate what's power or what they can't control.

[@abcdedfg8340]

@@deadbydaylight3168 You clearly have not seen the amount of criticism the US and other countries get lol. Welcome to the world. If you dont like free speech, you dont need to be on youtube (you can always stay on censored authoritarian social media if you want). Just my opinion.

[@deadbydaylight3168]

​@@abcdedfg8340 oh please. im based in the US and i've seen it all and it's not the same when the hegemon is a white man. as for your second statement, i hop between the two although i can tell what you're trying to get at. seems to me you cant distinguish the difference from controlled free speech and no free speech. just my opinion.

[@zg_rq]

Stop arguing!

[@ScratchedWinter]

sending this to my landlord

[@noahkarpinski1824]

Based

[@franzjoseph1837]

Indeed.

[@kevinspacey5325]

better dead than red

[@Sigma-xb6kn]

​@@kevinspacey5325Alright then. But don't complain.

[@kevinspacey5325]

@@Sigma-xb6kn Communism is never the answer.

[@leonana11]

Should have mentioned Mao's "四渡赤水" (crossing the Chishui River four times) around 16:30, one of the most epic moves in military history. Ain't easy to escape from a blockade/siege by enemies that's 15 times of your own size.

[@user-bn6uv8ym3x]

After reading the detailed march path of this and knowing more about the heavy groups of enemy armies surrounding Mao's army, i have to see that's really a miracle. Most people won't make it even if they have a crystal ball to see the entire field.

[@user-co6yc3xx2w]

This has been a miracle in human Military history

[@peppery310]

yes, especially Mao did not have satalites support

[@hardy0919]

@@user-bn6uv8ym3x crystal ball? actually he has one, it's called 奇门遁甲。Mao is a real expert of all most everything, an unbeatable person

[@user-cp1ty6ge7f]

I am a Chinese. Chairman MAO is great in all aspects

[@ameliah8164]

My grandfather's brother died in the Chinese Civil War, but none of his relatives resented the Communist Party. Because at that time, even if it was necessary to collect military rations, Mao's army would write grain IOUs and mobilize people to voluntarily protect their hometown, rather than forcibly taking others as soldiers like Chiang Kai shek's army (like Ukraine now). Chiang Kai shek lost the support of the peasant class, which made him almost lose everything.

[@yunflu6320]

只能说蒋介石在大陆太不做人了，尽失民心，能把绝对优势打成最后败逃台湾也是真牛，不过唯一做的好事就是生了蒋经国

[@user-rk2rd8ib3j]

正确的回答！

[@criszis]

What do you mean by "like Ukraine now" ? Doesn't Russia also have a draft?

[@elikim3968]

@@criszisyeah idk what the commenter is smoking bro prob listens to TASS

[@enteraft]

@@criszis If your definition of "draft"is equivalent to kidnaping random mens on the street then the Chiang Kai shek style draft do make a perfect comparison with what Ukraine has been doing since a few month after the war started. So yea, like Ukraine now.

[@jefferycui3574]

Minor correction: The province that in 1933 Japanese demanded demilitarization of is called Hebei (河北), not Hubei (湖北). The province of Hubei is in the central zone of China, to the south of Henan province.

[@jefferycui3574]

...and the map showing the province of Hebei is nowadays. Back in 1933 the province of Hebei is much smaller (basically only the southern half of nowadays Hebei, plus the city of Beijing (then Beiping)), the northern half is distributed among the Province of Chahar and Special Disctrict of Rehe.

[@user-jm2jx7hp8c]

也就这个时候，蒋介石做了一件事吧，花园口决堤😮

[@petercevallos258]

The unity of opposites is actually a principle in dialectics that Mao took from Lenin's writings on philosophy, not Sun Tzu. In later interviews he actually said most of his military writings didn't come from Sun Tzu at all, but from applying dialectics to military strategy.

[@petercevallos258]

Even the references from Clauswitz came from Lenin, who often referenced him and referred to him as the time periods most profound military thinker.

[@user-joker2011]

in china ,someone believes mao is not Marxist，a Legalists follower

[@LuisAldamiz]

It's also a very old concept in Daoism, let's not be so Eurocentric, OK? Sure: there's a Western concept of dialectics (which is not Lenin's, not even Marx' it goes all the way to the ancient Greeks and is maybe even older) but there's also an Eastern tradition of such ideas, which is essentially independent (even if it did not evolve independently into Marxism, I'm sure we can find many native precursors, much like we find them in the West too).

[@theheadshot45]

Correct, but Real Time History and the World War Two channel don't read any Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, or Mao so they don't know anything about socialist theory.

[@sankarchaya]

@@LuisAldamiz I was under the impression that Mao drew from all of these influences. there's an interesting conceptual overlap between Hegelian philosophy and Daoist thought

[@hanchiman]

Mao used a strategy called "Surround cities with villages" 農村包圍城市", basically using the "Poor country side" that is majority of China in early 20th century against the small pockets of cities that has an industry and some wealth, which on the same time based on a game of Weiqi/Go

[@arminius6506]

This is what Taliban did in 2021 and they were controlling rural areas for last 10-15 years waiting for the US to leave

[@stevenliu3744]

And look at what China is doing now: corporate with 3rd world countries to surround USA and the west😂

[@user-cd3hf4xi7g]

​@@stevenliu3744You Westerners are ridiculous, why do you always feel that we Chinese are surrounding you? Sorry we are not interested and we don’t have a system that you like all over the world, how can we surround you? It is obvious that you surrounded, suppressed and smeared China. China is a country with a history of 5,000 years. The dynasties established by the Chinese have never invaded any country since ancient times. China even became their protectorate. A Chinese dynasty has a history of hundreds of years. This is enough to prove that China is peace-loving. What China is doing now is to take back what belongs to it within its own scope. Is it wrong? Unlike you, the West, who have plundered and colonized the world for nearly a hundred years, China is also one of the victims. Don’t be a thief, okay?

[@tedl922]

At the end of the day is about resources for wars. He was smart enough to figure things out.

[@hanchiman]

@@tedl922 for me. The whole Mao vs Chiang look similar to ancient war between Liu Bang vs Xiang Yu during the Chu Han contention. Liu Bang is a ruffian deadbeat but charismatic meanwhile Xiang Yu was an educated war hero but arrogant. Liu Bang is a bit like Mao while Xiang Yu is Chiang. Mao had alot of capable loyal generals while Xiang Yu were surrounded by men who were incompetent and self serving

[@DanielSanchez-tv6vh]

Great to see a continuation of the Chinese Warlord Era content in the _Real Time History_ channel. Certainly, it helps to fill out a gap in my knowledge of the period of history in this region of the world.

[@realtimehistory]

and this is just the first episode of an ever wider series that will last until the end of the Chinese Civil War

[@nvelsen1975]

@@realtimehistory It'll probably have to be titled "Bringing clarity to all the confusion of the Chinese warlord era [10 hours](part 1/ 389)" or something. 😉

[@wuhaninstituteofvirology5226]

​@@realtimehistoryI like your content but I am disappointed that you did not mention the CCP was actually created by Soviet Russia, just like they created Communist governments in Tuva, Mongolia and Korea.

[@kalravlabana7707]

​@@realtimehistory eagerly waiting for new videos

[@bone3594]

War Lords is just another name for gangs.

[@user-vz4xp6kl7d]

Very objective video without traditional western biases. The reason why KMT failed is losing support from Chinese peasants . Roc was still an old empire controlled by landlords. The majority of Chinese people were peasants and they struggled in starvation, which gave CCP a chance to strive.

[@bone3594]

Communist ideology is to use the poor to uprise against the rich.

[@krellio9006]

the irony is after the war is over Mao send food over to soviet instead of feeding its people :)))))

[@Paochinblog]

And after peasants served their purpose, many were killed during the cultural revolution. Now CCP is the biggest landlord in the whole of China

[@xblade11230]

@@Paochinblog Lol under Mao China's population went from 546 mil -> 916 mil in 25 years This was the largest growth in china's population percentagewise throughout history You can check that statistics below they are taken directly from wikipedia 1900 400,000,000 1928 474,780,000 1950 546,815,000 1975 916,395,000 1982 1,008,180,000 2000 1,262,645,000 2005 1,303,720,000 2010 1,337,825,000 The mao killed X million people, comes from a number that a guy basically made up, yes people starved to death under Mao, but more people starved to death before Mao when the landlords owned all the land. But the statistics show that people under Mao died less than they did before mao thus resulting in a 400 mil pop increase over 23 years

[@abcdedfg8340]

@@krellio9006 What i remember reading is that the prc was trying to industrialize. And at the time, the main thing they could export in exchange for industrial technology and assistance was food. I do not know the details of how it worked, someone else may know more.

[@tianhaoju4634]

One factor that were often overlooked even in Chinese sources was that the warlords are often unwilling to cooperate with Chiang. During some of the most famous battles of the long march, such as the assault across Jinsha river, Mao took advantages of the lack of willingness of Sichuan clique to continue the persuit outside of his borders, this also worked when he launched a deceiving attack on Yunnan

[@NeostormXLMAX]

YES finally some one said it, people often blame every single thing on chiang unfairly including the corruption of the kmt, even though majority of the kmt after the war consisted entirely of warlords since majority of the kmt army was devastated after battles with the ija. and these warlords were extremely corrupt

[@tianhaoju4634]

@@NeostormXLMAX its rly complicated, chiang often take command of warlords army and get an epic L when persuing the communists. While fighting the communists, he also took the chance to consolidate control over these warlords, but most of the times the communists were able to relocate safely without a big sacrifice

[@poilochien]

une partie des seigneurs de guerre avaient subis l'influence de l'union soviétique, comme feng yuxiang, par exemple, même le guomindang avait subis l'influence des soviétiques et une bonne partie des cadres de l'armée de la beifa étaient favorables aux communistes ... la différence entre communistes et nationalistes était surtout une question de clientèle politique : les pauvres suivent le PCC et les riches, qui refusent tout changement social comme une réforme agraire, par exemple, suivent le guomindang. mais les premiers étaient largement les plus nombreux. le génie de mao tient dans sa stratégie de guerre souple et dans la politique de front unis le plus large possible pour marginaliser son adversaire ... @@tianhaoju4634

[@freealter]

That’s Chiang’s fault for relying on warlords lol

[@poilochien]

le clan song, c'est pas des seigneurs de la guerre ... @@NeostormXLMAX

[@Harold_Joseph]

It's hard to find someone who has studied the history of China so deeply.

[@JimHoh3]

Wrong: It was not "the West and Japan went to war with China, and defeated China" Correction: It was "the West and Japan invaded China, and defeated China".

[@user-cr4kj8yd2l]

胡说八道，日本从来没有打败中国，日本和德国是二战战败国！对，日本侵略了中国！

[@gamincaimin9954]

I mean, same thing

[@peacelover373]

​@@gamincaimin9954 No it is NOT!

[@gamincaimin9954]

@@peacelover373 wdym

[@hao5616]

@@gamincaimin9954 War seem a neutral word ，blurred the purpose and nature of the behavior . German invaded Poland ，German went to war with Poland，feel the different？

[@JJ-yg1sf]

The more research in Mao, the more you will find Mao is the greatest war expert in last 1000 in human history.

[@lqx6710]

But now, some people are misinterpreting him, denying everything about him from all angles. Oh my goodness!😢

[@louiswu6300]

yup, the army he leads is 100 times better than Zugeliang in 'the three kingdoms.'

[@CannibaLouiST]

No, he stole the credits from his generals

[@REALGUCHENG]

@@CannibaLouiSTHe is the main leader.

[@davidbosak7503]

He was indeed extremely inventive. I think it was his lack of formal military training that made him that way. He read of lot of military history. But in the end he had to figure out everything himself based on the circumstances at hand. As a result, he did a lot of unexpected things that totally confounded Chiang Kai Shek.

[@yunflu6320]

The Long March is incredible. To a certain extent, there would be no Chinese Communist Party without Mao Zedong. If Mao Zedong was not in Jiangxi at that time, the Communist Party might have been wiped out by Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang troops.

[@baspagrey1545]

Communism would have rose up no matter what, China's geography just can't handle capitalism

[@Spud69420]

@@baspagrey1545 true

[@johnwilliam4287]

​@@baspagrey1545我认同你的观点，所以我在努力让现在的中国从资本主义转向共产主义，许多中国人认为中国已经不再是共产主义了，甚至比美国要资本主义。我今年23岁，以前我讨厌共产主义，而现在我是一个坚定的毛主义者。

[@BensonMTG]

Wumao commie bot.

[@Kai-px6vi]

@@baspagrey1545不知道會很多年後了，中國經濟也會很差。因為毛澤東的農村包圍城市，游擊反抗真的是神來一筆，再加上毛領導下的統一戰線，才是共產崛起的原因。共產國際主導的圍攻城市，只能讓共產黨慢性死亡。中國的軍閥勢力，地主階級勢力和帝國主義勢力太強，按照以前的共產黨的策略，無差別打倒地主和資產階級，在中國絕對無法成功，只有毛一個人懂得團結小資產階級和民族資產階級和富農的重要性

[@ameliah8164]

You even mentioned the white terror in 1927. Thank you for your neutral and objective introduction to History of China ❤ You are a respected historical disseminator

[@joiedevie3901]

Great piece, Jesse, and nice to see you bring your talented narrative to this chapter of world history. You do such a wonderful job of laying out the sequence of events where each clearly sets the context for what follows while all the time using that gift for modulation to place just the right emphasis on just the right phrase to make your point. One imagines that yours would be the most popular class on any campus.

[@ipfreak]

8:17 those were KMT soldiers. mao's red army never had any soviet military equipment until korea war. during the war against japanese, soviet weapons from USSR were distributed to KMT troops, not red army.

[@spss33]

Infact the first soviet weapon arrived to ccp was in korean war

[@Specificify]

not true, soviets started giving equipment in 1945

[@syue6544]

@@Specificifythose were Japanese left weapons in Manchuria, not actually Soviet Union produced weapons.

[@Magno_o_Mago-iz1we]

China owes a lot to Mao. From the Communist Revolution to now, the country freed itself from the yoke and exploitation of European colonialist powers, also from supersitition, socialç e economic chaos, backwardness and rampant corruption, and today it is the second economy in the world, the largest manufacturer, exporter, sending rovers to the moon and to Mars, and is the BIGGEST CREDITOR OF THE UNITED STATES. I'd like Brasil have one Mao!

[@RanDominica]

As a Chinese, I am shocked by the objectivity of this video. This is the first time in my two years abroad that I have seen an objective video about Chinese history.

[@realtimehistory]

thanks, we hope you like our other videos about the 2nd Sino-Japanese War too

[@davidbosak7503]

13:55 is Mao and the American journalist Edgar Snow. Snow went to visit Mao in Yan'an and interviewed him extensively. He wrote a book called "Red Star Over China" based on his experiences. It is an excellent book. One of the few first-hand accounts of the Chinese Revolution by a Western author.

[@user-gu8gj9lf9o]

This book is also one of the required reading books for Chinese students, the kind to be tested, at least the textbook version I learned is like this

[@user-ny7ov7lf3b]

@@user-gu8gj9lf9o才没有，中国学生99.99%都不知道这本书的存在

[@jet-nx1me]

​@@user-gu8gj9lf9o是什么时期的必读书目？我不确定以前是不是，但是我从来没听说过这本书。我是中国人，05年开始上小学。我的学生生涯必读书目以东西方名著为主，包括三国演义，老人与海，简爱，呼啸山庄和莫泊桑的短篇小说集等等。

[@tarotaro6933]

Battle of Chishui River is the most epic and miracle battle in modern history, no doubt about that.

[@theeliminatedai7321]

This video only mentions the could-be things Red Army maybe have done in the long march, but ignores totally what KMT have done in JiangXi, a total revenge slaughter, in which many former red region villagers were slaughtered empty, goverment supported massacre.

[@user-bn6uv8ym3x]

Chang literally said "(here) every stone must be fired, and every bloodline must be cut". A tyrant that should be nailed on shame if he isn't a sweet ally of the United States

[@abcdedfg8340]

@@user-bn6uv8ym3x Even in Taiwan/ROC, i heard Chiang Kai shek is quite controversial in terms of how he governed the country. What do you think about how the CCP conducted itself during the civil war (from a strictly historical viewpoint, I am not justifying any bad behavior during that civil war, it was a tough time for many people), because civil wars based on what I read can often be very tragic for all involved.

[@xinlugong-wv5yy]

@@abcdedfg8340 what's the the opinion on the civial war in Taiwan. as a man who lived in china, I'm really curious about it

[@hectormuro2053]

I doubt this was any worse than what king Leopold did in the Congo, or what Europe did during the onslaught on Africa and the enslavement of human beings for profit, or the genocide of Native Americans to usurp their land.

[@abcdedfg8340]

@@xinlugong-wv5yy I think taiwan has a more open debate on what both sides did. There seems to be a strong awareness that chiang kai shek could be quite ruthless, but also that mao and the ccp seems to have been quite ruthless as well. But having said that it was a civil war, and civil wars seem to be rough on civilians regardless of their personal allegiances. I think you are lucky you can discuss this as history rather than experiencing it in person. You may want to learn more about the refugees that fled the ccp, leaving for hong kong or taiwan. It could reveal more about the historical truth of the matter.

[@josephwu3136]

My grandpa Wu Wei from Taishan Guangdong Province, born 1921 was part of the PLA and served in the war against Japanese occupation, chinas civil war against the KMT, and later went on to serve in the 27th company of the people’s volunteers army in the war of aiding Korea against American aggression. Glory to the motherland. 🇨🇳✊🏼💪🏼 Glory to the patriots, liberators, revolutionaries and workers of the world! Long live the revolution! May the revolutionary spirit of Mao Zedong live on forever!

[@stxfdt1240]

Hat

[@treystewart731]

American aggression? The whole reason we went into Korea was because of North Korea's aggression against the South. South Korea is a thriving democracy with one of the best economies in the world, whereas North Korea is a poverty-stricken Communist hellhole ruled by a despot.

[@ttbr7687]

Based

[@Wolf_Larsen]

Have some bugspray, chinksect 动态网自由门 天安門 天安门 法輪功 李洪志 Free Tibet 六四天安門事件 The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 天安門大屠殺 The Tiananmen Square Massacre 反右派鬥爭 The Anti-Rightist Struggle 大躍進政策 The Great Leap Forward 文化大革命 The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution 人權 Human Rights 民運 Democratization 自由 Freedom 獨立 Independence 多黨制 Multi-party system 台灣 臺灣 Taiwan Formosa 中華民國 Republic of China 西藏 土伯特 唐古特 Tibet 達賴喇嘛 Dalai Lama 法輪功 Falun Dafa 新疆維吾爾自治區 The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region 諾貝爾和平獎 Nobel Peace Prize 劉暁波 Liu Xiaobo 民主 言論 思想 反共 反革命 抗議 運動 騷亂 暴亂 騷擾 擾亂 抗暴 平反 維權 示威游行 李洪志 法輪大法 大法弟子 強制斷種 強制堕胎 民族淨化 人體實驗 肅清 胡耀邦 趙紫陽 魏京生 王丹 還政於民 和平演變 激流中國 北京之春 大紀元時報 九評論共産黨 獨裁 專制 壓制 統一 監視 鎮壓 迫害 侵略 掠奪 破壞 拷問 屠殺 活摘器官 誘拐 買賣人口 遊進 走私 毒品 賣淫 春畫 賭博 六合彩 天安門 天安门 法輪功 李洪志 Winnie the Pooh 劉曉波动态网自由门

[@pgdog888]

My father joined the PLA at age 15 to fight Japanese and then fought against KMT and kick them out of Canton province.

[@weefwaffer9034]

bravery and respect beyond comprehension

[@mattluck2826]

Based father

[@wisdomleader85]

How was he treated during the "cultural revolution"? I heard the CCP faction under general Peng Dehuai that advocated for a more active role against the Japanese was later purged.

[@pgdog888]

@LeckMichImArsch my father was protected by his students. The west misleading the culture revolution. It was a power take over between 2 fractions in the communist party. All that other BS outside just to draw the attention away from it. The west never till today told the truth about culture revolution. Tens of thousands of high school and college students die between clashes between each other. Don't believe a thing the West says. Lies

[@ShadowPhoenixMaximus]

I can't imagine he did much fighting against the Japanese.

[@malcolm5514]

I know so little about this period. Thank you for making this! (:

[@user-bn6uv8ym3x]

I highly encourage you to learn more about the long march, that's nearly a mission impossible. Unlikely what's shown in this video, the red army are usually facing warlords both front and back, overwhelming in size. It's nearly a miracle they could make it repeatedly to flee from the encircling and made through. I wouldn't make it even in game.

[@SiriProject]

Research the May 4th Movement, it was foundational to all of Modern China. Search the lives of Cai Yuanpei, Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao. Most revolutionaries were young and had big hopes for China during that period, when China first became aware of science, education and democracy. Most of the late politics before and after the war were initial demands started back during May 4th. They also explain why China's revolution freed women from their traditional roles in China, whereas it didn't in other socialist countries.

[@Magno_o_Mago-iz1we]

China owes a lot to Mao. From the Communist Revolution to now, the country freed itself from the yoke and exploitation of European colonialist powers, also from supersitition, socialç e economic chaos, backwardness and rampant corruption, and today it is the second economy in the world, the largest manufacturer, exporter, sending rovers to the moon and to Mars, and is the BIGGEST CREDITOR OF THE UNITED STATES. I'd like Brasil have one Mao!

[@user-yb1vr9xw2z]

Crossing Chishui river the fourth times during The Long March was an extremely smart Military operation.

[@bigsmile715]

Small error. At 8:40, the man on the right is not ZHOU Enlai, he is ZHU De, who was the Red Army commander.

[@BobHank2]

Well done! I've read a few books on this topic and I learned new info , plus your clips and photos are amazing

[@pjopitz]

Chang didn't defeat the warlords so much as buy their cooperation.

[@user-hp7nm1we4q]

Chiang only wanted to be a ruler and enjoy wealth and power but not save the country. Truman detested him so much because Chiang was too corrupt, Americans gave him a lot of aid in the form of weapons and money, then they found Chiang saved the money in American bank for interests and sold the weapons back to USA.

[@TV-jg2kj]

Chiang Kai-shek was able to tolerate the warlords and get their troops and support because he had to keep going to war with the warlords to control each city. But this ultimately led to calculations that weren't for the government and the country during the civil war between the Communist Party and the Kuomintang, resulting in many warlords surrendering or betraying the Communist Party.

[@badgoodboy9437]

1

[@spss33]

Thanks for your brilliant works! It's so rare to see some real historical research on the China Civil War on youtube.

[@aze94]

That last line on the young marshal at the end, haha!

[@bigsarge2085]

Incredible documentary, informative as always!

[@yyds66666]

他的内容有错误的地方，而且故意不讲一些国民党的恶劣事迹，共产党夺取政权，靠的不光是武力，而是人民的力量，

[@maxchen9185]

6:40 that quote is from my Poli-Sci professor at Boston University. What a pleasant little surprise!

[@weesertan7818]

Nice video. There is a typo at 8:43. The gentleman together with Mao is Zhu De, not Zhou Enlai.

[@ThisNinjaSays_]

True Zhou Enlai's eyebrows are missing. History lovers know Zhou and Brezhnev's eyebrows.

[@leonardpearlman4017]

I think so! You can see several pictures of him in Snow's book, he has a pretty distinctive appearance.

[@MK-jc6us]

Great video! Soviet support to Li Lisan is the very beginning of the Sino-Soviet split. Not the only cause but the first of a series of events that would corrode the Sino-Soviet relationship. Soviet Union also tried to flirt with Chiang himself for a while. I read that Mao was expelled from the party, his CCP was not the same of Li's. PS. Only negative remark I have is on 24:00 when the Japanese surrender is (unintentionally?) framed as a direct consequence of the A bombings. There is no consensus on this and the logic seems to point to another direction (Japanese surrender after the Soviet Union sweeping through Manchuria and menacing the invasion of Hokkaido) + diplomatic impossibility of Japan getting a not so bad deal with the US using the "neutral" Soviet mediation.

[@monkeyx8456]

Mao is indeed a person with great military talent

[@TheBendablespoons]

One of the greatest military thinkers of all time

[@xingw9358]

And also a great poet, but a bad economist

[@savy1917]

*L*mao

[@huangshabaizhan326]

Mao Zedong was not just a military figure, he had a strong understanding of economics, science, and politics. Even if he's not a scientist

[@xingw9358]

@@huangshabaizhan326 But polluted by a bad wife

[@ollieyang4613]

dude, you mixed up Hubei Province with Hebei Province, and also used the modern PRC version of the map, wtf. the guy you labeled as Zhou Enlai at 8:37 is actually Zhu De, once again, wtf.

[@josephwu3136]

White people doing Chinese history. Did you expect any more?

[@kanestalin7246]

I was about to say that guy looks nothing like Zhou Enlai

[@ThisNinjaSays_]

You can correct him, no need to mad bro. Most people here know Mr Zhou's eyebrows 😜

[@khaid.5167]

As an American, I would say Chairman Mao is the great leader of working class with military talent, no doubt about that.

[@kaimingraymondchoi9909]

Mao could not take China without help from United States. May be you would like to read the interesting comments that I posted.

[@truthzhao]

​@@kaimingraymondchoi9909 Nonsense, the US assisted the Chinese Kuomintang, and it was the Soviet Union that assisted the Chinese Communist Party.

[@kaimingraymondchoi9909]

@@truthzhao Did I not say it was a silly mistake made by US? Are you nonsense, or I am nonsense? Haha.

[@truthzhao]

@@kaimingraymondchoi9909 The "haha" you put at the end of your sentence makes you look like a 🤡. Without the "help" of Japan, the United States could not have participated in World War II; without the "help" of Germany, the Soviet Union could not have become a superpower. Is this the logic you want others to know from the translator?😅 Are you trying to say that the U.S. supports the KMT in launching a civil war in order to justify the occupation by Mao Zedong? Then you are really a "little smart ghost". I am afraid that "indirect help" does not even count.😅

[@iforgottosignoutagain8181]

@@truthzhao The Soviet Union also assisted the Kuomintang funnily enough. They wanted to keep China divided for the most part to prevent stability and Stalin also preferred Chiang Kai Shek at the time. He wasn't so fond of Mao Zedong.

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

More wonderfulness value than wonderful value 👌....thank you for sharing

[@komakush3358]

Now some people can understand why Taiwan issue is actually the unfinished China civil war.

[@leonardpearlman4017]

This seems perfectly obvious! I think we have to work hard to NOT understand it! Also talking about Taiwan in terms of "Democracy" is pretty special, requires history to start on a specific day to make your argument. If someone has ONE election we might call them a democracy, if we approve of the election result.

[@user-bu3wp3up9f]

@@leonardpearlman4017 Taiwan's "democratic" politics may have been worthy of China's observation and learning 20 years ago, but now? DPP is the most corrupt political party in the world.

[@zhu_zi4533]

11:16 This is the map of Hubei Province today, which is completely different from the boundary of Hebei Province at that time. The empty area in the middle is the capital Beijing and the municipality directly under the Central Government Tianjin. At the same time, Rehe Province was also revoked in history and merged into Hubei and Shanxi.

[@SiriProject]

I always find it funny how the Kuomintang and the CCP are defined in western historiography as "nationalist" versus "communists". The CCP was strongly nationalist from its inception. In fact, almost all Chinese Civil War factions were, since it was the strengthening of China, and modern Nation building that they pursued: self-sufficiency. We could simply call Chiang Kai Shek a fascist at this point, since unlike the Republicans from the South and the left wing of the Kuomintang, he wanted to crown himself as leader of the whole nation, much to the dismay of Sun Yat Sen himself. And we all know what he did in Taiwan.

[@ftu2021]

i thought the same, if anything the communists were more nationalist because they actually wanted China for themselves and not giving up lands to the japanese.

[@victorcano1289]

There are still some subtle biases in western historiography about communist china, even whent they want to be impartial. This is the most unbiased western documentary you will find though. Everything else would be considered communist propaganda.

[@HaleVisse]

简单易懂的讲解，谢谢你

[@bigchunk1]

Your team's work is always quality, in-depth history. I decided to get Nebula through the Real Time History deal, though it's likely to benefit me moreso than you. Looking forward to Red Atoms.

[@banerjeesiddharth05]

Very nice documentary 👌

[@drzen7703]

Mao is The legend. The great leader, One of the top level grand strategist of all time. Look at what he had at the begining, he was a middle school tutor, he led a bunch of uprising farmers, his enemy discribe him as mountain bandit . And now, his portrait is in second largest country's currency. His teaching spread from china to japan , cuba, latin america and africa. His former enemies keep spreading insult rumor about him even he is dead for decades. Western power are so afraid of him that western media demonize him into tyrant and butcher . But history will never end. The more infamous Mao's name in western media , the more proof that maoism is a terrifying weapon against colonialism .

[@osjjsm4364]

Too bad he became a dictator

[@edd-600]

@@osjjsm4364 I am Chinese and I am telling you, he is not a dictator, you know too little about modern Chinese history

[@AoikeKara]

​@@osjjsm4364 He was a dictator and not a dictator; he alone decided and promoted the misguided tragedy of the Cultural Revolution, but these actions were not intended to secure his power and position.

[@joshzhang7041]

@@osjjsm4364 He was certainly flawed ad did betray some of his own principles in the end

[@drzen7703]

​@@osjjsm4364 What makes you think dictator must be bad . Are you sure your critical thinking skill is not being turned off when talking about certain topics? I think you may have been affected by some kind of political propaganda.

[@jankusthegreat9233]

This is my favorite channel ever

[@neues3691]

Mit der chinesischen Geschichte wird einem nie langweilig.

[@leibian6059]

去探索吧，这里的故事比一千零一夜的股市还要有趣

[@ChenJ.K.]

"Geschichte": The Thirsty Years War happens every 300 years in China, from Bronze age to modern day. Thankfully we don't need to have any war nowadays

[@SL4PSH0CK]

Subbed, love the facing, I had a fun time learning and how easy to digest.

[@olusb.135]

Hello, is there a 2nd episode to this or when will it release? Thanks

[@chrislim2487]

Very educational!!

[@indianajones4321]

Nice video

[@zainmudassir2964]

True

[@Kikidindongji]

Objectively and truthfully speaking, I am glad to see such authenticity on KZbin. Instead of prejudice and lies.

[@nelsonaraujo86]

Hey this was an excellent video.

[@user-up8td3dg3p]

这是真实的历史👍🏻油管评论有很多厉害的人，他们有渊博的知识，甚至比一些中国人都了解中国历史，他们真的很有才华

[@augustwolf_2256]

slight nit pick, the party's official name is the Communist Party of China (CPC) not CCP, despite the later acronym commonly being used by the media and western public.

[@abcdedfg8340]

Question, doesnt the ccp use the cpc and cpp acronyms interchangeably? The chinese characters literally read chinese communist party lol. I dont think it really matters tbh, do you refer to the democrats, or many other political parties by their official names? Its probably more trouble than its worth.

[@walden6272]

@@abcdedfg8340 No. Only the West uses CCP as propaganda term. The CPC would not call themselves CCP, it would be like USA calling themselves American United States (AUS).

[@G.A.C_Preserve]

Its official acronym is the CCP before it changed to CPC for propaganda purposes as the CPC acronym doesn't have as much bad associated with it unlike the CCP

[@walden6272]

@@G.A.C_Preserve Wrong. That would make zero sense for the party to be called Chinese Communist Party because they are already Chinese. That's like the Republican Party calling itself American Republican Party or the Democratic Party calling itself American Democratic Party. Both Parties are of the United States, just as the Communist Party of China. Even, the United States once had a Communist Party. It would be proper to be refer to as Communist Party of United States. No one called them American Communist Party.

[@jieling4988]

西方把中共称为ccp 是为了让人联想到苏共cccp 从第一印象开始就对它产生恐惧

[@sjshih]

The person on the right hand side in the picture @08:43 is mistakenly labelled as Zhou Enlai when it is in fact Zhu De.

[@asiborteddyblaine6203]

That cannon at the beginning sent me laughing hard. That gun can actually harm both ways.

[@Flyinghigh3597]

@2:53 Chiang KaiShek (CKS) has never studied military theory in Moscow. Instead he studied military subjects in Japan and studying in a Japanese military academy.

[@davidbosak7503]

That's right. I caught that mistake also.

[@poilochien]

il a étudié les affaire militaire à baoding, au japon et en russie ...

[@bosunbill9059]

Funniest part, he didn't study at a proper Japanese Military Academy unlike many of the KMT warlords. But a lesser tuition under the Japanese Military academy and didn't actually graduate, because he wasn't the best student. During a meet up of the ex Japanese Academy graduate club organised by many KMT generals, many alumni was surprised to hear Chiang was amongst the list despite never meeting him. However due to Chiang donating a large sum to the club and the fact that he is the Generalissimo, they just tolerate his presence.

[@user-xi3or3di3u]

Thank you for your serious work, very clear and accurate explanation

[@yyds66666]

我是一个中国人，很负责任的告诉你，他的内容有很多错误，

[@WaterFox117]

@@yyds66666 比如说？

[@yyds66666]

@@WaterFox117 一个月过去了，我都忘了内容了，懒得再看一遍，自己查历史去吧

[@asiahunk69]

@minute 8:39, the Red Army Commander next to a lady is Zhude, misidentified as Zhou Enlai.

[@kalafinwe5498]

Amazing introduction 0:00 - 4:00

[@TENHAJIME]

At 8'40'' the man in picture not Zhou Enlai but Zhu De.

[@rpgbb]

“The Conquerors” by André Malraux is a highly recommended reading

[@poilochien]

n'importe quoi ...

[@zhangjianwen2631]

8:41, the man on the right is Zhu De, not Zhou Enlai.

[@dragon-tamer7956]

17:48 what's this picture called? Can't find it on Google images...

[@sampsongao9245]

8:42 Minor mistake about the name tag. The Red Army Commander was Zhu De, not Zhou Enlai.

[@zainmudassir2964]

Hope you cover Afghanistan civil war in 1920s and rise of King Zahir Shah who would lead most prosperous time in the country's history. Sad how things turned so bad which still being felt today.

[@user-wr4yl7tx3w]

What was the closing about?

[@syue6544]

You can call him a dictator or what, but this man is a genius, he succeeded for a reason.

[@venturatheace1]

22:56 doesn’t the guy bald guy on the right resemble Yamashita?

[@JobberBud]

Great work as usual. Just be careful with those adjectives, Jesse.

[@shayneb3540]

You have to admit Mao was definitely a military genius. He played the long game with Chiang Kai-Shek and in the end made him look like a fool.

[@Lululemon2023]

The most unbiased documentary so far on this topic.

[@wappa30000]

At 24:33 does anyone know what kind of lmg that is? Never seen it before, almost like a modified Hotchkiss or something with the hand guard removed?

[@blackore64]

I think it's the japanese type 11 hopper-fed LMG

[@user-ls7ry6kt1r]

This video is such a refreshment especially after those StateBall video full of mistakes,thanks for the job well done,中国人给你点赞👍

[@TelpPov]

8:40 mistake, that's a picture of Zhu De at the right.

[@amotaba]

Excellent video

[@BlackMasterRoshi]

For a more in-depth look at the warlord era, I recommend the beautifully illustrated manga Fist of the Blue Sky.

[@illustrator555]

the smartest wisest and most amazing man of Chinese history, followed by Li shimin the leader of giant tang empire a thousand years ago.

[@user-cx2ud1tj6c]

不是秦始皇吗

[@jasonz7788]

Awesome thanks 👍

[@Gutraidh]

8:39 That's Zhude on the right btw not Zhou Enlai.

[@aleverettes2789]

18:00 I must point out even the numbers may have exaggerated elements about the Long March, there was a conversion error The number of "twelve thousand" frequently used in Mainland sources is counted in old Chinese miles, which roughly converted to 400~450 meters So according to the number claimed by CCP the actual travel distance is about 4800-5200km

[@kowishto]

*CPC

[@xsu-is7vq]

no. The official claim is 25000 Chinese miles, which convert to 12500 km as the video says. But this is not the distance of the main route, but the combined distance marched by all red army units since start of long march.

[@aleverettes2789]

@@xsu-is7vq that is true, it was 25 thousand Chinese miles instead of 12 thousand I remembered it wrong

[@user-ub4dx6sh1g]

你这个认知还不如纸上谈兵，军队作战模式下前进丶包围丶穿插丶反包围丶反穿插丶诱敌深入这都是行军距离

[@theeliminatedai7321]

@@user-ub4dx6sh1g 四渡赤水弯弯绕绕都很长距离了

[@chiahungli3678]

The first sentence is incorrect. Qing dynasty ruled China for less than 300 years. To be precise, it's 268 years, from 1644-1911.

[@juneten600]

在长征之前的井岗山，毛因他远超众人的军事才能和眼界，受到了高层的冷遇和迫害，每次遇到危机时，他们会启用毛，危机过后再次闲置他。 直到长征无力再进行下去，在遵义这个地方，所有高层共同讨论决议，才确定了毛的领导地位。 所以毛的崛起不是历史的偶然，当时的历史必须选择了他。 但是，这个国家出现了毛亦可说是偶然，因为前后追溯，很难找到第二个有能力半路带领一个危在旦夕的团队和国家走出困境的人。 另外还有一件毛亲口对斯诺说的趣事：“1927年，他在秋收起义时被民团抓获，他用了银元行贿，最终惊险逃脱。”

[@cavu2555]

8:44 the right most man wasn't Zhou Enlai but Zhu De. Plz correct

[@aliyangco8178]

Best non-bias history video ❤

[@ThisNinjaSays_]

I don't think I'll ever understand Chiang Kai-Shek. 😕 He reminds me of that fanatic Catholic South Vietnamese dictator that Americans liquidated. Men who cannot compromise and be pragmatic when the need arises should never lead countries.

[@Gowen09Tang]

I had the same feeling! Chiang seemed a downright dictator. China might have been a totally different country should Sun Yat-Sen had lived longer or should Chiang not be the successor of Sun.

[@poilochien]

c'est très facile à comprendre : la majorité de ses officiers et de sa clientèle étaient des propriétaires de terre ... en 1926, durant le début de la bei fa, les organisations de paysans, soutenues par le PCC, commencent à se saisir des terres dans le sillage des armées remontant depuis guangzhou. les nationalistes ont tout simplement réalisé en avril 1927 un pivotement d'alliance : abandonner l'alliance soviétique pour récupérer l'alliance avec les puissances impérialistes anticommunistes. qui l'ont reconnus et leur ont prêté l'argent dont ils avaient besoin pour continuer la guerre. même en 1948, les nationalistes refusent toute réforme agraire ... toutes les grandes révolutions de l'aire moderne ( france, mexique, russie, chine ) ont eu la question du terrain pour question centrale .

[@typeviic1]

Wow, this is incredible, unbiased history.

[@sw9276]

Great video! The best I've ever seen made by an English channel from a perspective of west culture. Chairman Mao was probably the greatest strategist ever in human history. However, we must know that his thinking "serve the people wholeheartedly" is actually THE key feature that distinguishes the Chinese Red Army and PLA nowadays from all other armies. The people's army is undefeatable! Found bugs: 1. On 8:40, the second man from the right in the photo is Zhu De (朱德), not Zhou Enlai (周恩来) 2. On 11:13, it should be He Bei (河北) province, not Hu Bei (湖北)

[@jacobscholtissek2410]

the Chinese Red Army is undeafeted cause they dont fought against the japanese the KMT was defeated by tha Japanese and Mao just picked up the fruit

[@Civman-yr8lb]

So undefeatable they lost to Vietnam

[@evancooper7259]

@@Civman-yr8lb you are so funny,bro. Do you know the real history😆

[@Civman-yr8lb]

@@evancooper7259 China invaded Vietnam and lost. Doesn't everyone know that?

[@evancooper7259]

@@Civman-yr8lb haha

[@marcogarcia4197]

Excelente video y saludos desde Lima Perú

[@tinyraskalGz]

Interesting how you chose to not mention how the kmt left the people of Nanking to defend themselves as they fled before the Japanese. Where as the commies fought where they could. That is a big factor of why the commies had more support

[@tinyraskalGz]

I geuss he deleted his comment now … logic prevailed over propaganda. 👍

[@treystewart731]

​@Yibay This is a joke, right?

[@dirremoire]

The term "landlords" is somewhat of a misnomer intends to create a sense of some sympathy for us in the capitalists West. Many of the great landlords were little more than slave owners.

[@mariano98ify]

​@@dirremoire that might be for your small eastern mind, but by the middle of the XX century landlords were owners with close ties to politicians just like today.

[@mariano98ify]

​@A J that sound awesome! I hope and I am sure billions won't die because Chariman Mao commanded to kill "some" Mockingbirds.

[@zijianxiong9356]

A small mistake at 11:25, it's "Hebei" province rather than "Hubei" province. "Hubei" is another province in which Wuhan is located.

[@ThisNinjaSays_]

Please don't mention Wu**n. For the sake of peace ✌️

[@mottscottison6943]

​@@ThisNinjaSays_wuhan

[@yueqian2237]

@@mottscottison6943 🤣

[@wuhaninstituteofvirology]

@@ThisNinjaSays_ (did someone say my name?)

[@polarhunter]

at 8:35; the one labelled as Zhou Enlai in the photo is actually Zhu De

[@FATTONY22]

The picture at 8:22 is not Zhou Enlai, but Zhu De.

[@weiliu3512]

found two mistakes. 1, Qing dynasty ruled China less than 300 year; 2, Chiang studied military in Japan not Moscow

[@auntiecastrate1592]

The entire film lacks any footage of Comrade Mao Zedong's life, whether it is historical records or film materials, or any quotes from documentary interviews (video clips). What we can see is very poor editing and the host's eloquent conversation. Although I cannot understand their language, I am also uninterested. Maoism is a complete systematic ideological system, and Comrade Mao Zedong is the founder of this thought. The ignorant Westerners only used linear thinking to understand how Mao Zedong fought, but never thought about what their army relied on to maintain operations. Do you really think that a force of hundreds of thousands of people can unify China with a population of 400 million in a chaotic world of warlords and foreign enemies just by shouting slogans and beliefs?

[@yunflu6320]

Wait, why Zhang Zuolin's picture is his son's picture

[@iamyt87]

at 8:43 was a fault there were mao zedong and zhu de, not zhou enlai