Mao and the Long March

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how many attribute Mao Zedong's successes to the fact that he was a brilliant tactician who could turn defeat to failure, citing the Long March as a classic example. The paper argues, however, that Mao was indeed relentless, ruthless, and self-confident, but he was no miracle-worker. The paper reveals that on the contrary, when it came to the Long March, Mao was simply the right man in the right place at the right time, a classic example of how good luck can catapult a person to the centre of the historical stage.

From the Paper:

"Few figures in history inspire quite such extreme reactions as Mao Zedong. Some people revere him, while others revile him as a mass murderer. Whatever your point of view, there can be no doubt that Mao was one of the most influential people of the 20th century. He was revered by millions of Chinese as a supreme hero, and sometimes referred to as "the red sun rising in the east." Without him, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Peoples' Republic of China would not have been the same, and the latter might not have existed at all. As has been said of him, although his origins were commonplace, his education episodic at best, and his talents arguably unexceptional, nevertheless "he possessed a relentless energy and a ruthless self-confidence that led him to become one of the world's most powerful rulers"."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Apter, David E. "Yan'an and the Narrative Reconstruction of Reality." Daedalus 122.2 (1993): 207+.
• Collinson, Diane, Kathryn Plant and Robert Wilkinson. Fifty Eastern Thinkers. London: Routledge, 2000.
• Lynch, Michael. "Mao Zedong: Liberator or Oppressor of China? Michael Lynch Introduces the Controversial Career of a Gargantuan Figure in Chinese and Modern World History." History Review (2002): 10+.
• "Mao Zedong." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
• Scobell, Andrew. China's Use of Military Force: Beyond the Great Wall and the Long March. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

More papers on Mao and the Long March:

• Persuasive Essay # 139198 : "Chairman Mao and the Long March"
• Analytical Essay # 132567 : "The Long March (1934-36): Moral and Political Victory?"
• Essay # 64527 : "The Leadership of Mao Zedong"

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