Zhu De

Early Life and Military Education

Zhu De was born on 1 December 1886 in Yilong County, Sichuan Province, into a tenant-farming family. He graduated from the Yunnan Military Academy in 1911, took part in the Xinhai Revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty, and served in Yunnan provincial armies through the warlord era. Seeking a deeper political vision, he travelled to Europe in 1922 and joined the Chinese Communist Party in Berlin under Zhou Enlai's sponsorship — an unlikely pairing of a veteran soldier and a revolutionary movement that would define the rest of his life.

Founding the Red Army

Zhu De was a central figure in the Nanchang Uprising of 1 August 1927 — the event the PRC commemorates as the founding of the People's Liberation Army. When the uprising failed, he led the surviving forces south and then, in April 1928, joined Mao Zedong's unit on Jinggang Mountain. The resulting "Zhu-Mao Army" (朱毛红军) became the nucleus of the Chinese Red Army. Zhu De served as Commander-in-Chief — a title he would hold, at least nominally, for the next two decades — while Mao provided political direction.

Long March and the Yan'an Years

Zhu De commanded Red Army forces through the Long March (1934–35), the gruelling 12,500-kilometre strategic retreat that became the founding myth of the CPC. In the cave-city of Yan'an he oversaw the expansion and professionalisation of communist military forces. His relationship with Mao was not always smooth — during the march he briefly sided with Zhang Guotao's rival faction — but he remained the uncontested military figurehead of the communist movement.

War of Resistance Against Japan

When full-scale war with Japan erupted in 1937, Zhu De commanded the Eighth Route Army in the north, directing guerrilla operations across Shanxi, Hebei, and Shandong. He orchestrated the Hundred Regiments Campaign (百团大战) in 1940 — the largest offensive operation the Red Army mounted against Japanese forces — though the campaign's strategic wisdom was later contested within the Party. His role was primarily operational and symbolic: holding together a coalition of commanders under difficult conditions with limited central supply.

Civil War and the Order to Cross the Yangtze

As Commander-in-Chief through the final phase of the Civil War, Zhu De co-signed with Mao Zedong the Order to Advance on the Entire Front (向全国进军的命令) on 21 April 1949 — the document that set in motion the crossing of the Yangtze River by over one million PLA soldiers. His role by this stage was primarily symbolic authority rather than operational command; day-to-day direction rested with field commanders such as Chen Yi, Liu Bocheng, and Su Yu. Nevertheless, his signature on the order represented the institutional legitimacy of the PLA.

Post-1949: Chairman of the NPC

After 1949, Zhu De served as one of the six Vice-Chairmen of the Central People's Government under Mao. He was awarded the rank of Marshal (元帅) in 1955 — first among the Ten Marshals. From 1959 to 1976 he served as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, a largely ceremonial but symbolically significant post. He was a consistent voice for moderation during the Anti-Rightist Campaign and the Great Leap Forward, though he did not openly resist Mao.

Cultural Revolution and Death

During the Cultural Revolution, Zhu De was denounced by Red Guards as a "big warlord and big ambitionist" (大军阀、大野心家) and subjected to public criticism sessions. He survived by retreating into silence and making ritual self-criticisms. His historical standing was never permanently damaged — he was too deeply identified with the founding of the PLA to be fully repudiated. Zhu De died in Beijing on 6 July 1976, aged 89, six weeks before Mao Zedong. He was among the last of the founding generation of the PRC.