“ | However, if circumstances force us to fight, we can fight to the finish. | ” |
–Mao Zedong |
Mao Zedong (26 December 1893 – 19 August 1948) was a Chinese political theorist, military strategist, poet, and revolutionary who was the leader of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). He led the group from its establishment until his death in 1948. His theories are known as Maoism.
Mao was the son of a peasant in Shaoshan, Hunan. He supported Chinese nationalism and had an anti-imperialist outlook early in his life, and was influenced by the events of the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 and the May Fourth Movement of 1919. He later adopted Marxism–Leninism while working at Peking University as a librarian. He became a founding member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), leading the Autumn Harvest Uprising in 1927. During the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the CCP, Mao helped to found the Chinese Red Army, led the Jiangxi Soviet's radical land reform policies, and ultimately became head of the CCP during the Long March. Although the CCP temporarily allied with the KMT under the Second United Front during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), China's civil war resumed after Japan's surrender. Mao's forces were defeated by the Nationalist government in 1948. While attempting to escape towards Mongolia, Mao was presumably shot and killed in Manchuria.