Today China officially commemorates the end of the legendary Long March 70 years ago. What began as a strategic retreat to escape a Kuomintang encirclement in Jiangxi province ended in triumph in Jiangtaibao in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region on October 22, 1936. Months later the marchers would set up a new base in Yan’an in Shaanxi province.
At the time it was not at all certain that the march had ended in victory. The march certainly ended, because the marchers stopped moving, but the Red Army had only conserved around one tenth of its strength. But the extraordinary fighting spirit, perseverance and determination of the marchers had shown the Chinese people that if they followed the Red Army, a better tomorrow could be possible. The Japanese invaders and Kuomintang reactionaries could be defeated and a new republic would rise in the East.
We can still learn a lot from the spirit of the March. With patience and determination, adversity can be turned into victory.
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