The epic withdrawal of the Chinese communists from south‐eastern to north‐western China. By 1934 the Jiangxi Soviet was close to collapse after repeated attacks by the Kuomintang army. In October a force of 100,000 evacuated the area. Mao Zedong took over the leadership of the march in January 1935. For nine months it travelled through mountainous terrain cut by several major rivers. In October Mao and 6000 survivors reached Yan’an, having marched 9600 km (6000 miles). Other groups arrived later, in all about 20,000 surviving the journey. The march established Mao as the effective leader of the Chinese Communist Party, a position he consolidated in his ten years in Yan’an.