Zhu De

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Zhu De ( Chu The) (b. 30 Nov. 1886, d. 6 July 1976). Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese Communist army Born in Yilong, Sichuan Province, he was commissioned into the imperial army and attended the Yunnan military academy. He joined the revolutionary movement, however, and in 1911 participated in the Wuchang Revolution. He became an officer in the republican Yunnan army, which he left in 1922 to study in Germany. There, he met Zhou Enlai, joined the Communist Party, and studied political science at Göttingen University. Expelled for his political activities, he went to Moscow in 1925, and returned to China in 1926. He became commander of an officer's training regiment in the National Revolutionary Army until the Communist-Nationalist split in 1927. On 1 August 1927, he led the Communist Nanchang uprising, and in 1928, with Mao Zedong, he founded the 4th Red Army. A loyal supporter of Mao, he was a skilful military leader in defence of the Jianxi Soviet. After supporting Mao in the Long March, which took them to Yan'an, he became overall military commander of the Communist forces in 1936, a position which he retained until the army's final victory in the Chinese Civil War.

After the foundation of the People's Republic, his practical influence declined. He deputized Zhou Enlai as vice-chairman of the Central People's Government Council until 1954, and as vice-chairman of the Republic until 1959. Having been made a Marshall in 1955, his practical influence ended altogether in 1959, when he gave up the formal leadership of the People's Liberation Army. Instead, he was made chairperson of the harmless National People's Congress (1959–76), but he did emerge from the Cultural Revolution unharmed.

Zhu De or Chu Teh , 1886–1976, Chinese Communist soldier and leader. He was graduated (1911) from the Yunnan military academy and served in various positions with armies loyal to Sun Yat-sen . Stationed in Sichuan prov., he was a warlord from 1916 to 1920. In 1922 he went to Europe, where he met Zhou Enlai and joined the Chinese Communist party. He studied in Germany but was expelled (1925) for radical activities. He returned to China by way of the USSR, and in 1927, when Chiang Kai-shek purged the Communists from the Kuomintang, Zhu led an uprising in Nanchang and fled with troops to S Jiangxi prov. He joined forces there with Mao Zedong . When the Communist position became untenable, Zhu led (1934–35) his section of the Red Army on the long march to the northwest. In the Second Sino-Japanese War he was commander in chief of all Communist forces, a position he retained after the establishment (Sept., 1949) of the People's Republic of China in Beijing. In 1954, Zhu left his military position to serve (1954–59) as deputy chairman of the People's Republic of China. He was chairman of the National People's Congress (1959–67), Communist China's major legislative body, until denounced during the Cultural Revolution . He was restored to his posts in 1971 and died in 1976.

Zhu De (or Chu Teh) (1886–1976) Chinese revolutionary and soldier. He served as an officer in the imperial army and in the republican force that succeeded it. He became a communist in 1925, presenting his inherited wealth to the party. With MAO ZEDONG he organized and trained early units of the People's Liberation Army (1931) in Jiangxi and served as its commander-in-chief until 1954. He was a leader of the LONG MARCH of 1934–35 and commanded the 8th Route Army against the Japanese between 1939 and 1945 before overseeing the communist victory in the CHINESE CIVIL WAR. He became marshal in 1955 and remained influential until purged during the CULTURAL REVOLUTION. He was restored to favour in 1967 and lived out his life in honoured retirement.

Zhu De (1886–1976) Chinese communist military leader. Zhu helped to overthrow (1912) the Manchu dynasty. In 1922, he met Zhou Enlai and joined the Chinese Communist Party. In 1928, Zhu joined forces with Mao Zedong, and led his section of the Fourth Red Army on the Long March (1934–35). Commander in chief during the Second Sino-Japanese War, he retained the post after the establishment of a communist republic (1949). Zhu held several important party posts before being denounced during the Cultural Revolution.