The only foreigner to take part in the Long March, Otto Braun was a Comintern agent of German nationality who spent the years 1932 — 39 as a military adviser to the Chinese Communist Party. His memoirs, one of the few inside reports we have on the CCP and the Red Army during these critical years, are an invaluable historical source, providing many insights into the political and military developments of this period and a wealth of factual data.
His book is one of the half-dozen memoirs of the Chinese Revolution that must be regarded as basic in the field. Braun began his mission in Shanghai, where the Central Committee had its secret headquarters. In early 1933 he moved with the Central Committee to the Red Army's headquarters in Kiangsi, where he remained until the beginning of the Long March in October 1934.
He continued to serve as military adviser in Yenan until 1939, when he fell out with Mao Tse-tung and was recalled to Moscow. Braun provides new information on many key issues of the period, notably Mao's policies toward the Fukien Rebellion and the Sian Incident, the break in radio communication with Moscow during 1934 6, the strategy of the Long March, and the Tsunyi Conference of 1935, at which Mao became the party's undisputed leader.
His book is one of the half-dozen memoirs of the Chinese Revolution that must be regarded as basic in the field. Braun began his mission in Shanghai, where the Central Committee had its secret headquarters. In early 1933 he moved with the Central Committee to the Red Army's headquarters in Kiangsi, where he remained until the beginning of the Long March in October 1934.
He continued to serve as military adviser in Yenan until 1939, when he fell out with Mao Tse-tung and was recalled to Moscow. Braun provides new information on many key issues of the period, notably Mao's policies toward the Fukien Rebellion and the Sian Incident, the break in radio communication with Moscow during 1934 6, the strategy of the Long March, and the Tsunyi Conference of 1935, at which Mao became the party's undisputed leader.
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