Nanchang Uprising

The Nanchang Uprising was an armed revolt launched in Nanchang on August 1, 1927, by Communist forces against the Kuomintang government. It marked the Chinese Communist Party’s first major independent military action.

Zhou Enlai: A Chinese Communist revolutionary and statesman who became premier of the People’s Republic of China. He helped organize the uprising and served on its revolutionary committee.
First United Front: An alliance between the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang from 1923 to 1927. Its collapse turned former allies into opponents before the revolt.
August 1 Army Day: A commemorative day observed in China on August 1 to mark the founding of the People’s Liberation Army. The date commemorates the uprising as the army’s founding event.
Nanchang: The capital of Jiangxi province in southeastern China, situated at the confluence of the Gan and Fu rivers. Communist forces seized the city at the revolt’s outset but could not retain it.
He Long: A Chinese Communist military commander who became a marshal of the People’s Republic of China. He commanded forces that joined the revolt and its subsequent retreat.
Shanghai massacre of 1927: A violent purge of Communists and labor activists in Shanghai by Kuomintang forces in April 1927. The purge intensified the Communist decision to take up arms.
Chinese Civil War: The prolonged conflict between the Kuomintang and Chinese Communist Party, fought chiefly from 1927 to 1949. The revolt inaugurated the armed phase of their struggle.
Jiangxi: A province in southeastern China whose capital is Nanchang. The province became a major theater of the uprising’s retreat and later Communist organizing.
Ye Ting: A Chinese military commander who served the National Revolutionary Army and later the Chinese Communist movement. He led an army corps in the uprising’s forces.
Wuhan Nationalist government: A left-leaning Kuomintang government based in Wuhan in 1927, led by Wang Jingwei and allied with Communists. Its break with the Communists preceded the uprising’s launch.

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