The Establishment of the Central Revolutionary Base Area and Other Base Areas

The Central Revolutionary Base Area, also known as the Central Soviet Area, was formed by the integration of two base areas in Southern Jiangxi and Western Fujian. It was the largest base area in the rural areas established under the direct leadership of Mao Zedong and Zhu De, during the War of Agrarian Revolution period, and was the seat of the Soviet Central Government and the central region of the nation-wide Soviet Movement.

From November 1927 to March 1928, under the leadership of the CPC Western Jiangxi and Southern Jiangxi Special Committees, Lai Jingbang, Li Wenlin, and Gu Bai led armed uprisings in Southwest Jiangxi, which created revolutionary base areas such as Donggu and Qiaotou.

In March and June 1928, Guo Diren, Deng Zihui, Zhu Jilei, and Zhang Dingcheng led armed uprisings in western Fujian, creating the revolutionary base and local workers' and peasants' armies in Xi’nan, Yongding. These small red separated areas in southern Jiangxi and western Fujian laid the foundation of the Central Soviet Union.

In January 1929, after Mao Zedong and Zhu De led the main force of the Fourth Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army to leave the Jinggang Mountains Revolutionary Base Region, they moved to the southern Jiangxi and western Fujian, and with the cooperation of the aforementioned base and local workers' and peasants' armed forces, they opened up the revolutionary base areas in southern Jiangxi and western Fujian.

In January 1930, the four independent regiments of the Jiangxi Red Army were merged into the Sixth Army of the Red Army.

On February 7, 1930, the CPC Special Committee of Southern Jiangxi, the Special Committee of Southern Jiangxi, and the Committees of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Red Armies jointly formed a front committee with Mao Zedong as secretary to lead the agrarian revolution and armed struggle in a unified tactic, and the three special committees of Western Jiangxi, Southern Jiangxi and Hunan-Jiangxi Border Region were as the CPC Special Committee of southern Jiangxi, with Liu Shiqi as the Secretary.

In March, the Soviet Government of southern Jiangxi base area was established, with Zeng Shan as Chairman; the Soviet Government of western Fujian was established, with Deng Zihui as its chairman. In April, the five separate regiments of the Red Army in the western Fujian area were combined into the Twelfth Army of the Red Army.

In June, the Fourth, Sixth (soon later renamed as the Third Army), and the Twelfth Armies of the Red Army, which were active in southern Jiangxi and western Fujian, were merged into the First Corps of the Red Army.

In August, the Red Army Corps led by Mao Zedong and Zhu De and the Red Army Corps led by Peng Dehuai met at Yonghe of Liuyang to form the First Joint Front Army of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army, with Zhu De as commander-in-chief and Mao Zedong as general political commissar. In October, Mao Zedong led the Red Army to move to Jiangxi, conquering the important town of Ji'an and establishing the Jiangxi Provincial Soviet Government with Zeng Shan as its chairman.

In January 1931, according to the decision of the Central Committee of the CPC, the Central Bureau of the Soviet Union was established, with Zhou Enlai as the secretary. Before the arrival of Zhou Enlai, Xiang Ying and Mao Zedong had held the posts of deputy secretaries.

In September, after the Central Soviet Union crushed the third “encirclement” of the KMT army, the two parts of southern Jiangxi and western Fujian became one. The base area was expanded to more than 20 counties, and the county-level Soviet Governments were established in 24 counties.

In November, the First National Congress of the Chinese Soviet was held in Ruijin, Jiangxi, which established the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic, with Mao Zedong as chairman and Xiang Ying and Zhang Guotao as vice-chairmen. At the same time, the Central Revolutionary Military Committee of the Chinese Soviet Republic was formed, with Zhu De as chairman; Wang Jiaxiang and Peng Dehuai as vice-chairmen. The Provisional Central Government of the Chinese-Soviet Republic was located in Ruijin. At this point, the Central Revolutionary Base was officially formed. It governed and led the struggle in the Soviet regions of the country.

On December 14, 1931, the 26th Route Army of the KMT led by Zhao Bosheng and Dong Zhentang revolted in Ningdu, Jiangxi Province, and joined the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, and was organized as the Fifth Corps of the Red Front Army. By the eve of the Central Red Army Long March, the Red Front Army grew to include First, Third, Fifth, Eighth and Ninth Corps, even the local armed forces, totaling more than 100,000 people.

In January 1933, the Provisional Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, headed by Bo Gu, moved from Shanghai to the Central Revolutionary Base. In February and March of the same year, the Central Revolutionary Bases won the fourth victory against the “encirclement”, which not only consolidated the Central Revolutionary Bases but also opened up the link between the Central Soviet and the Soviet of Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi.

In the autumn of 1933, the Central Soviet Area had four provincial soviet regimes in Jiangxi, Fujian, Fujian-Jiangxi Border, and Guangdong-Jiangxi Border with 60 administrative counties, covering more than 90 counties, in addition, the Central Revolutionary Base Area also had the southern Jiangxi Province, and the Red Army and the Base Area had reached its peak. The Central Soviet Area has thus become the largest revolutionary base area in the country.