From Land Revolution to United Front: The Shen-Kan-Ning Soviet, 1935–1936

With the arrival of advanced units from the south in October 1935, the small and isolated guerrilla base in northern Shensi achieved national prominence as the lone remaining soviet stronghold, the new home of the top party leadership, and the focus of the Kuomintang annihilation campaign. In the next two years the communist movement not only ensured its own survival but laid the groundwork for its subsequent spectacular expansion by adopting a position as the leading advocate of a national united front to resist Japan. Under the new leadership of Mao Tse-tung, the party emerged as the most effective spokesman for patriotic sentiment at a time of mounting concern about Japanese incursions in China.