As the CCP began to turn in on itself, events outside Jiangxi started to plague the party too. The Tanggu Truce of 1933 had created a breathing space in Sino-Japanese relations that allowed Chiang more time and space to direct his armies against the CCP. His initial Suppression Campaigns, as they were uncompromisingly termed, had been failures, but by 1934 the army reforms were beginning to have an effect. The Communists in Jiangxi found themselves under siege. It was time to leave.21 In June 1934 the Red Army began a trek to the northwest that has become known as the Long March.
