The threat of approaching war changed the fortunes of the Chinese Communist Party. No longer a band of rebels on the run, they were now officially regarded as a junior partner in the United Front against Japan. The development of Communist political policy in the years of the war was inexorably shaped by the demands of warfare itself. The war also transformed the career of Mao Zedong. Mao had not been the only possible leader for the party when the war broke out, but his position had been greatly strengthened by the Long March; later accounts would play down the role of other Communist leaders
...more
