Zhang Guotao 张国焘

Zhang Guotao (November 26, 1897 – December 3, 1979) was a founding member and important leader of the Chinese Communist Party (***) and bitter rival to Mao Zedong. During the 1920s he studied in the Soviet Union and became a key contact with the Comintern and organized the *** labor movement in the United Front with the Guomindang. In 1931, after the Party had been driven from the cities, he established the E-Yu-Wan Soviet. When his armies were driven from the region, he joined the Long March but lost a contentious struggle for party leadership to Mao Zedong. Zhang's armies then took a different route from Mao's and were badly beaten by local forces in Gansu. When his depleted forces finally arrived to join Mao in Yan'an, Zhang continued his losing challenge to Mao, and left the party in 1938. Zhang eventually retired to Toronto, Canada, and became a Christian shortly before his death in 1979. His memoirs provide valuable and vivid information on his life and party history.