Republic of China · 1927-1936

China divided: the Long March

In the 1920s and 1930s China was split between warlords, Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists and the Communists. In 1934 the Communists broke out of a trap in the south and retreated thousands of kilometers to the north. Students trace the Long March and ask how a retreat became a legend.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1930 to AD 1938
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In the 1920s and 1930s China was split between warlords, Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists and the Communists. In 1934 the Communists broke out of a trap in the south and retreated thousands of kilometers to the north. Students trace the Long March and ask how a retreat became a legend.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain the conflict between the Nationalists and the Communists in China in the 1920s and 1930s.
  • Trace the route of the Long March from Jiangxi to Shaanxi.
  • Explain how the Long March became a founding story of the Chinese Communist Party.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1930

A divided China

Open the map in 1930 and look at China. How does the map label it? Why might a country ruled by rival generals be easy to invade?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1930

The route

Find Ruijin in Jiangxi in the south-east, then Yan'an in the north. Ask the atlas: "What route did the Long March take?" Which mountains and rivers lie in between?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1938

A third enemy

Move the slider to 1938 and look at Manchuria in the north-east. Who rules it now? Why did both Chinese parties face a third enemy?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Why did the Nationalists and the Communists, once allies, become enemies in 1927?
  2. More than 80,000 people set out on the Long March, but fewer than 10,000 arrived. Why did so many not make it?
  3. Mao Zedong became the leading figure of the Communists during the march. How did the march help him?
  4. Why was winning the support of peasants so important for the Communists?
  5. The Long March was a retreat. Why did it become a story of victory?
4

Game round

9 min

Play one round of Rule History as Qin Shi Huang, who united China by force in 221 BC. Then compare: in the 1930s China was divided again. What would it take to unite it, and who would win?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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