(born Dec. 1, 1886, Yilong, Sichuan province, China—died July 6, 1976, Beijing) Founder of the Chinese communist force that became the People's Liberation Army. Educated at Yunnan Military Academy, Zhu began his military career in the armies of warlords in southern China.
He became a communist in the early 1920s but hid his affiliation to become an officer in the Nationalist army. In 1927 he took part in the communist-led Nanchang Uprising, an event celebrated annually in China as the birth of the People's Liberation Army. When the uprising was defeated, Zhu led his troops south to join Mao Zedong's small guerrilla forces. He became commander in chief of the communist forces, a position he held through World War II and the civil war with the Nationalists, not stepping down until 1954. With Mao, Zhu is credited with elevating guerrilla warfare to a major strategic concept.
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