Zhu De (1886-1976) was an important leader of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. Zhu and the Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong founded the army in 1928 when they joined forces in the Jinggang Mountains.
Zhu De was born in Yilong, Sichuan Province, on Dec. 1, 1886. He graduated from the Yunnan Military Academy in 1911. In 1922, he went to study in Germany, where he became a Communist. In 1927, he played a leading part in the unsuccessful Nanchang Uprising. After his troops joined forces with the soldiers of Mao Zedong in 1928, Zhu was appointed commander of the Fourth Army, a unit of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army, also called simply the Red Army. When the Red Army became the People’s Liberation Army, Zhu was made its commander in chief. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, Zhu served as chairman of the standing committee of the National People’s Congress. He died on July 6, 1976.
