Peng Dehuai << puhng duh hwy >> (1898-1974) was a Chinese soldier and Communist military leader. He had a long career of military successes and eventually served as defense minister for the People’s Republic of China. However, his disagreements with Chairman Mao Zedong, the head of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, led to Peng’s downfall and death.
Peng was born on Oct. 24, 1898, into a peasant family from Sixiang, in Hunan Province in south-central China. His name at birth was Peng Dehua. In 1916, Peng joined the army of a local warlord. In 1922, he entered the Hunan Provincial Military Academy. He also began using the name Peng Dehuai. After graduating in 1923, he rejoined the army. In 1926, during a civil war being fought in China, his battalion became part of the army of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party). An alliance between the Kuomintang and China’s Communists ended in 1927. In 1928, Peng joined the Communists, now the Kuomintang’s enemy. In 1934 and 1935, Peng survived the Communists’ escape from Kuomintang forces in a trek called the Long March.
Beginning in 1937, Peng led Communist forces against invading Japanese troops during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). After that war ended, civil war again erupted in China. Peng led Communist forces in northwest China. After the Communists defeated the Kuomintang in 1949, they took control of the government. Communist leader Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment in Beijing of the People’s Republic of China.
During the Korean War (1950-1953), Peng led the Chinese troops that backed Communist North Korea‘s invasion of non-Communist South Korea. Peng took part in the peace talks and signed the armistice that ended fighting in Korea in July 1953.
Peng was named China’s defense minister in 1954. But he soon clashed with Mao over a number of issues. For example, he disagreed with Mao’s emphasis on promoting members of the military based on political considerations rather than ability and professionalism. He also opposed Mao’s Great Leap Forward a disastrous campaign for economic and social development that led to widespread famine. Peng’s dissension caused his removal as defense minister in 1959.
In 1966, Mao launched a political movement called the Cultural Revolution, which sought to purge (remove from power) all people considered “disloyal” to the chairman or his strict doctrine. Peng was arrested, put in chains, tortured, and publicly humiliated. He suffered further abuse in prison. He died on Nov. 29, 1974.
After Mao died in 1976, Chinese leaders restored the reputations of many people persecuted under Mao, including Peng. Today, Peng is among China’s most revered figures of the 1900’s.
