Zhou Enlai, born on this day in 1898, was a communist revolutionary, statesman, and military officer who served as the 1st Premier of the People's Republic of China from 1949 to 1976. "All diplomacy is a continuation of war by other means."

Zhou was educated in a missionary college in Tianjin before studying at a Japanese university. In Tianjin, he met his future wife, Deng Yingchao while participating in a radical political group known as the "Awakening Society". In 1920, Zhou moved to France, where he helped form the overseas branch of the Communist Party of China. He also lived in Britain and Germany before returning to China in 1924.

While working in the Political Department of the Whampoa Military Academy, Zhou was also made the secretary of the Communist Party of Guangdong-Guangxi, and served as the CPC representative with the rank of major-general.

After the Chinese Civil War broke out in 1927, Zhou served in the communist forces, helping establish and oversee a network of underground cells of communist resistance. Zhou played a leading role in the Long March of 1934-35, an arduous military retreat of communist forces over 8,000 miles.

Following the Zunyi Conference in 1935, Mao Zedong became Zhou's assistant. After the conclusion of the Long March, Mao officially took over Zhou Enlai's leading position in the CPC, while Zhou took a secondary position as vice-chairman. Both would hold their leadership positions until their deaths in 1976.

Zhou was a prominent participant in the 1955 Asian–African Conference, held in Indonesia. The conference produced a declaration in strongly in favor of peace, the abolition of nuclear arms, general arms reduction, and the principle of universal representation at the United Nations. Zhou was critical of American imperial aggression and stated "the population of Asia will never forget that the first atom bomb was exploded on Asian soil."

Zhou passed away from bladder cancer on January 8th, 1976, just nine months before Mao Zedong's death in September that year.

"Today the first unification of the Chinese people has emerged. The people themselves have become the masters of Chinese soil, and the rule of the reactionaries in China has been irrevocably overthrown."

Zhou Enlai, from "Chinese People Will not Tolerate Aggression" (October 1950)

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  • PaX [comrade/them, they/them]
    ·
    edit-2
    8 months ago
    textwall
    From chernenko@kremvax.UUCP Sun Apr  1 15:02:52 1984
    Relay-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83 (MC840302); site mcvax.UUCP
    Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 4/1/84 (SU840401); site kremvax.UUCP
    Path: mcvax!moskvax!kremvax!chernenko
    From: chernenko@kremvax.UUCP
    Newsgroups: net.general,eunet.general,net.politics,eunet.politics
    Subject: USSR on Usenet
    Message-ID: <0001@kremvax.UUCP>
    Date: Sun, 1-Apr-84 15:02:52 GMT
    Article-I.D.: kremvax.0001
    Posted: Sun Apr  1 15:02:52 1984
    Date-Received: Mon, 1-Apr-84 12:26:02 GMT
    Organization: MIIA, Moscow
    Lines: 41
    
    <.....>
    
    Well, today, 840401, this is at last the Socialist Union of Soviet
    Republics joining the Usenet network and saying hallo to everybody.
    
    One reason for us to join this network has been to have a means of
    having an open discussion forum with the American and European people
    and making clear to them our strong efforts towards attaining peaceful
    coexistence between the people of the Soviet Union and those of the
    United States and Europe.
    
    We have been informed that on this network many people have given strong
    anti-Russian opinions, but we believe they have been misguided by their
    leaders, especially the American administration, who is seeking for war
    and domination of the world.
    By well informing those people from our side we hope to have a possibility
    to make clear to them our intentions and ideas.
    
    Some of those in the Western world, who believe in the truth of what we
    say have made possible our entry on this network; to them we are very
    grateful. We hereby invite you to freely give your comments and opinions.
    
    Here are the data for our backbone site:
    
    Name: moskvax
    Organization: Moscow Institute for International Affairs
    Contact: K. Chernenko
    Phone: +7 095 840401
    Postal-Address: Moscow, Soviet Union
    Electronic-Address: mcvax!moskvax!kremvax!chernenko
    News: mcvax kremvax kgbvax
    Mail: mcvax kremvax kgbvax
    
    And now, let's open a flask of Vodka and have a drink on our entry on
    this network. So:
    
    			NA ZDAROVJE!
    
    -- 
    	K. Chernenko, Moscow, USSR
    	...{decvax,philabs}!mcvax!moskvax!kremvax!chernenko
    
    • PaX [comrade/them, they/them]
      ·
      edit-2
      8 months ago

      Can you imagine the reaction if Xi Jinping came to lemmy or something lmao

      Actually it was Usenet so it's like if Xi Jinping went to reddit or hackernews lol

      Just to be clear: Chernenko did not post that hehehe