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China: Mao Zedong, Zunyi Conference Hall Revolutionary Museum, Zunyi, Guizhou Province

Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), was a Chinese communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, author, political theorist, and leader of the Chinese Revolution. Commonly referred to as Chairman Mao, he was the architect of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from its establishment in 1949, and held authoritarian control over the nation until his death in 1976. His theoretical contribution to Marxism-Leninism, along with his military strategies and brand of political policies, are now collectively known as Maoism.

The Zunyi Conference (simplified Chinese: 遵义会议; traditional Chinese: 遵義會議; pinyin: Zūnyì huìyì) was a meeting of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in January 1935 during the Long March. This meeting involved a power struggle between the leadership of Bo Gu and Otto Braun and the opposition led by Mao Zedong. The result was that Mao left the meeting in position to take over military command and become the leader of the Communist Party. The conference was completely unacknowledged until the 1950s and still no detailed descriptions were available until the fiftieth anniversary in 1985.