Editing Zhou Enlai (section)

==Political and military work in Whampoa==

===Establishment in Guangzhou===
[[File:Zhou Enlai 1924.jpg|thumb|right|Zhou Enlai as the director of the Political Department at Whampoa Military Academy (1924)]]
Zhou returned to China in late August or early September 1924 to join the Political Department of the [[Whampoa Military Academy]], probably through the influence of Zhang Shenfu, who had previously worked there.<ref>Lee 165</ref> Zhou was Whampoa's chief political officer.<ref name="Crean">{{Cite book |last=Crean |first=Jeffrey |title=The Fear of Chinese Power: an International History |date=2024 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |isbn=978-1-350-23394-2 |edition= |series=New Approaches to International History series |location=London, UK |pages=}}</ref>{{Rp|page=55}} While he was serving in Whampoa, Zhou was also made the secretary of the Communist Party of Guangdong-Guangxi, and served as the CCP representative with the rank of major-general.<ref>Barnouin and Yu 32</ref>

The island of Whampoa, ten miles downriver from Guangzhou, was at the heart of the Soviet-Nationalist Party alliance. Conceived as the training center of the Nationalist Party Army, it was to provide the military base from which the Nationalists would launch their campaign to unify China, which was split into dozens of military [[satrap]]ies. From its beginning, the school was funded, armed, and partly staffed by the Soviets.<ref>Wilbur, ''Nationalist'' 13–14</ref>

The Political Department, where Zhou worked, was responsible for political indoctrination and control. As a result, Zhou was a prominent figure at most Academy meetings, often addressing the school immediately after commandant [[Chiang Kai-shek]]. He was extremely influential in establishing the political department/party representative (commissar) system which was adopted in Nationalist armed forces in 1925.<ref>Wilbur, ''Missionaries'' 238</ref>

Concurrent with his Whampoa appointment, Zhou became secretary of the Communist Party's Guangdong Provincial Committee, and at some point a member of the Provincial Committee's Military Section.{{NoteTag|"Secretary of provincial committee" is according to Barnouin and Yu, 32. Other works give different dates and positions. His work in the Provincial Military Section probably came a little later, see Barnouin and Yu 35.}} Zhou vigorously extended Communist influence at the academy. He soon arranged for a number of other prominent Communists to join the Political Department, including [[Chen Yi (communist)|Chen Yi]], [[Nie Rongzhen]], [[Yun Daiying]], and [[Xiong Xiong]].<ref>For Chen Yi, see Boorman, "Chen Yi", 255. For the rest, see Weidenbaum 212–213</ref> Zhou played an important role in establishing the Young Soldiers Association, a youth group which was dominated by the Communists, and Sparks, a short-lived Communist front group. He thus recruited numerous new Communist party members from cadet ranks, and eventually set up a covert Communist Party branch at the academy to direct the new members.<ref name="Barnouin and Yu 35">Barnouin and Yu 35</ref> When Nationalists concerned with the increasing number of Communist members and organizations at Whampoa set up a "Society for [[Sun Yat-sen]]ism", Zhou attempted to squelch it; the conflict between these student groups set the background for Zhou's removal from the academy.<ref>Hsu 47–48</ref>

===Military activities===
[[File:Chiang Kai-shek and Zhou Enlai with cadets at Whampoa Military Academy.jpg|thumb|[[Chiang Kai-shek]] (center) and Zhou Enlai (left) with cadets at Whampoa Military Academy (1924)]]
Zhou participated in two military operations conducted by the Nationalist regime in 1925, later known as the first and second Eastern Expeditions. The first was in January 1925 when [[Chen Jiongming]], an important Cantonese military leader previously driven out of Guangzhou by Sun Yat-sen, attempted to retake Guangzhou. The Nationalist regime's campaign against Chen consisted of forces from the Guangdong Army under [[Xu Chongzhi]], and two training regiments of the Nationalist Party Army, led by Chiang Kai-shek and staffed by Academy officers and cadets.<ref>Wilbur ''Nationalist'' 20</ref>{{NoteTag|As Wilbur notes, Russian advisors played important roles in these early campaigns.}} The fighting lasted through May 1925, with the defeat, but not destruction, of Chen's forces.<ref>Boorman "Ch'en Chiung-ming" 179</ref> Zhou accompanied the Whampoa cadets on the expedition as a political officer.

When Chen regrouped and attacked Guangzhou again in September 1925, the Nationalists launched a second expedition. Nationalist forces by this time had been reorganized into five corps (or armies) and adopted the commissar system with Political Departments and Nationalist party representatives in most divisions. The First Corps, made up of the Nationalist Party Army, was led by Whampoa graduates and commanded by Chiang Kai-shek, who personally appointed Zhou director of the First Corps Political Department.<ref>Wilbur ''Missionaries'' 203 n92</ref> Soon after, the Nationalist Party's Central Executive Committee appointed Zhou Nationalist Party party representative, making Zhou chief commissar of the First Corps.<ref>Wilbur ''Missionaries'' 175</ref> The first major battle of expedition saw the capture of Chen's base in Huizhou on 15 October. Shantou was taken on 6 November, and by the end of 1925, the Nationalists controlled all of Guangdong province.

Zhou's appointment as chief commissar of the First Corps allowed him to appoint Communists as commissars in four of the Corps' five divisions.<ref>Wilbur ''Missionaries'' 222</ref> Following the conclusion of the Expedition, Zhou was appointed special commissioner for the East River District, which placed him in temporary administrative control of several counties; he apparently used this opportunity to establish a Communist party branch in Shantou and strengthen the CCP's control of local unions.<ref>Weidenbaum 233–235</ref> This marked the high point of Zhou's time at Whampoa.

===Political activities===
In personal terms, 1925 was also an important year for Zhou. Zhou had kept in touch with [[Deng Yingchao]], whom he had met in the Awakening Society while in Tianjin; and, in January 1925, Zhou asked for and received permission from CCP authorities to marry Deng. The two married in Guangzhou on 8 August 1925.<ref>Barnouin and Yu, 33–34</ref>

Zhou's work at Whampoa came to an end with the [[Zhongshan Warship Incident]] of 20 March 1926, in which a gunboat with a mostly Communist crew moved from Whampoa to Guangzhou without Chiang's knowledge or approval. This event led to Chiang's exclusion of Communists from the academy by May 1926, and the removal of numerous Communists from high positions in the Nationalist Party. In his memoirs, [[Nie Rongzhen]] suggested that the gunboat had moved in protest of Zhou Enlai's (brief) arrest.<ref name="Barnouin and Yu 35"/>

Zhou's time in Whampoa was a significant period in his career. His pioneering work as a political officer in the military made him an important Communist Party expert in this key area; much of his later career centered on the military. Zhou's work in the CCP Guangdong Regional Committee Military Section was typical of his covert activities in the period. The Section was a secret group consisting of three members of the Provincial Central Committee, and was first responsible for organizing and directing CCP nuclei in the army itself. These nuclei, organized at the regimental level and above, were "illegal", meaning they were formed without Nationalist knowledge or authorization. The Section was also responsible for organizing similar nuclei in other armed groups, including secret societies and key services such as railroads and waterways. Zhou did extensive work in these areas until the final separation of the Nationalist and Communist parties and the end of the Soviet-Nationalist alliance in 1927.<ref>Wilbur ''Missionaries'' 244 has a detailed discussion of the section.</ref>