Editing Long March (section)

===The Jiangxi Soviet===
{{main|Jiangxi–Fujian Soviet}}
By 1930, the Red Army had established the Chinese Soviet Republic in the provinces of Jiangxi and [[Fujian]] around the city of [[Ruijin]], including industrial facilities.<ref>Ruth Rogaski, PhD, in Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2006: [http://encarta.msn.com/text_761559589___5/Mao_Zedong.html Mao Zedong, III. Rise to Power] (Retrieved November 25, 2006). [https://web.archive.org/web/20091029085314/http://encarta.msn.com/text_761559589___5/Mao_Zedong.html Archived] 2009-11-01.</ref>

After the establishment of the Jiangxi Soviet, Mao's status within the Party declined. In 1930, Mao claimed a need to eliminate alleged KMT spies and Anti-Bolsheviks operating inside the Jiangxi Soviet and began an ideological campaign featuring torture and guilt by association, in order to eliminate his enemies. The campaign continued until the end of 1931, killing approximately 70,000 people and reducing the size of the Red Army from 40,000 to less than 10,000. The ''de facto'' leader of the party at the time, [[Zhou Enlai]], originally supported Mao's purges as necessary to eliminate KMT spies. After Zhou arrived in Jiangxi in December 1931, he criticized Mao's campaigns for being directed more against anti-Maoists than legitimate threats to the Party, for the campaign's general senselessness, and for the widespread use of torture to extract confessions. During 1932, following Zhou's efforts to end Mao's ideological persecutions, the campaigns gradually subsided.{{sfn|Barnouin|Yu|2006|p=49–52}}

In December, of 1931 Zhou replaced [[Mao Zedong]] as Secretary of the First Front Army and political commissar of the Red Army.  Liu Bocheng, Lin Biao and Peng Dehuai all criticized Mao's tactics at the August 1932 Ningdu Conference.<ref>Whitson, William W. and Huang, Chen-hsia. ''The Chinese High Command: A History of Communist Military Politics, 1927–71''. New York: Praeger, 1973. pp. 57–58</ref>  The most senior leaders to support Mao in 1932 were Zhou Enlai, who had become disillusioned with the strategic leadership of other senior leaders in the Party, and Mao's old comrade, [[Zhu De]].  Zhou's support was not enough, and Mao was demoted to being a figurehead in the Soviet government, until he regained his position later, during the Long March.{{sfn|Barnouin|Yu|2006|p=52–55}}