A German perspective on the Long March: A journey through history — and into the future

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Red Army's Long March. To mark the occasion, China International Communications Group (CICG) launched the international communication project"Together on the Long March: 90th Anniversary of an Epic Journey." The initiative aims to help global audiences better understand the founding ideals and mission of the Communist Party of China (CPC), as well as the enduring values that have guided the Chinese people through decades of struggle and development.

On July 24, as a key component of this project, the sharing and exchange meeting titled"The Enduring Echo of the Long March: Toward a Shared Future" was held in Yan'an. More than 50 Chinese and foreign guests gathered to discuss the contemporary relevance of the Long March spirit.

Below is the excerpts from the speech delivered by Nils Bergemann, a German lecturer at the University of International Business and Economics, and a special commentator for China Today.

When I first came to China more than eight years ago, I thought the greatest distance between Germany and China was geographical. I was wrong. The greater distance was historical. Not because China has a longer history, but because history shapes the present differently. 

One question stayed with me: Why does the Long March still matter so much in China today?

In Germany, most people cannot answer it. Many have never heard of the Long March. Those who have usually describe it as a strategic withdrawal during the Chinese Civil War under extraordinarily difficult circumstances.

That description is not totally wrong. But it is incomplete. It explains what happened. It does not fully explain what the Long March means.

In Germany, history is often a warning. In China, history is also a source of direction.

The Long March is remembered not only for the hardships endured, but for the story it tells: perseverance, unity and renewal. It was the moment when the Communist Party survived one of the greatest challenges in its history, reorganized itself and found a new path forward. It became the beginning of a journey that would eventually lead to the founding of the People's Republic of China.

As a German, I think understanding should always come before judgment. Understanding and agreement are not the same. Without understanding, even honest conversations become difficult. 

Every nation has stories about its origins.

The United States tells the story of independence, the Founding Fathers and a people who fought for liberty.

Modern Germany is shaped just as profoundly by another lesson: we constantly ask ourselves what must never happen again. The memory of National Socialism and the Holocaust remains central to our national identity.

China's historical narrative follows another path. The Long March explains where modern China came from. It also explains why resilience, unity and perseverance remain such important values today. 

The story does not end in 1936. Nor in 1949.

In today's China, the Long March still points toward the future. That made me ask a different question. Perhaps the most interesting question is no longer what the Long March was. Perhaps it is why it still speaks so powerfully to so many people today.

The answer lies in the story itself. Most founding stories explain how a nation began. The Long March does something more. It also helps explain where China believes it is going.

In Europe, history usually belongs to the past. In China, history also guides to the future.

That is why people speak today of a New Long March. The destination is no longer the snow-covered mountains, great rivers or grasslands crossed by the Red Army. Today, it is national rejuvenation, modernization, innovation, common prosperity and the Chinese Dream.

The American Dream is one of the world's most influential national ideas. At its heart, it begins with the individual. It asks: How can I build a better life?

Germany asks a different question. Because of our history, we constantly ask ourselves: What must never happen again?

China, as I have gradually come to understand it, asks yet another question: Where are we going together?

None of these questions is right or wrong. They simply reflect different historical experiences. Perhaps this also helps explain another Chinese concept that has attracted international attention: a community with a shared future for mankind.

The Long March was a collective journey. Its meaning lay not in individual success, but in moving forward together. Seen from this perspective, the idea of a shared future becomes easier to understand.

Perhaps I still see China through European eyes. Perhaps I always will. After all, I am German, not Chinese.

After more than eight years in China, I have learned one lesson. The more I learn about China, the more careful I become about quick judgments. I personally believe that genuine understanding begins with curiosity. Not with the desire to agree, and not with the desire to disagree. But with the willingness to understand how another civilization understands itself.

Outside China, the Long March is still often seen simply as a military episode. I believe it is much more than that. It is a story of memory. A story of identity. And a story of purpose.

It explains where modern China came from. It also helps explain why so many Chinese believe their country's journey is still unfolding.

Perhaps that is what makes the Long March so distinctive. Many nations have a founding story.

China has something rarer: A founding story that continues to inspire a shared vision of the future.

As a German, I find that fascinating. And I believe the Long March deserves to be understood — not only as a chapter of Chinese history, but as one of the most distinctive historical narratives of our time.