Zhou Enlai

Zhou Enlai was a Chinese Revolutionary, diplomat and the first Premier of the People's Republic of China. Zhou Enlai served as Premier from 1949 until his death in 1976. While much of Zhou Enlai's life and accomplishments have been romanticized by the Chinese Communist Party, what can be confirmed is that Zhou Enlai was with the party from its beginnings in 1921, avoiding Mao Zedong's purges and managing to keep his career and reputation intact throughout his lifetime and beyond. Zhou Enlai founded the Chinese Communist Party's European branch, organized several successful campaigns during the 20's-40's against both Kuomintang forces and Imperial Japanese forces. During the Long March, Zhou Enlai climbed the CPC's ranks and soon became one of its top members, alongside members like Mao Zedong and Lin Biao. Following the victory over the Nationalists in 1949, Zhou Enlai helped to rebuild China's economy and formed China's foreign policy, which included seeing China open up to the west again, setting the stage for Mao to meet with Richard Nixon in 1972, and signed several peace treaties, most notably with the Soviet Union in 1950 and at the 1955 Afro-Asian conference with several non-aligned nations. Zhou Enlai died of bladder cancer in Beijing on January 8th, 1976.