Question

How did the Long March enable Mao to achieve success in the civil war against the Nationalists?
A. The Long March led to a final battle in which the Nationalists were defeated.
B. The Long March became a symbol of Communist heroism and persuaded many Chinese to join Mao.
C. The Nationalists thought the Long March ended in failure and dismissed Mao and the Communists as nonthreatening.
D. The Communists under the leadership of Mao lost very few people during the Long March and emerged victorious at the end.

Answer 1

B.  The Long March became a symbol of Communist heroism and persuaded many Chinese to join Mao.

The Communist army suffered hundreds of thousands of losses during the Long March, so answer D is far from correct.

There was no battle at the end of the Long March -- so A is incorrect as well.  The Long March (which actually was a series of marches) actually served as a path of retreat for the Communists, to avoid being overrun by the Nationalists.  They would survive, regroup, and come back to fight later.

And so answer C is incorrect also, because Mao's stature as a leader increased following the Long March, and history would turn in the direction of the Communists in the time that lay ahead.