Founded in 1921, the Communist Party was initially allied with the Kuomintang until the second half of the 1920s, when it was purged from membership within the unified national government under Chiang Kai-shek. In 1934, the party nearly annihilated, the rememnants under the guidance of future Chairman Mao Zedong launched an ambitious march to escape destruction by the Kuomintang. The resulting action became known as The Long March. It was through the Long March that the United States, and much of the Western world, was first introduced to the communists in China via Red Star Over China, a narrative of the march and introductory biography for several Communist leaders, by the American journalist, Edgar Snow.