Born to a Hunanese peasant family, Mao Zedong's experience of oppression led him to join the emerging Chinese Communist Party as a founder member in the 1920s. He led the disastrous Autumn Harvest Uprising in Hunan in 1927, following the Communist split from the nationalist Kuomintang party. After withstanding five encirclement campaigns launched by nationalist leader Chiang Kai Shek, Mao led the Red Army on the Long March. He finally brought the communists to outright victory against the nationalists in 1949, after more than 20 years of civil war.