The National Day military parade of 1950: A special form of war mobilization

Following the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, the US dispatched its Seventh Fleet to the Taiwan Straits, by force hindering China’s reunification and pushing the war to the Chinese-DPRK border which seriously threatened the national security of the New China. On the eve of National Day 1950, the situation had become very serious. It became the most urgent mission of the people’s government to resist the US invasion, secure the newly established people's power and consolidate the national security. Faced with such serious challenges, would China’s National Day military parade run according to schedule? To the surprise of the international community, the Chinese government not only held a profound military parade successfully, but also took this opportunity to mobilize the whole Party, the whole army and the Chinese people.

Because the commanding institutions had already been established by that time, one characteristic of this National Day military parade was that the reviewed troops were from a variety of services which showed that the PLA had developed a variety of divisions.

There were 24,209 officers and soldiers attending this parade. The parade commander Zhu De reviewed the PLA navy, army and air force accompanied by Nie Rongzhen. Zhu, on behalf of the Chinese government, made speeches on issues of the Korean War and the Taiwan straits, calling on the PLA to make preparations for war and to be ready to fight at any time. After the parade, 400,000 people from all walks of life in the capital held a grand demonstration. The celebration lasted for three hours and 25 minutes, showing the international community the determination of the Chinese government and the Chinese people to show no fear to their enemies and to secure China resolutely. 19 days after this parade, the Chinese People's Volunteers were ordered to the DPRK, striding over Yalu River with high spirits, joining the Korean People's Army to carry out a deadly struggle with the so-called “UN forces” lead by the US.

Translated by LOTO