The Global War, 1955-63: Cold War rivalries -> Sino-Soviet relations in the 1950s and 60s Flashcards
When was the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance?
February 1950
What was the significance of the alliance?
- Suggested they were equals
- Truman had pushed Mao into Stalin’s hands when he could have had an Asian Tito
- Represented global communist unity
What was Mao looking for in the alliance?
Mao wanted military security against US attack, economic assistance to build socialism
What was Stalin looking for in the alliance?
For loyalty (personal, political and ideological) from Mao, particularly in presenting a united front against the USA, and also some territorial concessions in Manchuria
What did the Chinese acknowledge about the Soviets?
Acknowledged the Soviet leadership as the global communist movement, and committed themselves to adopting the Soviet model of economic and political development
How did the alliance lead to the breakdown?
The unequal nature of this treaty, and Stalin’s tactics, and Stalin’s tactics in driving for territorial concessions in Manchuria and Xinjiang brought mistrust and suspicion into their relationship
When did the breakdown begin?
In 1956 and between 1958 and 1962, tensions rose between Khrushchev and Mao
By what point had the Sino-Soviet alliance completely broken down?
By 1962, it was defunct
What factors defined the Sino-Soviet breakdown?
- Ideological gulf
- the struggle for supremacy
- the fear and misunderstandings of each other
What was Stalin’s stance on the Chinese revolution?
- His Chinese policy centred on the idea of getting the CCP to join a coalition with the GMD
- Wanted Jiang Jieshi as leader of China and Mao as his deputy
How was the relationship between the Chinese and Soviet communists already strained before 1949?
Stalin was suspicious of the Chinese communists
- their revolutionary strategy of relying on the peasantry rather than the works to overthrow the ruling elites was at odds with the Soviet mode of revolution
- The sense of independence the CCP acquired in their struggle against both the Japanese occupiers and the Chinese nationalists aroused fears in Stalin that the CCP might not be easy to control once in power
What were Khrushchev’s aims?
- Heal the damage caused to relations with the West by the failure of Stalin’s FP and achieve ‘peaceful coexistence’
- Destalinisation
- Cuts to the Red Army strength, shift to nuclear weapons
- Maintain the CPSU’s position as the leading force in the communist movement - not an easy job after 1956
- Compromises with the USA at the Geneva Conference (1954) over the shape and future of Vietnam, and with France from 1958 over Algeria (it was hoped the new leader of France, Charles de Gaulle, could be detached from NATO)
What suggested there was always a danger of breakdown with Mao?
Mao was a Chinese nationalist and communist
What was Mao’s stance on Khrushchev’s policy aims?
- Mao disliked destalinisation - ran a similar Stalinist regime in the CCP
- Liked destalinisation in EE but not the principle of it of criticising your leader and free channels of communication
- Favoured the cult of personality which gave him an ineffable, infallible, indisputable reputation
What ambiguity in ideology led to the breakdown?
In how to build communism nationally and globally
What were Mao’s aims for the CCP?
Wanted to position the CCP as the leading force in the communist movement and the leader of Third World revolution
What did Mao accuse Khrushchev of doing?
Attacked Khrushchev’s ‘revisionism’ and ‘chauvinism’ and his re-building of links with Tito’s Yugoslavia
What was revisionism?
Deemed by Soviets as a serious heresy within communist ideology
- described by Lenin as ‘opposition to Marxism from within Marxism itself’
- a critical reinterpretation and partial rejection of Marxist theories to accommodate alternative theories of socialism/communism
What did Mao compete with the USSR for during the Vietnamese movement?
Vied with the USSR to control the direction of the Vietnamese national liberation struggle from 1960
What did Mao launch with Taiwan?
Whereas Khrushchev sought peaceful coexistence with the West, Mao launched a conflict with Taiwan (and the USA) in the Second Taiwan Straits Crisis (August-October 1958)
Why did Mao launch attacks on Taiwan?
1) In response to the USA invading Lebanon in July 1958 to keep Arab nationalists from seizing in power
2) In response to Khrushchev not criticisng this
What did Mao say about his aim for the Second Taiwan Straits crisis?
“prove China supports the national liberation movements in the Middle East with not only words but also deeds”
What movement did Mao give his support to from November 1954?
Gave vociferous support for the Algerian national liberation movement from November 1954, and denounced Khrushchev for not doing so
What did Mao do during the Cuban Missile Crisis?
Took advantage of the Cuban Missile Crisis to launch a conflict with India over borders in the Sino-Indian War (October-November 1962)
- Khrushchev was a South Asian ally and had a non-aggression treaty
When did the breakdown in relations occur?
1958-59
Where did the US invade in 1958?
July 1958: The USA invaded Lebanon with 8,0000 troops backed by 70 ships and 40,000 sailors to support the pro-western President Camille Chamoun, who was threatened by a rising of supporters of the Egyption pan-Arabist leader Gamal Abdel Nasser
What was this US operation called?
Operation Blue Bat
How did Mao respond to the USA’s Operation Blue Bat?
Mao denounced it,believing Arabs should look to China for help with the imperialists, while Khrushchev did not
What did the USSR not wholeheartedly back in August-October 1958?
The USSR did not wholeheartedly back the PRC in its campaign to win territory from Taiwan; after the conflict it advised caution
What did the USSR do by 1959 in response to the breakdown?
Frightened by the economic chaos caused by Mao’s ‘Great Leap Forward,’ (desire to industrialise China) the USSR refused to help the PRC develop nuclear weapons
When did Eisenhower and Khrushchev meet at Camp David?
September 1959
What did Camp David represent?
High point of peaceful coexistence while Mao wanted conflict and confrontation
How did Mao respond to Camp David?
Denounced Khrushchev’s presence at Camp David as playing into the imperialists
When was the second instance of breakdown in relations?
1960-62
What were relations like between the two Communist states in 1960?
They were on divergent rather than covergent paths
What did Albanian communists do and when?
June 1960: The( maverick socialist state) Albanian communists backed Mao at an international congress of CPs in Bucharest; the USSR retaliated by reducing trade and aid to Albania - thereby allowing China to take its place
Who was Albania’s Maoist leader?
Enver Hoxha
What other socialist states did China try to recruit after the November 1960 Moscow conference of Communist parties?
- The Burmese and Malayan Communist parties
- engaged in secret diplomacy to lure Poland, Hungary and East Germany away from the USSR in 1963
What did Khrushchev withdraw in 1960?
Khrushchev withdrew around 1,400 Soviet experts and technicians from China, leading to the cancellation of over 200 scientific projects intended to foster cooperation between the two nations
Where did the USSR and Chinese clash in their viewpoints?
In October and November 1960 there was a very public clash between the opposing viewpoints at a congress in CPs in Moscow
What event completed the breakdown?
The Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962
- Mao denounced Khrushchev for not having stood up to the USA
- The rupture was completed when the USSR backed India in the Sino-Indian War
How had China become a significant regional power able to compete with the US and USSR?
- Involvement in Vietnam from 1960
- October 16th 1964 - first Chinese atomic explosion took place, probably in the desert area of Xinjiang Province
- May 8th 1966 - 300 kiloton explosion (15 times the power of Hiroshima)
- October 27th 1969 - China successfully tests Intermediate range Ballistic Missile technology
What were the motivations of China’s development of their nuclear weapons?
To break the US-Soviet monopoly on nuclear weapons, provide security for China and raise its international prestige
What were relations like between China and the Soviet Union by March 1969?
By March 1969, relations between China and the Soviet Union had deteriorated from ideological dispute to military confrontation over Zhenbao Island (80 Soviet, 800 Soviet deaths)
When did Nixon become the President of the US?
January 1969
How many US troops were in Vietnam in 1965-69?
- March 1965: First 10,000 US troops enter Vietnam
- January 1969: 543,000 troops in Vietnam
What were Nixon’s aims for the Vietnam war?
Wanted to bring those numbers down and get US out
When was the huge shift in relations between the US and China?
1969
What did Nixon do with China between 1969-72?
- July 1969 - some trade restrictions lifted (‘artichoke approach’)
- April 1971 - World Table Tennis Championships - ‘ping pong diplomacy’ between US and Chinese teams at Nagoya (Japan) resulted in an invitation to the US team to visit China
- July and October 1971: Kissinger went to Beijing
- February 1972: Nixon visits China, stating afterwards that “This was the week that changed the world”
- US agreed to remove troops from Taiwan and China committed to easing tensions in the area
What is one explanation for the breakdown?
Ideological differences over the correct interpretation of Marxism-Leninism which turned into a contest for the political and ideological leadership of the socialist bloc
What is the second explanation for the breakdown?
A power struggle between the two states
What is the third explanation for the breadown?
Focuses on the individuals, Mao, Stalin and Khrushchev, highlighting the personal suspicion and antipathy between them
What does the final explanation of the breakdown suggest?
Sees it as an evolving process, caused by the unequal terms of the original treaty drawn up in 1950
What incidents led to the schism over the years?
Personality clashes (Mao and Khrushchev), unforeseen actions and border disputes were important in worsening relations, but they were catalysts rather than the causes of this conflict
- Contrasting expectations of the initial treaty
- Ideology created an unbridgeable gulf, affording no possibility of compromise
