The Sino-Soviet Split (1958-69)

Question 1

Why were Sino-Soviet relations strained by 1958?

Answer 1

Soviets rejected China’s peasant based communism; Mao’s rejection of peaceful co-existence with capitalism

Question 2

What were the Russian demands of 1958?

Answer 2

Joint Pacific Naval fleet, led by Soviet officers; longwave radio station in China to control Russia’s Pacific submarine fleet; grant Soviets right to make naval repairs in Chinese ports

Question 3

Why did Mao reject the Russian demands of 1958?

Answer 3

Felt they eroded Chinese sovereignty; Soviets had not helped China develop nuclear weapons as they had promised in 1950

Question 4

How did Mao test the USSR’s promise of assistance in 1958?

Answer 4

Through the Taiwan Crisis

Question 5

What was the Taiwan Crisis (1958)?

Answer 5

Mao ordered an attack on the islands of Quemoy and Matsu (between China and Taiwan) as he was fearful that the GMD would use them as a springboard into China

Question 6

What was significant about Taiwan in 1958?

Answer 6

The USA recognised Taiwan and the GMD as the official government of China (not the PRC) and swore to protect it

Question 7

How was the Taiwan crisis resolved?

Answer 7

Khrushchev didn’t want to risk a war with the USA, so privately told Mao to withdraw

Question 8

Which nation did Khrushchev re-open relations with in the 1950s despite its ties to the West?

Answer 8

Yugoslavia

Question 9

What was the Little Red Book and when was it published?

Answer 9

Published in 1961

33 speeches of Mao’s on different topics that became essential reading for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)

Question 10

Number of Communes in China by 1962?

Answer 10

50,000+

Question 11

What did the Soviets do in 1959?

Answer 11

Withdrew economic support and political advisers from China

Question 12

What was the Great Leap Forward (1958-62)?

Answer 12

Mao’s second 5 year plan that entailed melting down metal to increase steel production

Question 13

What did the Great Leap Forward result in?

Answer 13

Chinese famine (1959-61)
Between 30 and 60 million people died

Question 14

What happened at the Lushan Conference in 1959?

Answer 14

Peng Duhai criticised the Great Leap Forward, claiming that it had not helped the people of his region. Nobody spoke up with Peng, who fled to the USSR and was ousted from power

Question 15

When was Khrushchev replaced as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union?

Answer 15

1964

Question 16

Who replaced Khrushchev?

Answer 16

Leonid Brezhnev

Question 17

Which Chinese region did the USSR have the greatest influence over?

Answer 17

Xinjiang

Question 18

How many residents of Xinjiang emigrated to the USSR between 1961 and 1962?

Answer 18

70,000

Question 19

With which other anti-revisionist communist nation did the PRC make links with?

Answer 19

Albania

Question 20

Causes of the Sino-Indian war (1962)?

Answer 20

Chinese troops amassed to Tibet to suppress uprisings and implement the Great Leap Forward; India was uneasy with 80,000 soldiers near Eastern border

Question 21

What percentage of Tibetan population died in the great famine (1959-62)?

Answer 21

25% - 1 million people

Highest death rate of any region in China

Question 22

What role did the USSR play in Sino-Indian war (1962)?

Answer 22

Remained neutral; even supplied Indians with MiG21 fighter planes

Question 23

What was the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963)?

Answer 23

Treaty signed by USA, UK and USSR agreeing to cease over-ground nuclear tests and to slow down the proliferation of nuclear weapons

Question 24

How did the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) affect Sino-Soviet relations?

Answer 24

Mao saw Khrushchev as a coward for capitulating at the sight of US Army; Khrushchev saw Mao as insane for wanting a nuclear war

Question 25

When did the PRC successfully detonate its first atomic device?

Answer 25

1964

Question 26

What was the Malinovsky Affair (1964)?

Answer 26

USSR’s Defence Secretary, Malinovsky, drunkenly remarked that the Chinese should get rid of their “fool” as the Soviets had done with Khrushchev

Question 27

What were the aims of the Cultural Revolution (1966-70)?

Answer 27

Remove capitalism from China; remove foreign influence from China; purge CCP of capitalism

Question 28

How did the Cultural Revolution (1966-70) contribute to the Sino-Soviet split?

Answer 28

Both nations recalled ambassadors in 1967; showed differences between USSR’s revisionism and China’s constant revolution; partly led to publication of Brezhnev Doctrine in 1968

Question 29

What did the Brezhnev Doctrine (1968) state?

Answer 29

USSR would forcefully intervene in the domestic affairs of any East European Communist nation should it be deemed that threats to socialism were at large

Question 30

Why did Mao oppose the Brezhnev Doctrine (1968)?

Answer 30

Feared Soviet intervention of China; didn’t want Soviets imposing their revisionist Communism on world

Question 31

What military presence did USSR have on the Xinjiang border in 1961 and 1968?

Answer 31

1961: 12 divisions and 200 aeroplanes
1968: 25 divisions, 1,200 aeroplanes and 120 medium-range missiles

Question 32

How many reported confrontations were there on the Sino-Soviet Border between 1964 and 1969?

Answer 32

4,189

Question 33

Why did military confrontations break out between China and Russia in March 1969?

Answer 33

Anti-Soviet nature of fanatically-charged Cultural Revolution; Soviets did not back down from border agression

Question 34

Where did fighting break out in March 1969?

Answer 34

Zhenbao Island in the Ussuri river

Chinese ambush killing 60 Soviets

Question 35

What was Brezhnev’s response to the Chinese attack of March 1969?

Answer 35

Large scale missile attack on Xinjiang

Killed 800 Chinese