The Sino-Soviet Split Flashcards
Why was the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance signed in 1950?
- The Chinese infrastructure and economy was severely damaged following the death of 6million in the bloody Chinese Civil War. The USSR, as fellow Communists, seemed like natural partners (Mao even said the USSR was “the best teacher from whom we must learn”) and so they looked to them for aid an assistance in order to rebuild.
- It also renewed the terms of previously outdated Sino-Soviet treaties
Identify a useful quote from a historian to illustrate the feelings of the Chinese towards the Soviets during the Korean War.
*Stalin demanded that China should pay for the military support it received from the USSR.
Chen Jian states “Stalin’s stinginess made the Soviets seem more like arms merchants than genuine Communist internationalists.”
When was The Great Chinese Famine?
1959 to 1961, in excess of 30 million died.
When did Mao begin the Great Leap Forward?
The economic policy began in 1958
Give an example of the USSR acting reasonably during the Sino-Soviet Split.
Once the Sino-Soviet split occurred in 1960, Mao stubbornly tried to repay China’s debts to the USSR as quickly as possible, even at a time when China was undergoing a period of great famine. Khrushchev was worried about the impact this was having and devalued the Yuan in 1960 to reduce China’s debts by 77%.
How did historian Lorenz Luthi interpret the Sino-Soviet split?
He argued that “domestic policy influenced foreign policy”- and thus, national interest was the main factor in the split. Eg: The 1962 Sino-Indian war was a distraction from the Great Famine caused by the Great Leap Forward
When was Khrushchev’s ‘Secret Speech’? Why was it significant?
- Khrushchev denounced Stalin, provoking Chinese accusations of ‘revisionism’
Why did China pursue rapprochement?
The Ussari River Dispute of 1969, along with the Prague Spring of 1968 (when the USSR invaded because Czechoslovakia was attempting to pursue a path separate to Moscow) heightened Mao’s fears of USSR invasion.
China was surrounded by hostile states (South Korea, India, Japan and the USSR) and badly needed an ally
Why did the USA pursue rapprochement?
- Nixon did not want China to become a satellite state of the USSR
- Nixon felt an alliance with China would put pressure on the USSR
- America felt less sure of itself and it’s foreign policy after the failings of Vietnam
- Nixon thought Mao would be able to persuade the Vietcong to negotiate a peaceful settlement
When was the Vietnam War?
1955-1975
