File - Beechen Cliff School Humanities Faculty

Sino-Soviet Relations

Timeline • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • •

1949 Communist revolution in China 1950 Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance signed between USSR and China 1950-53 The Korea War 1953 Death of Stalin 1954 Khrushchev’s first visit to Beijing 1956 Khrushchev’s speech to 3rd Party Congress, talks of ‘de-stalinisation Hungarian Uprising 1958 Great Leap Forward launched- Khrushchev highly critical 1960 USSR retracts all economic aid from China 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis- Mao criticises USSR’s capitulation and refuses to sign Test Ban 1964 A-bomb tested by China Khrushchev dismissed as Soviet leader 1966 Cultural Revolution in China- Mao accuses the Soviets of being ‘revisionist’ 1967 China test H-bomb 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia- USSR seen as losing by China 1968 Sino-Indian Border War; Soviets supplied India with MIG fighters- Mao accuses them of being hypocrites 1969 Ussuri River Dispute 1970 China’s first space satellite Soviet prime minister visits China 1971 Sino-USA talks begin China accepted into the UN 1971 Kissinger visits China ‘Ping-Pong’ diplomacy ensues and Sino-Soviet relations deteriorate

KEY EXAM QUESTIONS: 1. KEY CAUSES OF SINO-SOVIET SPLIT.

2. IMPACT OF SPLIT ON COLD WAR DIPLOMACY.

3. IMPACT OF SINO-US RAPPROCHEMENT ON COLD WAR DIPLOMACY.

Sino-Soviet Pact • In 1950, the Sino-Soviet pact - “The Treaty of friendship, alliance and mutual assistance” was signed between Mao and Stalin. • It promised: Economic aid and Military aid • The Soviets also promised to restore Chinese sovereignty over Manchuria and its railways. • However, The USSR refused to reduce its interference with Mongolia which China considered to be within its own sphere of influence. • The USSR continually refused to allow China to increase its influence in North Korea. • They also refused to support China’s desire to obtain Taiwan.

Causes of Split • Ideological differences: Although both countries were communist, the ideologies between Mao and Stalin were very different; Russia’s Revolution was led by urban industrial workers, whereas China’s was led by rural peasants Khrushchev who pursued a policy of ‘peaceful co-existence’ with the USA and Mao saw this as ‘revisionist’. Khrushchev pursued a policy of reconciliation with Yugoslavia, who had previously refused to put Stalin’s policies into practice in 1948. Mao, again, saw this as ideological revisionism. At the twentieth congress in 1956, Khrushchev gave a speech on ‘de-Stalinisation’ which angered Mao because China’s domestic policies were largely based on Stalin’s domestic policies. The Great Leap forward and subsequent famine was criticised by the USSR. In 1968 Mao launched the Cultural Revolution to expel revisionists from China. This was criticised by Brezhnev.

• Role of Personality: Mao’s vision of world communism ended with Stalin’s self interested perception of communism, ‘Stalinism.’ The Korean War highlighted this when Stalin prolonged the war on purpose and demanded repayment from China for military aid. In 1953 Stalin died; he was replaced by Khrushchev who pursued a policy of ‘peaceful coexistence’ with the USA and Mao saw this as ‘revisionist’. Because Khrushchev was new and not a true communist according to Mao, Mao exchanged his role of second in command to the USSR and became the apparent ‘superior leader of world communism’.

Causes of Split • Conflicting National Interests The USSR refused to reduce its interference with Mongolia which China considered to be within its own sphere of influence. The USSR continually refused to allow China to increase its influence in North Korea. They also refused to support China’s desire to obtain Taiwan. The Korean War highlighted Stalin’s self interest as he prolonged the war on purpose and demanded repayment from China for military aid. In 1960 the Soviets withdrew scientists working on nuclear programmes in China. As a result of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, China refused to sign the Test Ban Treaty, and developed nuclear technology solo. The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 was criticised by Mao as a sign of the USSR losing control of their sphere of influence. There was a long history of Sino-Soviet border disputes, for example, the Ussuri River Dispute of 1969. That same year, the USSR provided MIG fighters for India during the Sino-Indian War. In the Brezhnev Doctrine of 1968, the policy of intervention in the USSR sphere of influence was repeated. China perceived this showed the USSR was losing its grip on its ‘sphere of influence’.