Sino-Soviet relations

Background

• Chinese Civil War: 1945-49
• Communists (Mao) v Guomintang (Chiang Kai-shek)
• US supported Chiang
• Stalin's support for Mao wasn't whole-hearted
• Stalin believed Chiang would be easier to deal with in border disputes

Communist takeover

• Mao emerged victorious in 1949
• Stalin took the opportunity to seal an alliance
• Chiang fled to Taiwan; he enjoyed the support of the USA
• The USA refused to diplomatically recognise Mao

Treaty of friendship

• Signed in 1950
• China brought under the Soviet nuclear umbrella
• China received financial and technological support
• However; Treaty favoured China in border disputes
• Debated whether Mao saw border agreements as permanent

us response

• Truman accused of losing China
• Emergence of the 'China lobby'
• More active policies in Asia
• Creation of NSC-68

korean war

• China entered the war as US forces approached the Yalu River
• The SU sold China military equipment
• This made China more dependent on the SU
• There were some Chinese resentments over Stalin's actions
• Approximately 500,000 Chinese deaths during the war

taiwan straits

• Mao wanted to unite China and defeat Chiang in Taiwan
• Khrushchev publicly supported Mao; privately opposed to any action
• Conflict emerged between the SU and China over what approach to take
• Mao believed that the USA was a 'Paper Tiger'

secret speech

• Could be viewed as the start of the ideological division
• Mao was horrified by Khrushchev's criticisms of Stalin
• Saw it as a betrayal of the communist movement
• Viewed it as a veiled attack on his own leadership style
• Khrushchev viewed the speech as an internal issue

The great leap forward

• Saw peasant enthusiasm as the driving force of industrialisation
• Mao = seeing Khrushchev as an administrator, not a communist
• Khrushchev viewed the GLF as foolish

nuclear weapons

• Clashed over SU refusal to help China develop and A-Bomb
• Khrushchev argued placing China under the SU nuclear umbrella was enough
• China believed development of the A-bomb was essential for great power stat
• Mao - horrified by Khrushchev's actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis
• China detonated a nuclear bomb in 1964

khrushchev v mao

• Personalities clashed (more significant because of ideological differences?
• 1958; swimming pool incident
• Mao refused to 'honor' Khrushchev's arrival in the SU
• Mao accused Khrushchev of laughing at Chinese names

brezhnev v mao

• 1964; Zhou Enlai visited Moscow; relations temporarily improved
• 1966; Mao launched the cultural revolution
• 1967; Chinese stormed the Soviet Embassy
• Brezhnev claimed Mao was impossible to deal with

ussuri river

• China claimed the border agreements were unfair to China
• Brezhnev refused to discuss this issue
• After the Prague Spring, China worked on 'active defence'
• This led to the Ussuri River Dispute  in 1969