Sino-Soviet Relations and China's Revolution

This assignment delves into the intricate historical relationship between the Soviet Union and China during Mao Zedong's leadership. It requires you to analyze the reasons behind the Sino-Soviet split, examining key events, ideological differences, and political maneuvers that shaped this pivotal turning point in global communist history.

Running head: HISTORY ESSAY
Schism between the USSR and China: “Great Leap Forward”
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HISTORY ESSAY
Introduction
Two powerful communist nations of twentieth century were People’s Republic of China
and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Amidst the anti communist nations it was expected that
the two great powers would be close allies but the ‘Sino-Soviet Split’ proved that wrong.1 There
are various factors that influenced the schism between the USSR and China, but in the following
discussion the focus will be on Mao Zedong’s “The Great Leap Forward” being the primary
force behind it.
The origin of the Schism
The origin of the split can be found in the Marxist theory of communism. The factory
workers of the twentieth century were given the great importance in the Marxist theory.2
According to Marx the proletariat are the factory workers who are capable of materializing the
desired success against capitalism. In 1917 the theory was applied by some Marxist activists
during Russian revolution; the participants were mainly factory workers.3 The Russians
communist leaders wanted the Chinese Communists to follow the same method during the
revolution of 1930s and 40s.4 However the social structure of China was different at that time.
The factory workers of urban area were to exist in China. This originated the initial difference
between both the nations’ communist activities. The Chinese communist revolutionary leader
Mao Zedong rejected the proposal and focused on the rural farmers as the proletariats of the
1 Jersild, Austin. Sino-Soviet Alliance: An International History. UNC Press Books, (2014)
2 Hill, Christopher. Lenin and the Russian revolution. Read Books Ltd, (2016)
3 Koenker, Diane P. Moscow Workers and the 1917 Revolution: Studies of the Russian Institute, Columbia
University. Princeton University Press, (2014)
4 Kaple, Deborah. "Agents of Change: Soviet Advisers and High Stalinist Management in China, 1949–
1960." Journal of Cold War Studies (2016).

HISTORY ESSAY
revolutionary. The Soviet approach towards communist revolution has been struggling to
become the dominant revolution as most other Asian nations also lacked urban workers. The
Maoist communist method was getting popularity over Marxist-Leninist method in most Asian
countries like Cambodia, Vietnam or North Korea.
De-Stalinization
After the death of Stalin in 1953 the conflict became stronger. Mao Zedong represented himself
as the chief leader of the international communist revolution but the newly elected president of
USSR Nikita Khrushchev thought differently as he was the leader of a superpower nation f that
time. Immediately after coming to power, Khrushchev started the process of De-Stalinization
where he condemned Stalin’s crimes and returned to Socialism and Leninist principles.5
However at that time the world of communism was following the steps of Stalin, so it affected
the reputation of the country’s image. Through the De-Stabilization process Khrushchev leads
the communist movement towards a peaceful coexistence with the western capitalist world. This
came as a shock of communists’ revolution against the capitalism and damaged the reputation of
the nation’s contribution to communism. The newly developed desire to build a relationship with
the capitalist nation fueled to the conflicts.6 The Sino-Soviet Treaty of 1950 primarily happened
because of the common purpose but the de-Stalinization by Khrushchev affected the purposes.7
5 Khlevniuk, Oleg, and Simon Belokowsky. "The Gulag and the non-Gulag as one interrelated whole." Kritika:
Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History16.3 (2015)
6 Zagoria, Donald S. Sino-Soviet Conflict, 1956-1961. Princeton University Press, (2015)
7 Xiao, Ren. "Idea Change Matters: China's Practices and the East Asian Peace." Asian Perspective 40.2 (2016)

HISTORY ESSAY
De-Stalinization is against the traditional Marxist-Leninist approach
During 1950s china developed an economic reconstruction successfully that encouraged
Mao Tse Tung and Mao Zedong, the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party to consider “The
Great Leap Forward” which is based on classic Leninist Marxist method and differed from
Khrushchev’s reformist approach.8 This militant approach towards economic development was
developed to gain technological and economic development at fast pace. The leaders had little
faith over Soviet approach towards financial, technical and economic assistance to their nation.
This uncertainty was primary base for the project of “The Great Leap Forward” by the Chinese
communist leaders. China had to improve its mechanization and industrialization that was far
behind from most developed nations. Khrushchev’s policies appeared to them no aligned with
China’s desire and they also wanted to overcome the political dependency. “The Great Leap
Forward” was mainly included the most rural and few urban areas. The project was based on two
aspects one is the commune formation of the people and the ‘mass steel campaign’.
China’s desire to become communist superpower through Economic Development
Mao Zedong wanted the People’s Republic China to become the communist super power
by replacing the USSR. China has a contradictory stand against Khrushchev’s relationship with
Unites States of America regarding the nuclear power. China included the nuclear power in their
development plan and wanted the Soviet nation to help them to achieve it. However the USSR
refused Mao to help in developing nuclear weapon. Though USSR and PCR were stills officially
allies but the relationship internally deteriorated. Khrushchev concluded that Mao’s decisions are
destabilizing the nation and on the other side Mao considered USSR’s diplomatic approach
8 Teiwes, Frederick C. Politics at Mao's Court: Gao Gang and Party Factionalism in the Early 1950s. Routledge,
(2016)

HISTORY ESSAY
towards USA to be unreliable.9 In the 1950s the USSR sent experts to China who could help the
country in following the existing soviet model to centralize the country’s economic development.
The method put more importance on the heavy industry and gives less importance to the
consumer goods. However in the second phase of the decade started adapting different ideas to
improve the communist socialism by mobilizing the Chinese workers.
USSR’s attitude towards Capitalist nations
Stalin had condemned Tito and the relationship with Yugoslavia which Khrushchev
reestablished after coming to power. These de Stalinization policies disturbed Mao. Mao was
more inclined towards the political ideologies of Stalin so the denouncement of certain policies
and principles angered Mao like the Cominform was developed with the purpose of coordinating
actions among the various communist parties under the guidance of USSR, but this was rejected
by Khrushchev.10 The core political theories by Marx-Lenin were deemphasized by him as well.
Khrushchev’s actions to eliminate the war between socialism and capitalism in order to establish
the coexistence created a great challenge for China. Mao Zedong implemented the policy after
Civil War where the communist nations were expected to follow his foreign policy which he
developed with the fear of American military intervention or Japanese Imperialism.11
9 Graziosi, Andrea. "Political Famines in the USSR and China: A Comparative Analysis." Journal of Cold War
Studies (2017)
10 Shen, Zhihua, and Yafeng Xia. "Leadership transfer in the Asian revolution: Mao Zedong and the Asian
Cominform." Cold War History 14.2 (2014)
11 Mao, Zedong, and Stuart Schram. Mao's Road to Power: Revolutionary Writings, 1912-49: v. 5: Toward the
Second United Front, January 1935-July 1937: Revolutionary Writings, 1912-49. Routledge, (2017)

HISTORY ESSAY
The different paths of Communism, Great Leap Forward served a medium
As the communist leaders of China felt that the Soviet leader is hampering the global
movement of communism militarily and ideologically, the support from the USSR is no longer
guaranteed. In the Communist Party of Soviet Union of 1956 Mao Zedong suggested that all
other communist nations should take lessons from USSR’s activities.12 He believed that China
develop more in the socialist road than his companion in near future by taking ‘object lessons’
from the Soviet nation. However it was yet impossible for China to claim to be the leader in the
socialist area. Mao was preparing the nation for a great economic development as he did want to
fall behind USSR. Mao announced that China would progress more than UK within coming 15
years.13 During the Khrushchev era, Mao actually planned to surpass the USSR in the political
and social construction. In order to achieve this goal Mao had to change his strategies and follow
some other routes than the ones proposed by the USSR. The policies that Mao implemented in
the process are “The Great Leap Forward”.14 The project incorporated various changes in the
domestic policies that were criticized by the Soviet Premier. The dream of great economic
development has long been cherished by Mao. In 1956 Mao announced the similar plan to excel
the powerful capitalist countries within few years. His aim was to establish a powerful socialist
society in China through three five year plans. This plan reflected in the slogan “surpassing
Britain and catching up with USA” provided great motivational strength to “The Great Leap
Forward”.15 The process was gaining ‘collectivization’ in the country’s agriculture as the first
step in achieving the great leap. If the nation achieves the initial mission, Mao believed the
12 Bernstein, Thomas P. "Mao, Chinese Communism, and the USSR." Journal of Cold War Studies 16.2 (2014)
13 Cheng, Shi. China's Rural Industrialization Policy: Growing Under Orders Since 1949. Springer, (2006)
14 Hsiung, Ping-Chun. "Pursuing Qualitative Research From the Global South:" Investigative Research" During
China's" Great Leap Forward"(1958-62)." Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research.
Vol. 16. No. 3. (2015)
15 Roberts, Priscilla. "Introduction." China, Hong Kong, and the Long 1970s: Global Perspectives. Palgrave
Macmillan, Cham, (2017)

HISTORY ESSAY
surpassing Great Britain and catching up the USA would be materialized. It was obvious that
through the economic model Mao’s China would be surpassing Khrushchev’s USSR. Mao had
expressed in internal meetings that following the Soviet Union approaches blindly. The
communist leader knew that the political scenario of the country was different from USSR and
the manpower was stronger than USSR. However there was much criticism internally, externally
regarding its future success. Mao answered them by saying that Marxism was shifting towards
the eastern countries it has great potential make the proposed planes successful. Mao’s real
intention was to surpass USSR politically, technologically and financially.
Success of “The Great Leap Forward”, Threat to USSR
“The Great Leap Forward” has already initiated but the collectivism was yet to be
completely implemented. The dissatisfaction was increasing among the rich farmers as they saw
poor peasants and farms lacking efficiency are getting amalgamated.16 However “The Great Leap
Forward” through the communes of the people demonstrated the signs of a greater leap that can
ensure China’s better position in the world of communism. The soviet embassy in China
commented that “The Great Leap Forward” is conceptual assessment but when compared to the
country’s existing economy the review highlighted the leadership’s ‘economic illiteracy’. The
Chinese communist party in the Beidaihe meeting declared that in near future the party’s agenda
of becoming supreme communist power will soon be real. Mao predicted that China would
modify the production relationship and thus the economic development of the country would
surpass the USSR. The collectivization was different from the existing method in USSR where
collective farms were only focused on agriculture and their lack of involvement with industry
didn’t help them to transit into communism completely. China’s people’s communes took the
16 Zweig, David. Freeing China's Farmers: Rural Restructuring in the Reform Era: Rural Restructuring in the
Reform Era. Routledge, (2016)

HISTORY ESSAY
help of great leap forward and economic development of 1958 wanted to shift from socialism to
communism , in other words the party aimed to shift from ‘socialist collective ownership’ to
‘ownership by the whole people’.17
The criticism against the Great Leap and Mao’s action influenced the Schism
In 1963 after the outburst of the China USSR polemic, the USSR government officials
started to oppose the activities related to Great leap forward. In September the Pravda published
significant news report regarding the great leap.18 It stated how China had been achieving great
success in agriculture and overall economy due to the great leap. It also highlighted if China
continues to grow at that level it will soon become the strongest industrialized nation in the
world. The soviet leaders in China expressed their criticism and concern about the leap in 1958.
The experts reported that Chinese are using similar method that Soviet applied in 1930s;
Khrushchev stated it as “China’s stupid mistake”.19 The experts refused any immediate economic
or technological assistance as the USSR government instructed them. However a large number of
young Soviet common man and cadres were influenced by the great leap. Many started to believe
that great leap forward led China to explore new ways to communism which USSR had failed to
explore. Khrushchev saw this as threat and publicly stated that the method was not suitable for
socio-political structure of USSR. On the other hand Mao Zedong was satisfied with the great
leap results and made him believe that surpassing Soviet economic development was near.
Vietnam, North Korea, East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Poland supported China’s activities
17 Hong, Yinxing. "The Evolving Economic Thinking of the Communist Party of China." The China Path to
Economic Transition and Development. Springer Singapore, (2016)
18 Shen, Zhihua, and Yafeng Xia. "“The Great Leap Forward”, the people's commune and the Sino-Soviet
split." Journal of Contemporary China 20.72 (2011)
19 'Historic Lessons Of China’S Cultural Revolution, Political Manifestations' (Marxists.org, 2017)
<https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/ncm-7/cwp-cr/part-2.htm> accessed 14 September 2017

HISTORY ESSAY
whole heartedly but USSR showed no support. The Peng Dehuainletter revealed complaints from
the below level cadres against the great leap.20 This encouraged the Soviet cadres they
demonstrated this to the members as example. Mao announced that he would attack those who
have been criticizing “The Great Leap Forward” experiment.
Conclusion
“The Great Leap Forward” was not the only reason that caused the schism; there were
other reasons as well. The split began to come on the public surface when the USSR showed
support to Tibet in their revolution against China in 1959. In 1960’s Romanian Party Congress
Mao Zedong and Nikita Khrushchev criticized each other publicly.21 Khrushchev accused Mao
as the deviationist whose activities are not aligned with the party’s official doctrine and Mao in
return accused him of being a ‘Marxist revisionist’. As a result Khrushchev withdrew most
support from China. Mao’s Three red banners that are “The Great Leap Forward”, the general
line and people’s communes acted as key drivers towards the schism between USSR and China.
20 Sun, Ping. "The Functions of Mao Zedong's Enigmatic Language." Journal of Arts and Humanities 4.6 (2015)
21 Mogos, Emy-Maria. "The position of the communist party of china towards the union of soviet socialist republics
and the european socialist countries after the 20th congress of the soviet union communist party." Revista Romana
de Studii Eurasiatice 11.1/2 (2015)

HISTORY ESSAY
Reference
Bernstein, Thomas P. "Mao, Chinese Communism, and the USSR." Journal of Cold War
Studies 16.2 (2014)
Cheng, Shi. China's Rural Industrialization Policy: Growing Under Orders Since 1949.
Springer, (2006)
Graziosi, Andrea. "Political Famines in the USSR and China: A Comparative Analysis." Journal
of Cold War Studies (2017).
Heinzig, Dieter. The Soviet Union and communist China 1945-1950: the arduous road to the
alliance. Routledge, (2015)
Hill, Christopher. Lenin and the Russian revolution. Read Books Ltd, (2016)
'Historic Lessons Of China’S Cultural Revolution, Political Manifestations' (Marxists.org, 2017)
<https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/ncm-7/cwp-cr/part-2.htm> accessed 14 September 2017
Hong, Yinxing. "The Evolving Economic Thinking of the Communist Party of China." The
China Path to Economic Transition and Development. Springer Singapore, (2016)
Hsiung, Ping-Chun. "Pursuing Qualitative Research From the Global South:" Investigative
Research" During China's" Great Leap Forward"(1958-62)." Forum Qualitative
Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research. Vol. 16. No. 3. (2015)
Jersild, Austin. Sino-Soviet Alliance: An International History. UNC Press Books, (2014)

HISTORY ESSAY
Kaple, Deborah. "Agents of Change: Soviet Advisers and High Stalinist Management in China,
1949–1960." Journal of Cold War Studies (2016).
Khlevniuk, Oleg, and Simon Belokowsky. "The Gulag and the non-Gulag as one interrelated
whole." Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History16.3 (2015)
Koenker, Diane P. Moscow Workers and the 1917 Revolution: Studies of the Russian Institute,
Columbia University. Princeton University Press, (2014)
Mao, Zedong, and Stuart Schram. Mao's Road to Power: Revolutionary Writings, 1912-49: v. 5:
Toward the Second United Front, January 1935-July 1937: Revolutionary Writings, 1912-49.
Routledge, (2017)
Mogos, Emy-Maria. "The position of the communist party of china towards the union of soviet
socialist republics and the european socialist countries after the 20th congress of the soviet union
communist party." Revista Romana de Studii Eurasiatice 11.1/2 (2015)
Roberts, Priscilla. "Introduction." China, Hong Kong, and the Long 1970s: Global Perspectives.
Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, (2017)
Shen, Zhihua, and Yafeng Xia. "Leadership transfer in the Asian revolution: Mao Zedong and
the Asian Cominform." Cold War History 14.2 (2014)
Shen, Zhihua, and Yafeng Xia. "“The Great Leap Forward”, the people's commune and the Sino-
Soviet split." Journal of Contemporary China 20.72 (2011)
Sun, Ping. "The Functions of Mao Zedong's Enigmatic Language." Journal of Arts and
Humanities 4.6 (2015)

HISTORY ESSAY
Teiwes, Frederick C. Politics at Mao's Court: Gao Gang and Party Factionalism in the Early
1950s. Routledge, (2016)
Xiao, Ren. "Idea Change Matters: China's Practices and the East Asian Peace." Asian
Perspective 40.2 (2016)
Zagoria, Donald S. Sino-Soviet Conflict, 1956-1961. Princeton University Press, (2015)
Zweig, David. Freeing China's Farmers: Rural Restructuring in the Reform Era: Rural
Restructuring in the Reform Era. Routledge, (2016)