Editing Sino-Soviet split (section)

{{Short description|Conflict between communist blocs}}
{{Redirect|Sino-Soviet conflict|the 1929 event|Sino-Soviet conflict (1929)|the 1969 event|Sino-Soviet border conflict}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox civil conflict
| title = Sino-Soviet split
| partof = the [[Cold War]]
| image = Mao Tsé-toung, portrait en buste, assis, faisant face à Nikita Khrouchtchev, pendant la visite du chef russe 1958 à Pékin.jpg
| caption = [[Mao Zedong]] (left) and [[Nikita Khrushchev]] (right) in [[Beijing]], 1957
| date = 1961–1989
| causes = [[De-Stalinization]] of the Soviet Union, [[Anti-revisionism (Marxism–Leninism)|Anti-revisionism]] and [[Maoism–Third Worldism]]
| result = Competition between PRC and USSR for [[Eastern Bloc]] allies
| methods = [[Proxy war]], [[propaganda]] and [[Sino-Soviet border conflict|border skirmishes]]
| place = {{flatlist|
*[[China]]
*[[Soviet Union]]
*[[Mongolia]]
*[[Mainland Southeast Asia|Indochina]]
*[[Afghanistan]]
}}
| side1 = {{plainlist|
* {{flag|China}}
* {{flag|People's Republic of Albania|name=Albania}} (until 1978)<hr>{{flag|North Korea|1948}} (part-time ally)
}}
| side2 = {{plainlist|
* {{flag|Soviet Union}}
* {{flag|Comecon|name=COMECON}}
}} ([[De-satellization of the Socialist Republic of Romania|except]] [[Socialist Republic of Romania|Romania]])
* [[File:Warsaw Pact Logo.svg|20px]] [[Warsaw Pact]]
* {{flag|Mongolian People's Republic|name=Mongolia}} (from 1962)
* {{flag|Cuba}} (from 1972)
* {{flag|Vietnam}} (from [[Cambodian–Vietnamese War|1978]])
{{plainlist|
* {{flagicon|Afghanistan|1978}}{{flagicon|Afghanistan|1987}} [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan|Republic of Afghanistan]] (1979–1989)<hr>{{flag|North Korea|1948}} (part-time ally)
}}
| leadfigures1 = {{plainlist|
* {{flagdeco|China}} [[Mao Zedong]] (until 1976)
* {{flagdeco|China}} [[Hua Guofeng]] (1976–1978)
* {{flagdeco|China}} [[Deng Xiaoping]] (1978–1989)
}}
| leadfigures2 = {{plainlist|
* {{flagdeco|Soviet Union}} [[Nikita Khrushchev]] (until 1964)
* {{flagdeco|Soviet Union}} [[Leonid Brezhnev]] (1964–1982)
* {{flagdeco|Soviet Union}} [[Yuri Andropov]] (1982–1984)
* {{flagdeco|Soviet Union}} [[Konstantin Chernenko]] (1984–1985)
* {{flagdeco|Soviet Union}} [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] (1985–1989)
}}
}}
[[File:Soviet Union and China map including the three co-bordering countries.svg|thumb|upright=1.6|
{{legend|#FFCC00|[[China]]}}
{{legend|#ff0000|[[Soviet Union]]}}
{{legend|#FF6600|Countries that shared borders with both: [[Mongolian People's Republic|Mongolia]] was Soviet-aligned while [[Kingdom of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]] and [[North Korea]] remained neutral, with the former eventually [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan|becoming Soviet-aligned in the late 1970s]].}}]]
{{Infobox Chinese
| t = 中蘇交惡
| s = 中苏交恶
| p = Zhōngsū jiāowù
| rus = Советско–китайский раскол
| rusr = Sovetsko–kitayskiy raskol
}}

The '''Sino-Soviet split''' was the gradual worsening of relations between the [[China|People's Republic of China]] (PRC) and the [[Soviet Union|Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] (USSR) during the [[Cold War]]. This was primarily caused by divergences that arose from their different interpretations and practical applications of [[Marxism–Leninism]], as influenced by their respective [[geopolitics]] during the Cold War of 1947–1991.<ref name="World History 2000. p.&nbsp;769">{{cite book |title=Chambers Dictionary of World History |editor-first1=Bruce |editor-last1=Lenman |editor-first2=Trevor |editor-last2=Anderson |editor-first3=Hilary |editor-last3=Marsden |publisher=[[Chambers (publisher)|Chambers]] |location=Edinburgh |year=2000 |page=769 |isbn=9780550100948}}</ref> In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Sino-Soviet debates about the interpretation of [[orthodox Marxism]] became specific disputes about the Soviet Union's policies of national [[de-Stalinization]] and international [[peaceful coexistence]] with the [[Western Bloc]], which Chinese leader [[Mao Zedong]] decried as [[Revisionism (Marxism)|revisionism]]. Against that ideological background, China took a belligerent stance towards the [[Western world]], and publicly rejected the Soviet Union's policy of peaceful coexistence between the Western Bloc and [[Eastern Bloc]].<ref name="World History 2000. p.&nbsp;769" /> In addition, [[Beijing]] resented the Soviet Union's growing [[India–Soviet Union relations|ties with India]] due to factors such as the [[Sino-Indian border dispute]], while [[Moscow]] feared that Mao was unconcerned about the horrors of [[nuclear warfare]].<ref>John W. Garver, ''China's Quest: The History of the Foreign Relations of the People's Republic'' (2016) pp 113–45.</ref>

In 1956, Soviet leader [[Nikita Khrushchev]] denounced [[Joseph Stalin]] and [[Stalinism]] in the speech "[[On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences]]" and began the de-Stalinization of the USSR. Mao and the Chinese leadership were appalled as the PRC and the USSR progressively diverged in their interpretations and applications of Leninist theory. By 1961, their intractable ideological differences provoked the PRC's formal denunciation of [[Ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Soviet communism]] as the work of "revisionist traitors" in the USSR.<ref name="World History 2000. p.&nbsp;769" /> The PRC also declared the Soviet Union [[Social imperialism|social imperialist]].<ref name=":2" /> For Eastern Bloc countries, the Sino-Soviet split was a question of who would lead the revolution for [[world communism]], and to whom (China or the USSR) the [[Vanguardism|vanguard parties]] of the world would turn for political advice, financial aid, and military assistance.<ref>Robert A. Scalapino, "Sino-Soviet Competition in Africa", ''Foreign Affairs'' (1964) 42#4, pp.&nbsp;640–654. {{JSTOR|20029719}}; {{Cite journal |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20029719 |title=Sino-Soviet Competition in Africa |jstor=20029719 |access-date=29 January 2018 |archive-date=9 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009092822/https://www.jstor.org/stable/20029719 |url-status=bot: unknown |last1=Scalapino |first1=Robert A. |journal=Foreign Affairs |date=1964 |volume=42 |issue=4 |pages=640–654 |doi=10.2307/20029719 |url-access=subscription }}.</ref> In that vein, both countries competed for the leadership of world communism through the vanguard parties native to the countries in their [[Hegemony|spheres of influence]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Scalapino |first1=Robert A. |year=1964 |title=Sino-Soviet Competition in Africa |journal=Foreign Affairs |volume=42 |issue=4|pages=640–654 |jstor=20029719|doi=10.2307/20029719 }}</ref> The conflict culminated after the [[Zhenbao Island incident]] in 1969, when the Soviet Union planned to launch a large-scale nuclear strike on China including its capital [[Beijing]], but eventually called off the attack due to intervention from the [[United States]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=O'Neill |first=Mark |date=May 12, 2010 |title=Nixon intervention saved China from Soviet nuclear attack |url=https://www.scmp.com/article/714064/nixon-intervention-saved-china-soviet-nuclear-attack |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912221259/https://www.scmp.com/article/714064/nixon-intervention-saved-china-soviet-nuclear-attack |archive-date=2015-09-12 |website=[[South China Morning Post]]}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=1969-09-10 |title=MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT: The Possibility of a Soviet Strike Against Chinese Nuclear Facilities |url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB49/sino.sov.19.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241112193950/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB49/sino.sov.19.pdf |archive-date=2024-11-12 |website=The George Washington University |publisher=[[United States Department of State]]}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |date=1969-08-18 |title=63. Memorandum of Conversation |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v34/d63 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241104110630/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v34/d63 |archive-date=2024-11-04 |website=[[United States Department of State]]}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Xu |first=Ni |date=2008 |title=1969年, 中苏核危机始末 |trans-title=The nuclear crisis between China and the Soviet Union in 1969 |url=http://cpc.people.com.cn/GB/85037/85039/7218846.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303213408/http://cpc.people.com.cn/GB/85037/85039/7218846.html |archive-date=2022-03-03 |website=[[People's Daily|People's Net]] |language=zh}}</ref> 

In the Western world, the Sino-Soviet split transformed the bi-polar cold war into a tri-polar one. The rivalry facilitated Mao's realization of Sino-American rapprochement with the [[1972 Nixon visit to China|US president Richard Nixon's visit to China in 1972]]. In the West, the policies of [[triangular diplomacy]] and [[Linkage (policy)|linkage]] emerged.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969-1976 |volume=I: ''Foundations of Foreign Policy, 1969-1972'' |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/nixon/i/21100.htm|url-status=live|access-date=27 August 2021|website=2001-2009.state.gov|language=en|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709185228/https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/nixon/i/21100.htm}}</ref> Like the [[Tito–Stalin split]], the occurrence of the Sino-Soviet split also weakened the concept of monolithic communism, the Western perception that the communist nations were collectively united and would not have significant ideological clashes.<ref>Rothbard, Murray N. "The Myth of Monolithic Communism", ''Libertarian Review'', Vol. 8., No. 1 (February 1979), p.&nbsp;32.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lawrance |first=Alan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a7mGAgAAQBAJ |title=China Under Communism |date=2002-09-11 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-74792-4 |pages=53 |language=en}}</ref> However, the USSR and China both continued to cooperate with [[North Vietnam]] during the [[Vietnam War]] into the 1970s, despite rivalry elsewhere.<ref name=":1" /> Historically, the Sino-Soviet split facilitated the Marxist–Leninist ''[[Realpolitik]]'' with which Mao established the tri-polar geopolitics (PRC–USA–USSR) of the late-period Cold War (1956–1991) to create an anti-Soviet front, which Maoists connected to the [[Three Worlds Theory]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Yi |first=Zhou |date=February 2020 |title=Less Revolution, More Realpolitik: China's Foreign Policy in the Early and Middle 1970s |url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/less-revolution-more-realpolitik-chinas-foreign-policy-early-and-middle-1970s |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827130203/https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/less-revolution-more-realpolitik-chinas-foreign-policy-early-and-middle-1970s |archive-date=27 August 2021 |access-date=27 August 2021 |website=The Wilson Center |language=en}}</ref> According to Lüthi, there is "no documentary evidence that the Chinese or the Soviets thought about their relationship within a triangular framework during the period."<ref>{{cite book|last=Lüthi|first=Lorenz M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dl4TRDxqexMC|title=The Sino-Soviet Split: Cold War in the Communist World|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2010|isbn=9781400837625|page=6|access-date=6 July 2017|archive-date=9 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609073503/https://books.google.com/books?id=dl4TRDxqexMC|url-status=live}}</ref>