Over the last couple of weeks one of the elements of the texts that I have been keeping an eye on in the increasingly close relationship between the Soviet Union and China (People’s Republic of China). This is relationship that arose from a mutual interest in communism and the Soviet Union’s helping to legitimize the Chinese Communist Party. Today, as Americans/Westerners, we look at these two countries still as partners in their ideological/political beliefs. Often times western propaganda often goes further to paint these two countries as the start of a villainous communists group plotting to take over the world.
Reading exploration pack two this week it was very interesting to read about the treaty struck between the China and the Soviet Union, as to me the making of this treaty almost seemed like the creation of a formal relationship between these two countries. I was almost surprised to see how much China and the Soviet Union were willing to commit to each other in some of the articles that they agreed upon. For example, both countries agreeing to consult with each other on ALL important international questions involving their common interests was a level of commitment that I wouldn’t have thought would be attractive to either of the countries. This desire for a strong relationship between these two countries continued to be affirmed in my reading of the basic set. Where I read of China’s introducing and replicating of the Soviet Union’s 5-year plans. These 5-year plans were believed to have catalyzed the industrialization of the Soviet Union and thus it was the hope of the Chinese Communist Party that their integration would bring the same industrial advances to China.
Another part of the basic set readings that surprised me was when it explained that the USSR ‘pressured’ China to support North Korea in the Korean War. Although I am not so surprised by the act of China joining forces with North Korea, I did find myself surprised by the role that the Soviet Union was again playing in China’s affairs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Soviet_Treaty_of_Friendship_and_Alliance
As the semester continues to progress I think that the relationship between China and the Soviet Union is one that I am going to continue to keep my eye on as I want to better understand why it is that we (Westerners today) are subject to such propaganda about the true nature of the relationship between these two countries.
Sources:
Treaty with the Soviet Union.” In The Search for Modern China: A Documentary Collection. Third ed. Edited by Janet Chen et. al. W. W. Norton & Company, 2014.
Spence, Jonathan D. The Search for Modern China. Third ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013.
- Chapters 19 and 20 (“The Birth of the People’s Republic” and “Planning the New Society”)
