The Other Cold War: Why China and the Soviet Union Fell Apart

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, China and the Soviet Union looked like the perfect pairing, as they were two huge Communist powers challenging the Western world. However, by the end of the 1960s, the relationship between the powerhouses quickly began to deteriorate, turning from an alliance into competition for influence, and even to violence. What happened to cause this? How did the two nations go from allies to rivals? The answer lies in one of the most underreported stories of the Cold War.

In 1949, when Mao Zedong took control of China and the Chinese Communist Party, he saw building a relationship with the Soviet Union as crucial to the continued growth and development of socialist-communist ideals across the globe. For this reason, in late 1949, Mao Zedong took a trip to meet with Joseph Stalin, where they signed the Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance. The terms of the treaty involved mutual military support from attacks, economic support, and the sharing of industry and tech experts between both nations. 

Even under the facade of collaboration, however, tensions were already beginning to rise between China and the Soviet Union. Mao felt undermined by Stalin and his power over the Soviet Union’s communist empire. More fundamentally, Mao believed that China deserved equal status in leading the global communist movement, not just a subordinate role to the Soviet Union.

In 1953, when Stalin passed away, new Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev took a drastic turn, denouncing Stalin, his actions, and promoting an era of “peaceful coexistence” with Western nations. This was representative of a fundamental ideological difference: Khrushchev seemed to favor avoiding confrontation, while Mao believed in aggressively spreading communist ideals, through violence if necessary. Mao and China were outraged at the quick turn away from the ideals the two nations had worked so hard to promote together. In an effort to keep relations friendly, Khrushchev took a visit to China in late 1958. Much to his surprise, however, Mao treated Khrushchev with hostility and disdain, not showing interest in keeping the relationship that had existed prior. Mao turned down further efforts for mutual defense with the Soviet Union. To make matters worse, in 1959, Khrushchev went back on his promise of nuclear weapons assistance and  gave a speech in support of United States president Dwight Eisenhower, enraging Mao and the rest of China.

At this point, the conflict between the two nations began to escalate very rapidly; Khrushchev decided to pull Soviet advisors out of China, breaking down the Treaty of Friendship from just a few years earlier. 1390 Soviet specialists were removed almost overnight, leaving major industrial projects like steel plants half-built. Now, China could no longer benefit from Soviet assistance in new technology, like nuclear tech, and policies. 

In the 1960s, the conflict began to take a turn toward violence. There were arguments over the Xinjiang province in northwestern China, a contested border region, and discussions between the Soviet and the Chinese governments quickly turned hostile. In the Xinjiang province, Chinese and Soviet troops had been involved in many skirmishes, which were at first seen as unimportant, but turned to symbols of pride and national power. The most serious confrontation between the powers was in March of 1969, over Zhenbao Island on the Ussuri River. Hundreds of soldiers died, and both sides considered using nuclear strikes during the crisis.  

As the conflict reached its peak, it was clear that the split between China and the Soviet Union was more permanent than it had previously seemed. The split forced other communist nations, like Northern Vietnam and North Korea, to pick sides of the conflict, exacerbating tensions between China and Russia to gain influence in the developing world. Ultimately, this rivalry proved so significant that it led to President Nixon’s historic opening to China in 1972, reshaping the landscape of global politics and relations in this time period.

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