Mao And Stalin's Soviet Alliance

Mao’s China rose from the ruins of 40 years of war, broken and humiliated, into an untouchable nuclear power which threatened the balance of the bipolar world order. The primary and secondary documents on Mao and Maoism details this path built on utopian radicalism, the death and misery of millions, and an intricate relationship with the Soviet Union. This relationship began formally in 1950 with the Sino-Soviet alliance and ended in the late 1960s. The alliance was doomed from the start, both countries had little in shared cultural legacies, different perceptions on the significance of the alliance, and was based on the momentary weakness of China. However, it stood as the greatest threat to the “political supremacy of western capitalists

The primary and secondary documents show that ruler interactions on the international level dictate a state’s national policy. In December 1949, shortly following the declaration of the People’s Republic of China, Mao fulfilled his wish to meet Stalin, who was both an inspiration and nemesis to Mao. Stalin was a founding father of the communist revolution, head of the international communist movement, and the key to the survival of the new Chinese state. Mao and Stalin’s meeting is recounted in The Cold War: A History in Documents and Eyewitness Accounts by interpreters or high officials in the room, and describes the conversation and relationship between the two leaders. Mao is courteous when discussing the needs of rebuilding China and asks plainly for Soviet military and economic aid. While Stalin appears confident and shrewd in offering aid and advising on China’s future. Mao and Stalin’s relationship embodies the relations and outlook of their respective countries, with China as a subservient junior ally, and the Soviet Union as the “elder brother” who is “bestowing the honor of recognition on a subordinate who has proved his worth.” Mao was not to disobey Stalin, and agreed to model China after the Soviet Union into

In 1949, while China was recovering, it maintained a public image as an active member of the “global struggle against imperialist domination.” Coupled with the Sino-Soviet alliance, China projected an image of the rightful Chinese state, aligned with the global communist movement. This public image signaled a new China to the rest of the world, one that was to emulate the success of the Soviet Union and remain fervently anti-imperialist and anti-western. Mao sought to maintain this image through supporting communist revolutions and war. Mao suggested intervention in regional conflicts such as the French Indochinese rebellions and to invade Taiwan to assert Chinese sovereignty. However, without Stalin’s approval Mao did not intervene outside China until the Korean War allowed China to present itself as a liberator and champion against “imperialists.” Following Stalin’s death, the international perception of the Soviet Union was a state plagued with chaos and disunity, prompting Mao to consider himself the true successor to Stalin and the leader of the international communist movement. Moreover, China’s nuclear program and rivalry with the Soviet Union led to China being seen as an independent actor, not aligned with either superpower and open to cooperation with the west on its own terms. Overall, the texts