DE LA „PRIETENIE FRĂȚEASCĂ” LA CONFRUNTĂRI MILITARE. EVOLUȚIA RELAȚIILOR SINO-SOVIETICE ÎN PERIOADA 1949-1959
From "Fraternal Friendship" to Military Clashes. The Evolution of Sino-Soviet Relations in the Period 1949-1959

Summary/Abstract: The evolution of Sino-Soviet relations between 1949-1969, from „fraternal friendship” to border military conflicts was not a perfectly linear one, which renders more difficult a very accurate time division of this period. Despite this, based on recently declassified documents from Chinese and Russian archives, Sino-Soviet relations between 1949-1969 can be divided into two important stages: the „fraternal friendship” era (1949-1959) and the Sino-Soviet split era (1960-1969). This first part of my study tries to briefly review the most significant events of the „fraternal friendship” era, insisting on the less or not at all known in Romania discoveries made in this field by some important Chinese historians, Zhihua Shen, Yafeng Xia and Danhui Li. For instance, newly declassified documents contradict the almost unanimous opinion that the „honeymoon” period of Sino-Soviet relations ended by 1956, and show that it was not really over until 1959. It is nonetheless true that Sino-Soviet relations gradually began to deteriorate after Khrushchev´s secret speech at the 20th Congress of the CPSU, and especially after the Moscow Communist Parties Conference in 1957. The most significant divergences between PRC and the Soviet Union in the 1957-1959 period were caused by a different understanding of global politics and home affairs, together with an incipient power struggle for the leadership of the communist bloc.

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