A Tale of Land and Socialist Imperialism: Sino-Soviet Relations 1953-1969 Pubblico

Abstract

This thesis examines the role of territorial dispute in the 1969 Zhenbao Island conflict between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Soviet Union. Whereas the existing English-language historiography has emphasized the ideological debate between Mao and Khrushchev, and the two countries' struggle for supremacy in the Communist bloc, this thesis emphasizes the historical legacy of land disputes between China and the Soviet Union, and the continuation of Soviet foreign policy towards China from Stalin to Brezhnev, which have not been given enough attention by previous scholarships. The clash at Zhenbao was essentially a territorial dispute. The Soviet leadership would not admit that the territorial treaties signed by the Russian Empire with China in the 19^th century were unequal treaties, thus neglecting the sensitivity of Chinese government to the land disputes and eventually causing the bloodshed on Zhenbao Island. This dispute had important consequences such as planning for a Soviet nuclear strike on China and the normalization of Sino-US relations. This work draws on primary sources from Chinese archives, American archives and translated Russian material from the Soviet archive, and comprehensive secondary sources from both the English-language and Chinese scholarships. The main finding of the research is that the unequal treaties signed by China and the Russian Empire in the 19^th century were the fundamental cause of the long-standing territorial disputes between China and the Soviet Union. While the Soviet Union considered the term “unequal treaties” contradicted the essence of Soviet Communist ideology, China considered the Soviet Union’s denial of its territorial claims as a form of imperialism. 

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction..........……………………………………………………………………………1

Chapter 2.1: A Recount on the Sino-Soviet Relationship………………………………………..12

Chapter 2.2: A Chronology of Land dispute in China..…………………………………………...21

Chapter 3.1: The Calm before the Storm……….....……………………………………………...…26

Chapter 3.2: Way to Bloodshed………….........……………………………………………………….32

Chapter 3.3: The Conflict on Zhenbao (Damansky) Island……………………………………...37

Chapter 4.1: The Cooling Down……………….........…………………………………………………40

Chapter 4.2: Americans Worried About War Among Communists………..…………………..43

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..............………………….48

Bibliography………………………………………………………………..............……………………..51

 

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	History
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	History, Asia, Australia and Oceania History, Russian and Soviet History, Modern
Parola chiave	China Soviet Union Sino-Soviet Relationship
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Ravina Mark, Emory University
Committee Members	Amdur Kathryn, Emory University Payne Matthew, Emory University Tworzecki Hubert, Emory University

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