Additional information
by Lorenz M. Lüthi (Author)
A decade after the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China established their formidable alliance in 1950, escalating public disagreements between them broke the international communist movement apart. In The Sino-Soviet Split, Lorenz L thi tells the story of this rupture, which became one of the defining events of the Cold War. Identifying the primary role of disputes over Marxist-Leninist ideology, L thi traces their devastating impact in sowing conflict between the two nations in the areas of economic development, party relations, and foreign policy. The source of this estrangement was Mao Zedong's ideological radicalization at a time when Soviet leaders, mainly Nikita Khrushchev, became committed to more pragmatic domestic and foreign policies.
Using a wide array of archival and documentary sources from three continents, L thi presents a richly detailed account of Sino-Soviet political relations in the 1950s and 1960s. He explores how Sino-Soviet relations were linked to Chinese domestic politics and to Mao's struggles with internal political rivals. Furthermore, L thi argues, the Sino-Soviet split had far-reaching consequences for the socialist camp and its connections to the nonaligned movement, the global Cold War, and the Vietnam War.The Sino-Soviet Split provides a meticulous and cogent analysis of a major political fallout between two global powers, opening new areas of research for anyone interested in the history of international relations in the socialist world.
Back Jacket
"Buttressed by massive documentation from a dazzling array of international archival sources, Lorenz Lüthi examines all the issues involved in the Sino-Soviet conflict from 1956 to 1966, and he singles out ideology as the prime motive that drove these two communist giants into catastrophic division. The episodes covered in this major work unfold like a kaleidoscope, refining or correcting traditional interpretations of events during this important period. There is no doubt that this book has established itself as the yardstick by which other works will be measured."--Toshi Hasegawa, University of California, Santa Barbara
"A prodigiously researched and level-headed study of the political and diplomatic split between the Soviet and Chinese communist governments. The need to understand Chinese and Russian foreign policy both past and present remains high, and the wealth of information in this important book will be a key point of reference for students and scholars in the decades to come."--O. A. Westad, London School of Economics and Political Science
"Lorenz Lüthi has made good use of a vast quantity of declassified documents and memoirs from the former Soviet bloc, China, and Western countries and has also drawn extensively on the secondary literature. His fascinating book will be a crucial resource for all those interested in tracing how and why the USSR and China moved from alliance to bitter confrontation."--Mark Kramer, Harvard University
Author Biography
Lorenz M. Lüthi is assistant professor of the history of international relations at McGill University.
