Sino-Soviet Border Conflict - The Fight Between Communist Powers

Описание: The Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China may have been the two most powerful communist countries of the Cold War, but their political and economic similarities did not prevent them from conflict. Eavh wanted to be the top communist nation, and a series of border conflicts brought the two giants closer to nuclear war than expected.

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Script:

In 1969, the world’s two major communist powers almost declared war on one another. The Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China had long clashed over border issues, but the conflict had finally reached its boiling point.

On March 2nd, 1969, Soviet forces were ambushed by the People’s Liberation Army at Zhenbao Island. As both sources were highly unreliable, the exact number of casualties is totally unknown. Both sides retreated from the island, and it became neutral territory. The Soviets tried to return to the island to retrieve their dead and a T-62 tank, but Chinese artillery prevented recovery of the tank. In the end, the Chinese captured the T-62 and it ended up in the Chinese Military Museum.

On August 13th, Soviet troops in the Kazakh SSR marched into western China. China retreated with an estimated 28 losses, giving the territory to the Soviet Union who only suffered an estimated 2. By this point, tensions between the countries were so high, a nuclear war seemed eminent. On the way back from Ho Chi Minh’s funeral, the Soviet politician, Alexei Kosygin, met with the Chinese premier, Zhou Enlai. The two ended up preparing for their ambassadors to meet and settle the conflict. The almost nuclear conflict soon came to a comparatively boring, but much less destructive, end.

Although an actual war never broke out between China and the Soviet Union, these conflicts established a rift between the two super-powers. America saw China as a potential ally against the Soviets if necessary, and resulted in Nixon’s famous meeting with Chairman Mao. The Soviet Union also faced a difficult decision: were they to be seen as a warmonger who wanted conflict with China by retaliating, or would they be seen as pushovers by not retaliating. Despite this being only a small blip in the Cold War, it drastically changed the relations between the three powers for the rest of the century.