Sino-Soviet Relations 1. In 1950 the USSR and China signed the friendship Treaty. Their relationship only dissolved in 1962. Therefore, when this picture (A) was taken in 1959 Khrushchev an Mao were is good favour with each other. Source B is not accurate as stated above the relationship between the USSR and China had been amicable up until 1962. This means that in 1960 when this cartoon was drawn, they were not at odds with each other yet. 2. Mao Zedong Nikita Khrushchev 3. Khrushchev is holding a hammer while Mao is brandishing a sickle. The hammer and sickle were the symbol of communism. Marx (and Lenin and Stalin) believed in a revolution through the proletariat, the hammer represents the proletariat in factories. Mao believed in a revolution through the peasants, the sickle represents the peasants on farms. 4. Mao Zedong 5. The hammer and sickle were the symbols of communism. Both the bear and the dragon wear the symbol because they both follow the communist rules and beliefs. It is communism fighting communism. 6. Mao supported continuous revolution in order to achieve the classless society versus Soviet gradual transformation over time. The Soviets believed that this would destroy the country. This is shown is the dragon breathing fire on the bear. The bear is being passive while the dragon is attacking. This shows how the Soviets wanted to peacefully co-exist while China wanted to continue the revolution until the whole world had turned communist. 7. There were disputes over territory along the long border between China and the USSR. China was angry that the USSR refused to supply it with nuclear weapons. China felt that it did not receive enough aid from the USSR, especially since non-communist countries received more Soviet aid than China did. 8. It appears that the dragon, aka China is winning the battle against the bear, aka USSR. The bear’s heir is scorched off and its tongue is lolling out of its mouth showing its submission. 9. In the 1970s the USSR and America were opponents. The US did whatever they could to stop the spread of communism if favour for their capitalism. This was also during the Cold War period, where there was immense tension between the US and the USSR. In the 1970s the US and PRC were trying to end the Vietnam War and so was trying to form and peaceful agreement. The two countries were trying to establish relations during this period. Therefore, the cartoonist’s bias is shown in the way that the bear is significantly smaller than the dragon, suggesting that the USSR is weaker than the PRC. The cartoonist was biased in favour of the PCR due to the US trying to establish relations with the PCR.
