Discordant 'Junior' Partner
WITTFOGEL, KARL A.
Discordant 'Junior' Partner THE SINO-SOVIET DISPUTE By G. F. Hudson, Richard Lowenthal and Roderick MacFarquhar Praeger. 277 pp. $5.00. Reviewed by KARL A. WITTFOGEL Author, "Oriental...
...Hudson and Lowenthal do not use the term "monolithic...
...But their overall perspective is not dissimilar...
...the emergence of Communist-dominated governments in Eastern Europe did not threaten Moscow's supremacy...
...but unlike them, they prevailed over their internal enemies without onthe-spot help from the Soviet Army...
...In this timely book the main lines of the conflict are convincingly traced in a general introduction by G. F. Hudson...
...It was further increased by Stalin's death, which made Mao the elder statesman among the topranking leaders of world Communism...
...Thus the Peking regime, although still looking to Russia for economic and other support, became a junior partner in the Communist axis...
...The editor, Roderick MacFarquhar, provides notations on the documents that constitute the body of the book...
...Until recently these developments have received little attention...
...Anyone interested in identifying and evaluating MoscowPeking differences will therefore surely welcome The Sino-Soviet Dispute...
...Like the Communists of Eastern Europe, the Chinese Communists in their struggle for power were given vital aid by the Soviet Union...
...Some observers denied their very existence, while others exaggerated their importance...
...Richard Lowenthal considers its starting point, shifts and "polycentric" implications...
...Among these documents are speeches by prominent Soviet and Chinese Communists, a declaration of the Warsaw Treaty Powers, the two Moscow proclamations, a Bucharest Communique, and significant articles that have appeared both in the USSR and in Communist China...
...With the exception of Yugoslavia—which for geo-military reasons was able to ignore Stalin's heavy-handed demands—the Eastern European regimes did not rise above the status of Soviet satellites...
...Mao Tse-tung's strength grew as his regime consolidated...
...Before World War II, the Soviet Union had exerted undisputed authority in the Communist camp...
...Circumstances determine the degree of influence exercised by a junior partner...
...MacFarquhar's review of SinoSoviet economic relations considers it unlikely, for economic reasons, that the existing friction will "endanger the monolithic solidarity within the bloc...
...Reviewed by KARL A. WITTFOGEL Author, "Oriental Despotism" The international Communist movement assumed a new quality in 1949 when the Chinese Communists gained control of the whole of mainland China...
...Their competent appraisal and the excellent collection of pertinent documents makes this publication a most useful addition to the growing number of serious studies of the gigantic Communist axis...
...Within the enlarged Communist camp there came into being a second center that did not always act in accordance with Moscow's wishes, and that also encouraged independent views in other Communist parties...
Vol. 45 • February 1962 • No. 3
