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COMMUNISTS
FIGHT AMONG THEMSELVES
At the meeting of the 22nd Party Congress in the fall of 1961, the
rivalry between Russia and China came out in the open. It centered
around two issues: the place of Stalin in communist history, and
relations with the country of Albania. Khrushchev (1894-1971), the
Soviet premier from 1958-64, made verbal attacks on Stalin constantly,
and even had his body removed from the mausoleum on Red Square. Mao
Tse-tung, and the Chinese Communists went out of their way to proclaim
their loyalty to the dead leader. When Enver Hoxha, the Communist ruler
of Albania refused to follow Khrushchev's lead in condemning Stalin,
Russia canceled all economic and technical aid, and recalled all Soviet
personnel. China then sent in their own advisors, praising Albania for
their stand.
China was upset because Russia failed to support them during a recent
military action, and was suspicious of Khrushchev's policy of 'peaceful
coexistence' with the United States. Since 1961, world communists have
split into either pro-Soviet or pro-China factions. China began
advocating Maoism, rather than Marxist-Leninism.
Stalin had said: "The object of Soviet Communism is victory of Communism
throughout the world ... by peace or war." Russia boasted that within a
generation, the whole world would be communist. Meanwhile, China also
insisted that war was inevitable. Chou En-lai, the Chinese premier from
1949-76, said publicly: "The white race constitutes about one-tenth of
the world's population. Let us completely annihilate the White man. Then
we shall be free of him once and for all."
Because China had their own thoughts of world domination, a major rift
developed between the two communist giants. China became angry over
Russia's refusal to give them nuclear weapons, so after 14 years, Russia
ceased all aid to China.
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