Foreign Affairs 1952-62

Question 1

What was the significance of the 1954 Geneva Conference for Korea?

Answer 1

It aimed to reunite Korea with a peace treaty, but this failed to reach an agreement. Zhou Enlai attended on behalf of the PRC.

Question 2

What were the two drawbacks of the Korean War on China?

Answer 2

1) China suffered heavy losses.
2) It had a great strain on the Chinese economy.

Question 3

What did China gain from the Korean War (2)?

Answer 3

1) Confidence and prestige by standing up to a better-equipped US-led UN force, whilst the PLA had no support from the USSR.
2) They claimed to be the leader of anti-imperialist movements globally - this was purely symbolic.

Question 4

When did the USA sign a mutual defence treaty with Taiwan?

Answer 4

December 1954.

Question 5

Why did the USA sign a mutual defence treaty with Taiwan?

Answer 5

Due to the PLA bombardment of the GMD held islands Quemoy and Matsu, the USA grew concerned over a potential PLA invasion.

Question 6

How else, apart from defence, did the USA aid the GMD regime in Taiwan (2 factors)?

Answer 6

1) Economic aid.
2) Military aid.

Question 7

Why did Sino-American tensions increase in 1957?

Answer 7

The USA stationed ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads in Taiwan, pointed at the Chinese mainland.

Question 8

How did Mao secure nuclear technology?

Answer 8

Feeling threatened by the USA, Mao obtained Khrushchev’s commitment to supply China with the technology required for nuclear weaponry development through a series of agreements.

Question 9

How did America try to damage China economically?

Answer 9

The USA imposed a trade ban on China, and encouraged other nations to follow suit.

Question 10

How significant was Zhou Enlai as Foreign Minister in the period 1952-1962?

Answer 10

Zhou was successful in portraying China as peaceful in contrast to America’s aggressive policies. At the 1954 Geneva conference, Zhou’s offer of a handshake was refused by John Foster Dulles (USA Secretary of State).

Question 11

Who were the Vietminh?

Answer 11

A communist-inclined Vietnamese nationalist movement, founded in 1941. They were led by Ho Chi Minh, trying to gain independence from France, then Japan, and then France again, until the French defeat in 1954.

Question 12

How did China aid the Vietminh against the French?

Answer 12

The PRC provided military aid in the form of weaponry and bases to operate from across the border.

Question 13

Why did China fear a war in Vietnam?

Answer 13

They did not want another drain on Chinese resources, so soon after the Korean War.

Question 14

How did China attempt to resolve the conflict in Vietnam (1954)?

Answer 14

At the Geneva Conference of 1954, Zhou Enlai encouraged the Vietminh to accept a peace agreement giving them control over northern Vietnam, with it divided on the 17th parallel. Elections for a reunified Vietnam were scheduled for 1956.

Question 15

Why did fighting resume in Vietnam in 1956?

Answer 15

The peace agreement was not accepted by the government of South Vietnam, so the elections never took place, and the Civil War resumed.

Question 16

How and why did China begin aiding the Vietminh in North Vietnam in 1962?

Answer 16

By 1962, USA involvement on the side of South Vietnam started, so Mao agreed to supply weapons to the North Vietnamese.

Question 17

When did India gain independence from Great Britain?

Answer 17

1947.

Question 18

Why did Sino-Indian relations deteriorate in the mid 1950s?

Answer 18

In an attempt to consolidate control over Tibet, the PRC began the building of a new road linking Tibet with the rest of China. However, this road crossed territory claimed by India, leading to border clashes in 1956.

Question 19

Why did Tibetans revolt against China in 1959?

Answer 19

The Chinese were trying to undermine Tibetan culture, with the Han Chinese being encouraged to settle on Tibetan land, and there were attacks on Buddhist monasteries.

Question 20

How did China respond to the 1959 Tibetan revolt?

Answer 20

Tibetan resistance, supported by the CIA, erupted into revolt. The PLA put the revolt down with great force, and the Dalai Lama fled into exile.

Question 21

How did the 1959 Tibetan revolt worsen relations with India?

Answer 21

The Dalai Lama fled into India, who granted him asylum.

Question 22

When was the PLA offensive against India?

Answer 22

1962.

Question 23

Explain the PLA offensive against India (2)?

Answer 23

1) In 1962, the PLA launched an offense on Indian forces on the disputed border. The Chinese advanced into India, taking the territory they claimed as their own in a few weeks.
2) They then declared a ceasefire. There was no formal peace agreement nor a formal declaration of war.

Question 24

What did China gain from the PLA offensive against India (2 points)?

Answer 24

1) The Chinese had established a new frontier line based on the area under their control.
2) They were able to resume construction on the road linking Tibet to the rest of China unhindered.

Question 25

What was ‘peaceful co-existence’?

Answer 25

A theory put forward by Khrushchev, that despite ideological differences, communist and capitalist states could co-exist.

Question 26

How were the PRC dependant on the USSR after 1949 (3)?

Answer 26

1) The First Five Year Plan required thousands of Soviet experts to implement.
2) Soviet loans helped fund China’s economic development.
3) Mao needed Soviet support to make China a nuclear power.

Question 27

Why were there tensions between the PRC and the USSR prior to 1957 (7)?

Answer 27

1) Soviet aid was provided at a high cost, with loans to be repaid fully and with interest.
2) The Sino-Soviet Treaty in 1950 gave the USSR the ability to exploit mineral resources in parts of China - similar to the ‘unequal treaties’ of the 19th Century.
3) Stalin treated Mao as an inferior, causing offense.
4) Ideological differences between the two nations.
5) Khrushchev’s 1956 speech denouncing Stalin indirectly attacked Mao’s style of leadership.
6) Mao believed the doctrine of ‘peaceful co-existence’ showed Khrushchev’s lack of commitment to the spread of global communism.
7) Mao believed the Hungarian and Polish revolts in 1956 showed that the USSR had become divorced from the people.

Question 28

Why did Sino-Soviet relations worsen in 1957?

Answer 28

The USSR proposed a joint Chinese-Soviet submarine force in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Mao suspected that the USSR were trying to take control of the Chinese navy, and grew suspicious that Soviet technical advisors were spies.

Question 29

How did Mao humiliate Khrushchev when the Soviet leader came to Beijing in the summer of 1958 (4)?

Answer 29

1) Khrushchev received a mediocre welcome.
2) Mao put Khrushchev in an old hotel, with no air conditioning, in the hot Chinese summer.
3) Mao refused Khrushchev’s joint defence initiative, wagging his finger in his face, and chain smoked around him (Khrushchev hated smoking).
4) Mao held a day of talks in his private pool - and Khrushchev could not swim, having to use a flotation device in the pool.

Question 30

Why did Sino-Soviet relations worsen in 1958?

Answer 30

The PLA bombarded the island of Quemoy (GMD held) and built up forces along the Taiwan straight for an apparent invasion. The USA prepared for war with China. Mao withdrew Chinese forces, blaming the failure of the invasion on the lack of support from the USSR.

Question 31

Why did Sino-Soviet relations worsen in 1960 (2)?

Answer 31

1) Soviet criticisms of the GLF resulted in the withdrawal of Soviet experts from China.
2) Both countries were vying for the position of leader of world communism.

Question 32

Why did diplomatic relations end between China and the USSR in 1961?

Answer 32

When Albania broke away from the Soviet Union in 1961, China provided Albania with technical and financial aid, ending diplomatic relations between China and the USSR.