Do you agree with the view that the Sino Soviet Split was caused primarily by the political rivalry of Khrushchev and Mao?
The Sino Soviet split occurred largely due to the ideological issues that Mao and Khrushchev had, having vastly opposite ideas on the nature of Revolutions. However, through this you largely see the clash of their personalities and how they differed vastly seen through the Soviet speech in which Khrushchev seriously offended Mao by announcing de-Stalinisation. National security was the basis of much strain as neither country felt safe mainly due to the advancement of nuclear weapons. Both countries had many attempts in order to gain stability ahead of the other such as the Korean War, where the USSR forced Mao to pay a large sum of money in order to pay back the USSR for its aid. However, this caused further rifts in the relationship. Due to the shared border of China and the USSR, territorial disputes were not unheard of however, throughout the Cold War, this became a larger issue as each wanted to assert more power. Although relations with the US was a factor involved in the split, it did little but cause tension and demonstrate the further rift that was happening between the two countries through the various meetings with presidents.
Ideological differences were pivotal in the breakdown of Sino-Soviet relations as they marked a significant flaw in the relationship; this was mainly due to their idea of the Nature of a Revolution. The Soviets believed in a Worker’s revolution whereas Mao was set on a peasant revolution, which can be seen through his attempt at the Cultural Revolution in 1966 in which he demonstrated a Breakdown of the Soviet Bureaucratic system and it created anarchy. Prior to this, Mao was accused by the USSR of ideological errors in the “Great leap forward”. A geopolitical view of the split is that both based their