Chinese involvement in the Korean War was merely an instrument of Stalin’s foreign policy rather than as a force for spreading communist revolution. How far do you accept this interpretation?
Chinese involvement in the Korean War was largely due to Stalin’s use of manipulation and encouragement towards Mao, convincing him to join the war. To a large extent, Stalin’s motivation behind encouraging Mao to join the war could be due to the possibility of increasing communist influence in Asia. China is a large and, in comparison to other Asian countries, powerful place. With their help, North Korea’s chances of winning the war and therefore increasing communism in Asia was much more likely. The other possibility is that Stalin encouraged China’s involvement due to his foreign policy which meant that communist countries such as China and the USSR should help other communist countries (i.e. North Korea) in disputes whereby Nationalists and Communists are fighting.
The idea of Chinese involvement in the war seems possible, to a small extent, to be due to Stalin’s policy when we look at his involvement in the decision. The military campaign against South Korea was agreed between Stalin and Kim Il-Sung, showing Stalin’s genuine interest in helping North Korea in the dispute. Stalin’s enthusiasm in Chinese involvement also suggests that he was motivated by his foreign policy and helping a fellow communist state as he was aware of China’s power in Asia. He knew that China were much larger and therefore capable of helping North Korea win the war, showing that he just wanted to help protect North Korea from the Nationalist state of South Korea. However, the negotiations seemed to show aggressive tactics into attacking South Korea, showing the war was not defensive on the communist side. The negotiations were kept secret from Mao, too, suggesting that Stalin’s claims that Chinese involvement should be “to protect a fellow communist state” may have purely been a manipulation tactic of Stalin to persuade Mao into helping in the war. This therefore shows that Chinese involvement in the Korean War was largely as a force for spreading communist revolution.
This idea is backed up with the fact that Stalin was very reluctant in having the USSR become involved in the dispute directly. When China announced that they would not be participating, Stalin even told Kim Il-Sung to “leave the country”, showing that, though he wanted North Korea to win the war, he was not prepared to send Russian assistance. Stalin even went so far as to promise USSR assistance to the Chinese military when Mao said he was finally going to help, but Stalin afterwards showed his reluctance as their “Treaty was no longer valid” for various reasons. Stalin’s reluctance to become properly involved in the dispute shows that he was likely to have been motivated purely by the idea of spreading communism, rather than just protecting a fellow communist state. This, therefore, means that Chinese involvement in the war was by default of Stalin’s actions, also used as a force for spreading communist revolution – not as an instrument of Stalin’s foreign policy.
The state of China’s economy is also an indication that China’s involvement in the war was as a force to spread communist revolution rather than Stalin’s foreign policy. This is because if Stalin was really just trying to help fellow communist states, he would have involved the USSR rather than China. China’s economy was in a bad state; Russia had given them money for machinery and sorts due to their treaty of friendship in order to help them out and try to improve their situation. This assistance shows that Stalin was well aware of China’s economic situation, yet he still proceeded to encourage Mao into assisting in the war. If Stalin really wanted to protect fellow communist states, he would have also wanted to protect China from the economic destruction that involvement in the war would cause. Money would be spend on the military, weaponry, resources to aid the soldiers abroad ect. It would be very expensive; Stalin was reluctant to help using the USSR’s resources. This shows that Chinese involvement was due to force the spread of communism rather than as an instrument of Stalin’s foreign policy as, although North Korea were being protected, China were not. This shows that Stalin did not care about protecting his fellow communist state China, and was only really bothered with trying to help North Korea spread communism to South Korea.
Mao’s speech to Zhou after deciding to enter the war also suggests that Chinese involvement in the Korean War was due to moral duties set in Stalin’s foreign policy; he said “We hold that we must enter the war. We must enter the war. Entering the war is greatly to our advantage; conversely, it is greatly to our disadvantage if we do not enter the war”. This speech showed that, after the threat of an immediate collapse of North Korea, Mao felt it was necessary to help in the war in order to protect a fellow communist state.
By the end of 1950, however, the Chinese had reversed the tide of battle and driven the Americans and their allies back across the 38th parallel. Mao’s ambitions expanded accordingly, and their involvement in the war then proved to be to expand communism into South Korea, rather than just protecting North Korea from Nationalism. In March 1951, Mao proudly assured Stalin that “after we have consumed hundreds of thousands of American lives in a few years, the Americans will be forced to retreat and the Korean problem will be over”, showing that he was willing to continue China’s involvement in the war to allow communism to spread into South Korea after the allies were defeated. Chinese involvement was, at this point, not just to protect North Korea like Stalin’s foreign policy said.
In conclusion, evidence shows that Chinese involvement in the Korea War was to a large extent used as a force for spreading Communist revolution in Asia, particularly into South Korea. Though some evidence suggests that Stalin’s foreign policy played a role in the decision as Mao and Stalin were concerned with protecting North Korea, more evidence suggests that their main concerns were with spreading communism into South Korea and “defeating the allies”.