THE CHINESE REVOLUTION IN RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

In: World politics: a quarterly journal of international relations, Band 13, Heft 2, S. 210-230

Abstract

Chinese communism differs from the Soviet pattern of development in a number of signif respects. The Chinese Communists failed to win nat'l power when the Chinese Revolution reached its peak of natural extremism in 1927, but instead established a regional rdgime. Chinese Communism then evolved under Mao into a pragmatic, disciplined, & Stalinized post-revolutionary dictatorship. When the Communists won nationwide power in 1949, they were far ahead of the Bolsheviks of 1917 in their totalitarian org & practices, while they confronted a much more backward econ situation. Lacking any real proletarian base, they adhered dogmatically to Marxist doctrine as the determinant of pol'al virtue. Since 1949 Chinese Communism has become increasingly irrational & fanatic, particularly after the liberalizing interlude of 1956-57. The pol'al, econ & foreign-policy stiffening of 1957-58 parallels the change of line in Russia under Stalin in 1928-29, & points toward a likely econ crisis & purge. IPSA.