Sino-Soviet War (Ume)

The Sino-Soviet War (Chinese: 中国自卫战争 Zhōngguó zìwèi zhànzhēng lit. 'Chinese Self-Defense War'; Russian: Ру́сско-китайская войнá Russko-kitayskaya voyna) was a 7 year long armed conflict between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union, which were the two largest communist states in the world at that time. The war began with a minor border skirmish in the vicinity of the Damansky (known to the Chinese as Zhenbao) Island and eventually escalated into an all out war, mostly fought in the border regions of both countries, although both side did send spies in an attempt to sabotage each other.

The war ended when the United States threatened further sanctions on the Soviet Union, which forced the latter to sue the Chinese government for peace and resulted in the Treaty of Hong Kong, which outlined a return to normalcy for both countries, although bitter relations would last for years to come.

In the west, especially in the United States, the war was largely considered civil war between communists, which led to the late response of the country to stop the war. Numerous governmental sources later stated that the response to end the war was only put on the table when China began to send sensitive Soviet information to the United States in exchange for weaponry and food aid to end the war faster.

In China, the war was branded as 'Soviet Aggression' and "an Act of Fascism" by the government, and most notably, Mao Zedong himself. Because of the war being ended by the Soviets, the Chinese government considers itself the victor in the war and that it proved that it could not be bullied by the Soviet Union.

In the Soviet Union, the call for a ceasefire was an embarassment for the Brezhnev Administration and result in his resignation three months after the war had ended. Despite this, the war has been maintained as a stalemate and a proof that China was not to be trusted and that it was unable to adapt to the world. This Soviet-era sentiment lasts to this day with many Russian politicians not willing to make deals with China that would benefit the latter.

In North Korea, the war was and still is a contentious topic, which the North Korean government censoring any mention of the Sino-Soviet War under penalty of death on anyone who dares speak about it. Schools were instructed to omit mentions about the subject. However, many North Korean defectors have spoken about the subject in the United States, mentioning that after it was affirmed that China, not the Soviet Union, had influence over North Korea, Mao Zedong encouraged North Korean leaders to execute or send Soviet-supporting North Koreans to China for "re-education". The North Korean government under Kim il-Sung would purge thousands of officials and soldiers for their support of the Soviet Union during the War, including an attempt of Kim Yong-ju, his own son. This would fail as Yong-ju, with the help of some soldiers and officers loyal to him, escaped to the Soviet Union via Mongolia.