A History of Modern Europe - From the Renaissance to the Present

Cold War 1157

Johnson (1908-1973) announced
that an American naval vessel had
been attacked off the coast of
Vietnam—which in fact never
occurred—the American Congress
passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution
against the North Vietnamese gov­
ernment. The United States commit­
ted more and more men and material
in support of the South Vietnamese
government against the North Viet­
namese Communist troops of Ho
Chi Minh and their allies, the Viet­
cong guerrillas fighting in the south.
The Soviets backed the Communist
forces. The costly American role in
the civil war came under increasing
opposition at home and in Europe,
beginning with university students. The Vietnam War badly divided public
opinion in the United States and strained U.S. relations with its allies.

Sino-Soviet Rivalry

The alliance between Mao’s China and the Soviet Union, cemented by the

Korean War, began to break apart. A common Communist ideology could

not gloss over issues of power politics between the two giants. Not only did

they share an immense frontier, but certain border regions—above all,

Mongolia—had long been claimed by both states. Border clashes took

place in 1969. In addition, growing Soviet influence in India threatened

Chinese relations with the subcontinent. Khrushchev’s turn away from Stal­

inism angered Mao, as did the Soviet leader’s overtures for support among

Asian political leaders. Khrushchev’s policy of peaceful coexistence with

the West—and particularly his visit to Washington, D.C., in 1959—

irritated Mao, who used the perceived threat from the West as a means of

pushing the Chinese to make more sacrifices to modernize the economy. In

China, a “cult of personality” focused on Chairman Mao just as one in the

Soviet Union had celebrated Stalin. Furthermore, attempts to modernize

China’s economy had been heavily influenced by Stalin’s five-year plans,

which had emphasized heavy industry. At the same time, China underwent

rapid, ruthless collectivization of all industrial and agricultural production.

Chinese economic growth made the Chinese less dependent on Soviet tech­

nical advisers and they were sent home.

The Chinese Communist government also grew increasingly uneasy

about Russia’s nuclear weapons. Mao believed Stalin’s contention that war

between capitalism and Communism was inevitable. He resented the

Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and

Cuban leader Fidel Castro meet in

Moscow, 1963.