The course presents an overview of the Sino-Soviet relationships since the October revolution of 1917 in Russia till the USSR's and CMEA's disintegration. It focuses on China's transformation domestically and internationally: from positioning Chinese revolutionaries in the Third Communist International and the rivalry between the Communist Party of China and Guomindang, and the role of the Soviet leaders in it, to the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and Stalin's supervision; from Mao Zedong's application to Lenin's model of socialism through Mao's social and cultural campaigns, the Sino-Soviet split (1960-1989) and China's ambition to lead the revolutionary struggle in the Third World under the ideology of Maosim, to China's deviation from the socialist planned economy in the 1980s known as Den Xiaoping reform. The Sino-US rapprochement (since 1971) is given special attention in the context of the Cold War. China's policies towards its closest neighbours, Mongolia and Vietnam in particular, are analysed vis-a-vis Moscow's visions on East Asian geopolitics. The course shall contribute to the students' understanding of modernisation theories, socialist ideologies and revolution as they were transferred, interpreted and reproduced in the USSR and in Asia and the complex inter-dependencies within the international socialist system.
Extensive literature and secondary sources readings, as well as primary sources (available translations into Germany and/or English) are expected.
Introductory reading: Jian, Chen, "China's changing politics towards the Third World and the end of the global Cold War" in: Kalinovsky, A.M. and Radchenko, S. (eds.) The End of the Cold War and the Third World. New perspectives on regional conflicts (London & New York: Rutledge), pp. 101-121.