There's a theory in Chinese internet spaces that says all the most patriotic, brave and loyal Communist men died in the Great Patriotic War. What was left was revisionists, cowards and opportunists, and as soon as they took power (ex. Khruschev), the USSR was set towards failure.
I don't think that holds up. It's an interesting idea but I think realistically the issues can be blamed much more on Stalin not grooming(in the traditional sense) a strong crop of successors and the party pushing him to stay on as chairman even when he himself recognized his declining health and the necessity for a successor.
I also don't think you can entirely negate the role China played in the sino soviet split and how that further accelerated the decline of Soviet leadership and the socialist project in the USSR. Certainly Russia holds more of the blame but their issues by no means justify siding with the US who are an infinitely larger threat to China and socialism everywhere compared to revisionist elements in the USSR
I was moreso pointing to the mentality of Chinese citizens (in modern times) in their reluctance to expend the type of effort and resources that the USSR was required to during the Patriotic War, and their reduced foreign interventionism. Obviously the Chinese post-ww2 had no such qualms with examples in Korea, Vietnam and Tibet, but China is frankly unwilling to engage in the interventionism so many global comrades wish for it to do.
This is true but it's unclear how much of that is pure unwillingness and how much of it is because they simply couldn't. China even 10 or 20 years ago I don't think could have taken on direct conflict with America/the west. Now as they have developed beyond our capabilities and we are actively collapsing their power is drastically growing in comparison to ours. If they maintain non-intervention as the dying American empire lashes out with fascism and expansionism they risk not only losing the world to fascism but losing themselves. The USSR didn't just take on the Nazis to help others. They did it because they recognized the direct threat a growing fascist force posed to socialist projects everywhere
The USSR didn't just take on the Nazis to help others. They did it because they recognized the direct threat a growing fascist force posed to socialist projects everywhere
I would think they did it because the Nazis invaded them, rather than this sense of internationalism. Not to mention, the USSR tried to stop the Nazis, but just as the Nazis were able to swallow up Austria and Czechoslovakia despite Soviet opposition, western powers themselves must also commit to stopping the Nazis, rather than relying on the Soviets/Chinese to do all the heavy lifting again. To save the world from fascism and to be never forgiven for it is not something the Chinese are interested in retreading, let alone the later lessons of Afghanistan taught, especially with regards to Soviet (and later, American) Interventionism.
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u/Flyerton99 11h ago
There's a theory in Chinese internet spaces that says all the most patriotic, brave and loyal Communist men died in the Great Patriotic War. What was left was revisionists, cowards and opportunists, and as soon as they took power (ex. Khruschev), the USSR was set towards failure.