Early
Ideological Differences:
- The
early Communist Party in China adhered closely to Russian political
philosophy. However, Mao Zedong disagreed with the concept of a workers’
revolution in China. Reasoning that the majority of the Chinese population
were peasants, Mao refocused the goal of Chinese communism toward the
concept of a peasant revolution.
- Despite
this, the two nations still shared fairly similar values until the 1950s,
when a major ideological rift developed. During this time, the Soviet
Union advocated coexistence with capitalism. China, meanwhile, remained
determined to pursue a policy of aggression, labeling the United States in
particular as an imperialist enemy and declaring an intent to assist with
revolutionary struggles of people oppressed by imperialism.
Cultural:
- The
other great difference is cultural. The Soviets lauded the cultural greats
of the Russian past, while Mao’s tendency was to displace the historical
culture. He even outlawed traditional medicine for a while. The so called
“Cultural Revolution” was an anti-cultural revolution that did irreparable
harm to countless treasures of lives, goods, and opportunities.
Political:
- Mao’s
programme envisages co-operation and coalition with progressive bourgeois
parties. Thus communist regime in China doesn’t profess to be dictatorship
of proletariat. Chinese Communists didn’t seek to liquidate the bourgeois
and private Capitalist, though they placed increasing restrictions on
private business, but tolerated private capital.
- So
Chinese Communism is modification of orthodox Marxism.
Other
Differences:
- In
the Soviet system, land was organized by collectivization. Stalin replaced
the old system on private peasant farming with “collective farms” and
“state farms”, where peasants would work for the greater good of the
proletariat under strict party supervision. In China on the other had,
they had a social obligation where there was a goal set by the government,
and any surplus product that the farmers made, they were allowed to use as
they wanted. This system gives farmers incentive to produce more than the
set goal for their own personal gain.
- In
Russia there was forced urbanization when Stalin made people move to the
cities. In China on the other hand, Mao’s support was rural based, and
people were kept out of the cities.
- The
CPSU(Communist Party of Soviet Union) wanted to export world revolution
and turn the world communist. The CCP (Communist Party of China)
doesn’t care what other countries do. This means that the CCP
doesn’t spend nearly as much money on the military as the CPSU did, and
doesn’t maintain large and expensive armies in other countries.
- The
CPSU was essential to the identity of the Soviet Union. Without the
CPSU, the Soviet Union could not exist, because without the CPSU, people
became Russians and Ukaranians and Tajiks, and not Soviets. China
has a national identity that is independent of the Party, so it’s possible
to imagine a non-communist or even anti-communist China. Conversely,
because China can exist without the CCP, it’s possible for the CCP to
redefine itself radically without losing power. This makes a big
difference because China can create a liberal free-speech special
administrative region (Hong Kong). The Soviet Union couldn’t create
anything like HK.
- The
Constitution of the PRC states that secession is prohibited, whereas the
Constitution of the Soviet Union gave republics a right to secede.
This was reflected in the structure of the parties. The CCP is a
highly centralized party, where as the CPSU was theoretically a federation
of parties with the Republic parties being nominally independent.
Adaptation:
- One
of the largest differences between Soviet and Chinese Communism is that
Chinese Communism lasted but Soviet Communism did not. After Mao’s death,
China restructured its government, providing its citizens with greater
freedoms and changing its economic policy to favor a market economy open
to foreign trade instead of one that was centrally managed.
- During
the 1980s, the Soviet government remained unwilling to make reforms it
viewed as capitalistic, and the resulting economic decline lead to the
Soviet downfall. Since then, Russia has attempted to shift to a
market-based economy with mixed results.
- At
the same time, China shifted to a system known as market socialism, which
differed from the USSR in its reliance on a free market.
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