Caleb Maupin and Harpal Brar: the Sino-Soviet split

What were the world ramifications of Khrushchev’s ‘secret speech’ and the resulting Sino-Soviet split following the death of Josef Stalin?

In the 12th instalment of Brar and Maupin in Conversation discussion focuses on the destruction of the relationship between the Soviet Union and China after the passing of Josef Stalin and the Soviet move towards revisionism.

Nikita Khrushchev’s ‘secret speech’, in which he vehemently denounced the leadership of Comrade Stalin, reverberated through the communist movement the world over. As well as initiating a raft of policies that were aimed at destroying the Soviet Union’s planned economy, the effects of this denunciation caused disruptions in many relationships – none more so than the relationship between the Communist Party of China and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the world’s two largest Communist parties.

China’s continued defence of Stalin and his policies was unacceptable to Khrushchevite revisionism. In this video, Caleb Maupin and Harpal Brar dive deeply into the changes that were brought about in world politics generally and in the communist movement in particular by what became known as the Sino-Soviet split.

This episode was recorded on 22 December 2022 and hosted by Joti Brar.