«YOU INVITED ME TO MOSCOW, BUT I CAN'T DO ANYTHING HERE...» : ABOUT THE ROLE OF PERSONAL VICISSITUDES IN NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN MAO ZEDONG AND STALIN IN 1949–1950

Abstract

The article addresses the issue of the influence of personal vicissitudes of the leaders of two socialist States – Stalin and Mao Zedong, whose relationship is one of the most controversial moments in the history of international relations of the XX century-on the evolution of the Soviet Union's policy towards China. А detailed review of conflicting assessments of the topic in modern research is given. The article presents a historical and comparative analysis of the memoirs of former Soviet diplomats published in recent years, as well as other evidence and archival sources of the post-war period. Based on the analysis, the author substantiates the relevance of revising traditional political and ideological interpretations of issues related to the problems of meetings between Stalin and Mao Zedong during the Soviet-Chinese negotiations in December 1949 – February 1950, which were accompanied by offensively long breaks for the Chinese leader of audiences with Stalin (as a result, Mao was forced to stay in Moscow for two months). The article deals with the theory that the long breaks in the meetings of Stalin and Mao in December 1949 they were due not only to the political calculations and personal attitude of Stalin to the Chinese guest – as most memoirists, whose opinion is based on researchers, claim - but also to the health and, accordingly, the performance of the leader of the USSR, who in December 1949 suffered a massive stroke, which was carefully hidden outside the immediate Stalinist environment and is not reflected in the memoirs, which served as the basis for researchers contradictory interpretations of the course of the Soviet-Chinese negotiations.