The Three Kingdoms are changing, and who is the master of the ups and downs
In the 20s of the 20th century, the Soviet Union was born, and its development potential led the world. China's advanced intellectuals are awakening, and advanced ideological trends are sweeping across the land of China; The United States, on the other hand, is secretly accumulating strength, sitting firmly on the American continent, and watching the world become powerful.
At this unobtrusive moment, the great drama between the United States and the Soviet Union and China was officially staged. For a long time to come, the United States and the Soviet Union were the protagonists of the stage; In the 21st century, China has risen strongly, keeping pace with the United States in many areas, while Russia is struggling to catch up.
So, what kind of transformation has it experienced during the period from the United States, the Soviet Union and China to China, the United States and Russia? Who is the key link in the transformation of the roles of the three countries?
The three countries of China, the United States and the Soviet Union are full of drama, just like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms in ancient China, they are divided and combined, and there are constant grievances. Although the United States is now imposing sanctions on China and Russia, there was also a honeymoon period in their relations a hundred years ago.
In 2021, U.S. Vice President Pence unexpectedly mentioned that in that not-so-distant history, the United States had a rather friendly attitude towards China. At a critical moment, the United States stepped up to protect China.
However, this may simply be an attempt by the United States to confuse the public and build momentum to suppress China. Because 2021 is the time when the United States is trying its best to suppress China, the two sides have continued friction over chip technology and the South China Sea issue, and the then United States ** Trump even listed China as a "strategic rival".
The story of "preserving China" mentioned by Pence is already tired of Americans listening to it. While this story does happen in history, its true purpose is not what Pence claims it to be.
In 1900, eight bandit-like nations united and breached the gates of the Qing Dynasty by force. The Qing Dynasty was defeated by the Western powers, and the glorious Forbidden City and the treasure-strewn city of Beijing became the backdrop for the enemy's photographs.
After the fall of Peking, one army behaved in a way that the citizens expected: the Americans were more moderate than those who burned and looted. Their 2,100 soldiers were not involved in this massive atrocity.
So, what keeps them from suppressing the most primitive impulses in their hearts? The answer is simple: other countries go to war to carve up China and gain wealth, while Americans are trying to protect their missionaries in China and want to control the Chinese ideologically.
The Americans obviously did not come to China to do good deeds.
The auditorium of Tsinghua University, designed by an American architect, once caused heated discussions among the people at that time. The Americans not only founded Tsinghua University for China at the end of the Qing Dynasty, but also sponsored Chinese students to study in Europe and the United States.
Russia, known as the polar bear, took the opportunity to seize the territory of our country, which made the important ministers and little emperors of the Qing Dynasty angry. During this period of history, the struggle between China, the United States, and Russia quietly unfolded in the ancient Eastern powers.
However, the start was unexpectedly dramatic. The three great powers did not realize each other's strength. Soon after, the city of Beijing was sacked, and in the cold regions of the north, the Soviet Union was born.
However, the newly-born Soviet Union caused panic in Western society. Despite the fact that the USSR was like a newborn, its potential was incomparable with other countries. Thus, the nascent Soviet Union was confronted with a technological blockade by the developed capitalist countries of the West for a long time.
Before the October Revolution, the Soviet Union's machine manufacturing industry was almost blank, and its dependence on machinery mainly relied on imports, of which the United States was the main supplier in the Soviet Union. In the 30s of the 20th century, the United States imported a large amount of industrial technology to the Soviet Union, which laid a solid foundation for the Soviet Union.
Whether it was heavy industry, light industry, or agriculture and transportation, the Soviet Union imported advanced technology and technology from the United States and other Western countries. Stalin once highly praised the United States for its support of Soviet industry before and during the war, calling it a "loyal friend".
In the field of industrial construction, for example, the contribution of the American company Albert Kahn is enormous. At that time, the global economic crisis was rapidly spreading from the United States to the entire capitalist world, and industrial buildings were severely impacted, and the Soviet Union seized this opportunity and issued its first five-year plan.
In 1929, Soviet architectural design companies lacked experience in large-scale construction and were unable to complete such an important task as the First Five-Year Plan. And the 400 staff of American Albert Kahn were ready for the work of the large plant in less than a month, and had the ability and determination to complete the construction in five months.
Time was of the essence for the Soviet Union's industrialization program. Kahn's assembly-line approach to mass production and efficient design organization won the admiration of the Soviet leadership.
As part of Stalin's "First Five-Year Plan," the Kahn Corporation was responsible for a wide variety of Soviet industrial projects, including power stations, steel mills, and tractor factories, producing goods ranging from textiles to turbines throughout Eurasia, forming a vast multi-node network. ”
Before World War II, cooperation between the Soviet Union and the United States was in a blazing state. And during World War II, the United States, with its homeland security advantage, emerged as the biggest winner, as they made a lot of profits by exporting military equipment to other countries.
On the contrary, the Soviet Union suffered heavy losses and an inevitable decline in its economic situation because of the battles of the Battle of Leningrad and Germany. In China, as the main battlefield in Asia, the Chinese people fought a bloody battle in order to resist the Japanese invaders whose equipment strength far surpassed theirs, and finally won the victory at a huge price.
Therefore, after the end of World War II, the United States had an economic power that other countries could not match, and its national strength advantage was significant. The balance of discourse in the world has been completely tilted in favor of the United States.
After the end of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union began to contradict each other because of their respective interests. The United States prides itself on its great power and wants to be the leader of the world; The Soviet Union, on the other hand, advocated the creation of a system to protect itself in order to compensate for their sacrifices in World War II.
The USSR began to actively build alliances with other countries, especially the smaller countries around it, in order to expand its influence. Against this background, the pattern of China, the United States, and the Soviet Union has undergone major changes, and the era of peaceful exchanges is gone forever.
The ambitions of the United States were exposed, and it began to dominate the world with all its might. With the end of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union began to decline, and the rise of China began to attract the attention of the world.
China's victory in World War II gave them international status, but the United States did not identify with the new China under the leadership of the Communist Party. They hoped that the Kuomintang would return to power in order to safeguard their interests.
However, the new China under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, with its huge population and extensive influence, has become a major obstacle to the United States' path to world hegemony.
The conspiracy of the Americans: to strangle the nascent regime, to block the hope of liberation, and to use force and coercion against China. Before the joy of victory in World War II had dissipated, China was facing the threat of World War III.
Among the three countries, China, the United States and the Soviet Union, China was the weakest party. However, under the leadership of MacArthur, the US ** team deployed troops on the Korean Peninsula, and artillery fire had already fallen into the northeastern part of our country, and the Korean Peninsula had almost completely fallen into the hands of the Americans.
At the critical moment of life and death, China, the most inconspicuous country on weekdays, resolutely sent troops to North Korea in order to protect its home and defend the country. By virtue of"Fight with one punch, lest a hundred punches come"China defeated MacArthur, the world's number one military power.
This incredible victory made China a great power on a par with the United States and the Soviet Union. However, in the tense atmosphere of the Cold War, China chose to turn to the strong socialist camp and seek help from the Soviet Union.
During the first decade of the Cold War, the Soviet Union provided in-depth guidance and assistance to China, while the United States imposed a total blockade on China. China and the Soviet Union worked together against the powerful United States.
However, changes in the political situation always come suddenly. For various reasons, Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated, experts from China were withdrawn, and even military clashes broke out on the border.
During the Cold War, the situation in China, the United States, and the Soviet Union underwent drastic changes. The Soviet Union began to attack on its own initiative, the United States was forced to defend, and China continued to keep a low profile. In order to win the competition with the Soviet Union, the Americans chose to show weakness, relaxed restrictions on China, and tried to win over China.
From Kissinger's secret visit to China, to Nixon's official visit to China, to the recognition of the one-China principle by the United States, China and the United States have achieved a breakthrough in their relations and formally established diplomatic relations in just a few years.
With the improvement of relations between China and the United States, the Americans believed that the time was ripe for a decisive battle with the Soviet Union. Against this background, the United States and the Soviet Union once again entered a state of fierce confrontation, especially in terms of strategy.
Reagan, believing that the former Carter's nuclear disarmament talks were flawed, restarted the process of modernizing the U.S.-made system to ensure superiority in nuclear technology and forced the Soviet Union to withdraw its intermediate-range missiles deployed in Europe through the "zero-point plan."
In addition, Reagan also proposed a "strategic defense plan" to intercept Soviet ballistic missiles outside the territory of the United States and its allies, taking advantage of the technological superiority of the United States and the West in space.
This plan was repeatedly hyped up on **, and eventually evolved into the "Star Wars Project".
During Reagan's presidency, the two leaders never held face-to-face talks due to tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, a gap that set a record for the longest summit between U.S.-Soviet leaders since the Cold War.
However, just as Reagan was trying to pursue his plan, the Soviet Union was under heavy pressure to disintegrate, and the entire Soviet Union was split into 15 countries, with Russia becoming the only one.
However, after the disintegration, Russia was in a state of confusion and did not know where to go. Yeltsin** hoped to push Russia to prosperity through Western assistance, so he accepted the West's "shock**".
However, Western aid did not make Russia's economy better, and Russia became disillusioned with the West. By the end of the 20th century, the Russian economy had all but collapsed, and the triumph of China, the United States, and Russia seemed to no longer exist.
After the Romance of China, the United States and the Soviet Union became history, Putin stepped forward and became the leader of Russia's revival and a key figure in the evolution of Sino-U.S.-Russian relations.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States regarded China as its number one enemy and faced severe challenges in the international situation.
However, it was only after Putin came to power in 2000 that people realized that Russia and China were still the main competitors of the United States. At the beginning of Putin's rise to power, Russia acted somewhat cautiously and did not seem to have recovered from the weakness of the Yeltsin years.
However, in the face of adversity, Putin chose to persevere, endure humiliation, and he concentrated on the development of the domestic social economy, while making the necessary concessions to the American and European powers in the international community.
The Russian nation, with its strong endurance, withheld its patience and focused on domestic construction, and finally ushered in a revival, with a significant increase in national strength and a significant increase in military and diplomatic strength.
When the time is ripe, Putin will make drastic changes to promote the re-emergence of Russian great-power doctrine, and go all out to restore Russia's status as a great power, eager to regain the respect of the world.
On the world stage, the trilateral relationship between China, the United States and Russia has undergone unpredictable changes. Russia's strength has made it occupy an important place in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms between China, the United States and Russia, and Putin often emphasizes the importance of "strong" in his speeches.
At the same time, after a long period of industrialization and accumulation, China has transformed from an agricultural country to an industrial country, and is gradually challenging the hegemony of the United States. Faced with such a shift, Americans initially did not pay attention to it, because they were too busy with the war on terror to separate.
The Russians are also puzzled by this, but under Putin's leadership, Russia began to actively participate in international affairs, trying to counter the United States on a global scale, including the fierce criticism of American hegemony at the Munich Security Conference, as well as its active participation in the Ukrainian and Syrian crises, all as a manifestation of Russia's efforts to prove its status as a great power.
The Russians could not return to the glory of the Soviet era, and although they tried to catch up, the international community considered them to lack the strength and qualifications to confront the United States. The Russians want to be respected by the United States, but they do not have the capital to build close relations with the United States.
Compared with the 50s of the last century, China and Russia have gone through different paths, and now Russia is in a position sandwiched between China and the United States, playing the role of a counterbalance. At that time, China did not have equal strength with the United States and the Soviet Union, and Russia today cannot completely fight with either side of the United States.
The drama of China, the United States and Russia is still unfolding, and the United States' wariness of China is becoming more and more obvious. The future of this drama seems to be becoming clearer. In our thinking, it is not an unattainable dream that "the world is united" and destiny are linked, and we have achieved peaceful development and peaceful rejuvenation in a few decades.
However, in the minds of Westerners, "peace" is just a lie. They have always believed in the law of the jungle, from the slave society to the current racial discrimination, they all believe that there is a difference between "masters" and "slaves" between people.
Even in the growing Russia, in the eyes of the Americans, they are merely "slaves with nuclear bombs."
The American people find it difficult to accept the concept of "respect" put forward by China, and they believe that a country is either its own master or its own slave.
As a result, the evolution of Sino-U.S.-Russian relations during this period has become extremely complex and full of uncertainties. But, no matter what, there's always nothing wrong with being yourself.