The Soviet Union lost to the United States in the Cold War, and in addition to many objective factors, it also made many mistakes.
It is generally believed that the mistakes made by the Soviet Union during the Cold War were:
1. The total negation of Stalin dealt a major blow to the faith of the Soviets.
2, ignoring the development of light industry and agriculture, resulting in an abnormal economic structure and a low standard of living for the people.
3, the wrong invasion of Afghanistan, so that the Soviet Union into the quagmire of war, the national finances are close to collapse.
4, the illusion and the Western countries reconciled, turned to the West, the result was invaded by the culture of Western countries, the collapse of ideas.
In fact, the Soviet Union had another strategic mistake during the Cold War that was often overlooked, that is, to prematurely turn against China.
Why?
First, China and the Soviet Union are natural allies
After World War II, due to ideological and geopolitical reasons, the Soviet Union and China quickly stood together as solid allies.
In order to help China develop, the Soviet Union gave China a lot of industrial support and helped china to establish a basic industrial system.
Of course, China also provided the Soviet Union with a large number of cheap raw materials and agricultural products, so that the Soviet economy structure was as balanced as possible.
More importantly, at that time, China, as a huge country, stood with the Soviet Union, in fact, invisibly helped the Soviet Union share a lot of pressure from the West, at least to ensure the strategic security of the Soviet Union in the Far East, so that the Soviet Union could concentrate on dealing with Western countries in Europe.
It can be said that China and the Soviet Union at that time were natural allies, mutually beneficial and very complementary.
Second, the pressure on the Soviet Union increased sharply after the Sino-Soviet confrontation
After the Sino-Soviet confrontation, the situation was completely different.
Not only did the Soviet Union lose an important supplier of raw materials and agricultural products, but it also had to devote great efforts to deterrence in the Far East.
For a long time after sino-Soviet hostilities, the Soviet Union had to face not only military pressure from NATO in Europe, but also border friction with China in the Far East.
This undoubtedly increased the pressure on the Soviet Union.
Although the Soviet Union was very powerful at that time, the pressure on the two fronts for a long time still made the Soviet Union very difficult, and the national finances were tight.
Third, the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States has completely imbalanced the struggle for hegemony between the United States and the Soviet Union
If the Soviet Union can barely hold on to the bad relations between China and the Soviet Union, then the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States will completely collapse the Soviet Union.
The reason why the United States and the Soviet Union were able to be in a balance of power or even superiority in the early stage was larger because the Soviet Union's allies were larger and more geographically superior.
In Europe, there are Warsaw Pact organizations that are tit-for-tat with NATO; In Asia, there are China sharing pressure from the West; In the Middle East, there are Egypt, Iraq, Syria and Western countries.
Geographically, the Soviet Union's allies were even closer.
However, due to a series of mysterious operations of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union's allies left the Soviet Union one by one.
China's departure, in particular, was unbearable for the Soviet Union.
In 1979, the United States judged the situation and formally established diplomatic relations with China, and then China and the United States also entered a honeymoon period.
This was too deadly for the Soviet Union.
Originally his own ally, he suddenly ran to the opposite side, who can bear this?
In the face of the Cold War, the Soviet Union was completely at a disadvantage against the United States.
Fourth, the reasons for the confrontation between the Soviet Union and China
So why did the Soviet Union turn against China?
There are two main reasons:
1. Territorial aspects. In modern times, Russia had forcibly occupied part of China's territory, and the Soviet Union was afraid that China would have territorial claims after it became strong, so it regarded China as a potential opponent.
2. Sovereignty. Through a series of events at that time, it can be seen that the Soviet Union had ideas about China's sovereignty, but China's sovereignty is very precious, hard-won, and it is impossible to hand it over.
(Before the Sino-Soviet confrontation, the Soviet Union wanted to establish the so-called "combined fleet" and "long-wave radio" in China, which was undoubtedly a test of China's sovereignty.)
In fact, the Soviet Union should realize that China will never back down on the issue of sovereignty. Moreover, the Soviet Union's opponent at the time was the United States, and prematurely breaking up relations with China was definitely a wrong choice.
Summary: Many people ignore the importance of China to the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, but in fact, a very important reason for the collapse of the Soviet Union is that the Soviet Union personally pushed China to the United States, resulting in strategic imbalances.