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Socialist Internationalism in the Cold War pp 303–325Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Sino-Soviet Rivalry in Guinea-Conakry, 1956–1965: The Second World in the Third World

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Abstract

The domestic practices, tensions, and assumptions of the Second World influenced foreign policy and the Sino-Soviet rivalry in the Third World. Debates from within the Bloc about the problem of Russian “great power chauvinism,” the effectiveness of Soviet industrial and technical aid, and the work of Soviet and socialist Bloc advisers shaped the Sino-Soviet struggle for influence in Guinea-Conakry in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The Chinese claimed to have learned difficult and disturbing lessons from their decade of participation in the socialist Bloc, which they were now determined to share with new allies. These lessons informed the Chinese effort to cultivate a relationship with the newly independent Guinea-Conakry and its anti-colonial leader, Sékou Touré, who had recently liberated his country from the French. Internal Second World forms of collaboration, exchange, and rivalry shaped the struggle for influence in the Third World.

For helpful comments and suggestions on a previous draft of this article, my thanks to Małgorzata Gnoińska, Patryk Babiracki, and the participants of the “Exploring the Second World” conference at the Center for Contemporary History in Potsdam, Germany, June 19–21, 2014.

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  1. Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA

    Austin Jersild

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  1. University of Texas at Arlington , Arlington, Texas, USA

    Patryk Babiracki

  2. Old Dominion University , NORFOLK, Virginia, USA

    Austin Jersild

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Jersild, A. (2016). Sino-Soviet Rivalry in Guinea-Conakry, 1956–1965: The Second World in the Third World. In: Babiracki, P., Jersild, A. (eds) Socialist Internationalism in the Cold War . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32570-5_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32570-5_12

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