 
in russia the communists came into power in 1917. 
in china the communists took over in 1949. 
for years the soviet leaders felt they were more experienced and, 
therefore, communists all over the world should follow them. 
the chinese didn"t like this, because they felt they had as much 
experience as the russians. 
both countries would like to be the leaders of world communism. 
each nation is trying to win over communists from other countries to its 
side. 
for almost fifty years soviet leaders have worked hard to build up modern 
industries, cities, highways and railroads. 
now that the soviet union has achieved all this, its citizens would like 
to settle down and enjoy the comforts of a good life. 
china, on the other hand, is still developing, which means that its 
industries have not yet been built up, and its people have a low standard of 
living. 
this makes the two countries look at things differently. 
communists always believed that there could be no lasting peace in the 
world until all countries had a communist form of government. 
as long as there were capitalist nations, they might try to attack the 
communists. 
therefore, it was the duty of communists everywhere to wage war against 
capitalists and bring about their downfall. 
now, however, with the existence of atomic weapons, such wars might 
destroy the world. 
the russians are not willing to risk this. 
they would not like to see everything that they have worked for for over 
fifty years destroyed. 
thus, the russians now believe in peaceful coexistence, that is, living 
peacefully with other countries. 
