October Crisis
| October Crisis | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Cold War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 China Supported by:  North Vietnam Korea Libya |
 Manchuria Supported by:  United Commonwealth Brazoria Tournesol | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Zhou Zhiyong |
Qian Yiu-tong | ||||||
The October Crisis, also known as the October Crisis of 1976, the China–Manchuria crisis, and the East Asian Missile Crisis, was a four-week long standoff and confrontatin between the People's Republic of China and the Manchu People's Republic that escalated into an international crisis as both nations were on the eve of war between each other which threatened to result in mutual assured destruction due to the weapons of mass destruction programs that both nations had. While it lasted less than a month, the October Crisis has stood out as one of the most tense and defining moments of the Cold War as it highlighted the serious risk of total war and the threat of a third world war as well as one closes times the Cold War came towards full nuclear war.
The crisis broke out after Ōtsubo Katsumoto, an intelligence officer from Japan who held communist sympathies, defected to Manchuria and revealed that the Chinese had been spying on Manchuria with many in the Chinese Communist Party pressuring Chinese leader Zhou Zhiyong into invading Manchuria and annexing it as part of the Greater China concept. Outraged, the documents were published by the Manchu government and sent forces of the Manchu People's Revolutionary Army towards the border with China with the latter sending units of the People's Liberation Army in response. Border clashes would break out and the PLA navy would blockade Manchuria's coasts threatening to shell its cities and risk an all-out war.
The standoff escalated and by October 12, international observers had traveled to cover the event and the Japanese State Navy had been deployed to the Sea of Japan to protect Japan's maritime borders fearing an outbreak of war between China and Manchuria. Within the context of the Cold War, the crisis caused a major schism in the Eastern Bloc as numerous communist states were divided with North Vietnam and Libya supporting China along with the International Conference of Marxist and Maoist Organizations while the United Commonwealth and its allies in the Landonist International largely backed Manchuria. This caused the three-way rivalry in the Cold War to worsen and for the rise of anti-Landonism within the Chinese Communist Party after the crisis. Due to the close proximity to both nations, Ussuria, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and Russia would diplomatically intervene to end the conflict peacefully with Russian ambassador Sergei Krasnov leading a successful effort to de-escalate the crisis with the Moscow Peace Agreement.
The ensuing peace agreement was signed on October 26 between Chinese and Manchurian representatives and ended with the public withdrawal of military forces from the China–Manchuria border, the border's public demilitarization, and end of the Chinese blockade against Manchuria in the Yellow Sea. The conflict had long-lasting impacts that persisted throughout the rest of the Cold War. It hampered relations between China and Manchuria with the latter fearing Chinese aggression and feared the loss of their sovereignty and so aligned itself with the United Commonwealth despite the party's historic opposition towards Landonism, which was downplayed after 1976. The rivalry between China and the United Commonwealth deepened as the former feared the latter was interfering with its affairs and the Eastern Bloc was divided greatly between pro-Chinese and pro-Continental factions.
The crisis had major political effects as well. Qiang was initially viewed as a hero and was awarded the ceremonial title of "Protector of the Manchu People's Republic" in propaganda and news media, but he faced internal criticism and backlash for his percieved reckless response to the crisis and his decision to give up exerting influence in Korea caused many within the Communist Party of Manchuria to get angry and accuse him of weakness. The crisis would weaken Qian's position in Manchuria and ensure that Tao Shiyou would succeed him as Manchuria's next leader. In China, Zhou would become more reationary, opposing solidarity with Manchuria, embracing anti-Landonism, and adopting a more aggressive foreign policy including antagonism towards Japan and suspicion of the United Commonwealth.