nuclear missile attack. They advocated main investment to the development of the missiles and a drastic reduction of conventional forces. Malinovsky supported the adoption of strategic nuclear missiles, but saw them as a useful deterrent of war, rather than as a main weapon within it. He developed the concept of a broad based military and vigorously argued that while the nature of war had changed, the decisive factor would still be a standing army proficient in modern military technology and capable of conquering and controlling the enemy's territory. Soviet military policy during these years was a compromise between the views of Malinovsky and of Khrushchev. Final years The Cuban Missile Crisis, which brought the world to the brink of nuclear catastrophe, alienated Malinovsky. Following the crisis, he publicly demanded in army publications for the military to be given a greater say in formulating Soviet strategic policy. The army's discontent with Khrushchev encouraged a coup within the Party, which resulted in the removal of Khrushchev from power in October 1964. The new Party leadership accepted Malinovsky's demand for an autonomous and professional military establishment, as well as his concept of balanced development of the armed forces. In a meeting in Romania in the next month, between USSR and Chinese delegations, Malinovsky worsened Sino-Soviet relations, already deeply frayed in the Sino-Soviet split. Historian Daniel Leese noted that improvement of the relations "that had seemed possible after Khrushchev's fall evaporated" as they became more elusive after an allegedly drunken Malinovsky approached Chinese Marshal He Long, member of the Chinese delegation to Moscow, and asked when China would finally eliminate Mao Zedong in the manner in which the CPSU eliminated Khrushchev, "we‘ve already got rid of Khrushchev, you should get rid of Mao Zedong." Outraged, He Long reported the incident to Premier of China Zhou Enlai, who in turn, reported the incident to Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev. China refused to accept the Soviet Union's apology. Malinovsky died on 31 March 1967 after an illness. Official medical report mentions metastatic pancreatic cancer. He was honoured with a state funeral and cremated. His urn was placed in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. The government gave his name to the leading Soviet Military Academy of Tank Troops in Moscow and to the 10th Guards Uralsko-Lvovskaya Tank Division. Malinovsky continued to be regarded as one of the most important military leaders in the history of Russia even after the