Mongolian People's Republic
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2006) |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.svg/125px-Flag_of_the_People's_Republic_of_Mongolia_(1949-1992).svg.png)
.png/85px-Coat_of_Arms_of_the_People's_Republic_of_Mongolia_(1960-1991_version).png)
The Mongolian People's Republic (Mongolian: Бугд Найрамдах Монгол Ард Улс (БНМАУ)) was a communist state in Central Asia which existed between 1924 and 1992. It was ruled by Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party and remained a loyal Soviet ally throughout its history.
Contents |
[edit] Formation
From 1691 to 1911, Outer Mongolia was ruled by the Manchu Qing Dynasty. In the first decade of the 20th century, the Qing began implementing the so-called New Policies, aimed at an integration of Outer Mongolia into China. Upset by the prospect of Chinese colonization akin to the developments in Inner Mongolia during the 19th century, the Mongolian nobility turned to Tsarist Russia for support. In August 1911, a Mongol delegation went to Saint Petersburg and obtained a pledge of limited support. When they returned, the Xinhai Revolution had begun in China, and in December 1911 the Mongols deposed of the Manchu amban in Ikh Khuree and declared their independence under the leadership of the 8th Jebtsundamba Khutugtu, who was appointed Bogd Khan of Mongolia. Attempts to include Inner Mongolia into the new state failed, partly due to Russian intervention (Russia was bound in Inner Mongolian affairs by Secret treatys with Japan), partly due to lack of support from Inner Mongolian nobles and the higher clergy. In the Khiagt agreement of 1915, China, Russia and Mongolia agreed on Mongolia's status as autonomous under Chinese soucerainty.[1]
However, the Republic of China was able to use the Russian revolution and the ensuing civil war as pretext to deploy troops in Outer Mongolia, and in 1919 the Mongolian government was forced to sign a paper that abolished Mongolia's autonomy. It was under Chinese occupation that the Mongolian People's Party was founded and once again looked to the north, this time to the Soviet Union, for help. In the mean time, White Russian troops led by Roman Ungern von Sternberg had occupied Khuree in early March 1921, and a new theocratic government once more declared independence from China, on March 13th. But Ungern von Sternberg and the remaining Chinese troops were driven out of Mongolia in the following months, and on July 6th, 1921, the Mongolian People's Party and Soviet troops took Khuree. The People's Party founded a new government, but kept the Bogd Khan as nominal head of state. In the following years though some violent power struggles, Soviet influence got ever stronger, and after the Bogd Khan's death, the Mongolian People's Republic was proclaimed on November 26th, 1924.
[edit] Consolidation of power (1925 - 1938)
Between 1925 and 1928, the new regime became established. In 1928, schemes to collectivize herding and to expropriate the nobility and the monasteries were implemented, together with a total ban on private enterprise. These politics led to a breakdown in economy and transportation, and more importantly to uprisings in the west and south that could only be suppressed with the help of the Soviet Red Army.[citation needed] After 1932, the implementation of a command economy was scaled back, but in 1936, and especially after Japanese encroachments had given the Soviets enough reason to deploy Soviet troops in Mongolia in 1937, a whole-scale attack on the Buddhist faith began. At the same time, Soviet-style purges took place in the party and the army. Among those killed were such prominent figures as Peljidiin Genden, Anandyn Amar, Demid, and Losol. Mongolia's leader at that time was Khorloogiin Choibalsan, a follower of Joseph Stalin who emulated many of the policies Stalin had implemented in the Soviet Union. The purges lead to the almost complete eradiction of Lamaism in the country, and cost an estimated 30,000-35,000 lives,[2] equivalent to about five percent of Mongolia's population.
[edit] World War II (1939-1945)
During World War II, because of a growing Japanese threat over the Mongolian-Manchurian border, the Soviet Union reversed the course of Mongolian socialism in favor of a new policy of economic gradualism and buildup of the national defense. The Soviet and Mongolian armies defeated Japanese forces that had invaded eastern Mongolia in the summer of 1939 at the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, and a truce was signed setting up a commission to define the Mongolian-Manchurian border in the autumn of that year.
After 1941, Mongolia's economy was readjusted to support the Soviet Union in every way possible, including providing funding for several Soviet military units. In the summer of 1945, the Soviet Union used Mongolia as one base for launching Operation August Storm, a successful attack against the Japanese. The preceding buildup brought 1.5 million Soviet soldiers to Mongolia, along with massive amounts of equipment. The Mongolian army played a limited support role in the conflict, but her involvement gave Stalin the means to force the Chinese side to finally accept Mongolia's independence.
[edit] Cold War politics (1945 - 1985)
Secure in its relations with Moscow, the Mongolian Government shifted to postwar development, focusing on civilian enterprise. International ties were expanded, and Mongolia established relations with North Korea and the new Communist states in Eastern Europe. Mongolia and the People's Republic of China (PRC) recognized each other in 1949, and PRC renounced all territorial pretensions towards Outer Mongolia. PRC even provided laborers to help construct much of the infrastructure built in the postwar period. Mongolia also increased its participation in communist-sponsored conferences and international organizations. In 1955, Mongolia attempted to join the United Nations, but the request was vetoed by Republic of China (ROC), who maintained their (renewed) claim over Mongolia. Mongolia became a member of the UN in 1961 after the Soviet Union threatened to veto the admission of all of the newly decolonized states of Africa unless the ROC would not use its veto.
Choibalsan died in Moscow in 1952. He was succeeded by Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal, another Soviet loyalist. Following Nikita Khrushchev's denunciation of the policies of Joseph Stalin, the Mongolian government did the same of Choibalsan in 1956. The personality cult of Choibalsan was condemned as were many of his hardline policies.
In the early 1960s, Mongolia attempted to maintain a neutral position amidst increasingly contentious Sino-Soviet dispute; this orientation changed in the middle of the decade. Mongolia and the Soviet Union signed an agreement in 1966 that introduced large-scale Soviet ground forces as part of Moscow's general buildup along the Sino-Soviet frontier. Relations between Mongolia and China deteriorated. In 1983, Mongolia systematically began expelling some of the 7,000 ethnic Chinese in Mongolia to China. Many of them had lived in Mongolia since the 1950s, when they were sent there to assist in construction projects.
[edit] Collapse (1985 - 1996)
After Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union, he implemented the policies of perestroika and glasnost. The atmosphere of reform in the Soviet Union prompted similar reforms in Mongolia. Following mass demonstrations in the winter of 1990, the MPRP began to loosen its controls of the political system. The Politburo of the MPRP resigned in March, and in May the constitution was amended, deleting reference to the MPRP's role as the guiding force in the country, legalizing opposition parties, creating a standing legislative body, and establishing the office of president. On July 29, 1990, the first free, multiparty elections in Mongolia were held. The election results returned a majority for the MPRP, which won with 85% of the vote. It was not until 1996 that the reformed MPRP was voted out of office.
The USSR withdrew its troops stationed in Mongolia, and its technical and financial assistance, between 1989 and 1992.[3]Subsequently, the foreign and defense policy of Mongolia profoundly changed: “Maintaining friendly relations with the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China shall be a priority of Mongolia’s foreign policy activity. It shall not adopt the line of either country but shall maintain in principle a balanced relationship with both of them and shall promote all-round good neighborly co-operation."[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ C.R. Bawden, The modern history of Mongolia, London 1968, p. 191-201
- ^ The Lesser Unpleasantries of the Twentieth Century by Matthew White
- ^ Mongolia, Landmine Monitor Report 2000
- ^ Permanent Mission of Mongolia to the United Nations, Concept of Mongolia’s Foreign Policy, 1994
