Mongolian popular revolution

Proclaimed in 1911, independence from the Chinese Republic of Outer Mongolia after the October Revolution of 1917 virtually lost its support from Russia. Under these conditions, the Chinese government, Duan Tsizhuya, set out to liquidate the newly-proclaimed Mongol khanate. In 1919, the Chinese corps under the command of General Xu Shuzhen occupied the capital of the country, Urgu. Over the next six months, all the institutions of autonomous Mongolia were disbanded; Mongolian monarch, Bogd Gegen VIII was deprived of power.

The Chinese occupation of the country caused discontent among broad sections of Mongolian society, unlike part of the collaboratively-minded high nobility. The Buddhist clergy and the staff of state and army employees, who lost their jobs after the liquidation of the statehood of Mongolia, showed the greatest discontent. It was from this social strata that the first Mongolian revolutionaries emerged.

Urga Resistance

In 1919–1920, two underground anti-Chinese groups were formed in Urga , later called the Consular Hill ( Mong. Consul dange ; from the name of the district in Urga) and Vostochnoye Khure ( Mong. Zuun hure). ^[1] The first of them was headed by Dogsomyn Bodoo , a highly educated 35-year-old lama who worked with Bogd Khan at the Russian consulate in Urga; Khorlogyn Choibalsan lived in the same yurt. Both of them were met by one of the Urgenian Bolsheviks, Mikhail Kucherenko , a typesetter in the Russian-Mongolian typography. ^[2]

The leaders of the second circle, Vostochnoe khure, were Soliin Danzan , a former employee of the Ministry of Finance, and Dansrabilegyin Dogs from the Ministry of War. One of the less remarkable members of the group was Damdin Sukhe-Bator , a sergeant of the disbanded Mongolian army. The emergence of “Eastern Khure” dates back to mid-November 1919 , when some of the members of the Mongolian Hural's lower chamber, including Danzan and Dogsom, secretly met the next night after its dissolution by Xu and decided to oppose the Chinese. They twice appealed to Bogd Khan asking for his blessing for an armed uprising, and both times they received advice to be patient. The group planned to capture the Urgenian army arsenals and destroy Xu Shuzheng , but strong Chinese guards around the arsenals and careful guarding of Xu's movements around the city thwarted these plans. ^[3]

Education MNP and delegation to Russia

The Russian diaspora in Urga chose from among its own “city council”, in which sympathizers seized power by the Bolsheviks. In early March 1920, this Duma sent Irina A. Sorokovikov to Irkutsk , who, among other things, reported on the existence of a nationalistic “Consular Hill” in the city and about her contacts with them. Upon the return of Sorokovikov from Irkutsk, both Urga groups were promised full support and an invitation was sent to Irkutsk. ^[four]

Mutual invitation to Irkutsk played a consolidating role for both groups, previously keeping a distance between themselves. If up to this point, Consular Hill was in relatively progressive positions, and Vostochnoye Khure had nationalist-conservative views, in the summer of 1920 they managed to work out a joint program. At a meeting on July 25, the two groups united in the Mongolian People’s Party ( Mongol Mongol ardyn us ), took a party oath and appointed delegates to Danzan and Choibalsan. ^[five]

In early July, Danzan and Choibalsan arrived in Verkhneudinsk , the capital of the buffer state created by the RSFSR, the Far Eastern Republic , where they met with the representative of the Comintern B. Z. Shumyatsky . At first, Shumyatsky, who did not know how to deal with them, ignored the delegates' demands for their speedy delivery to Irkutsk. In the end, an encrypted telegram was sent to Urga, notifying MNP of the need for an official letter asking Bogd Khan about Soviet assistance against the Chinese. Such a letter was obtained through the closest to Bogd Gegen Dun Lama Puntsagdorzh, and Losol , Chagdarzhav , Dogsom, L. Dandav and Sukhbaatar left for Verkhneudinsk . At a meeting with them, Shumyatsky reported that he did not have the authority to make decisions on such issues, and he redirected them to Irkutsk. ^[6]

Upon arrival in Irkutsk, the delegates met with the head of the future Far Eastern Secretariat of the Comintern and outlined a request for military support and the provision of 10 thousand rifles, guns, machine guns and loans. Soon this request was formulated in a new letter, which, already on behalf of the MNE, was addressed to the Omsk Revolutionary Committee . ^[7]

The delegation was divided as follows: Danzan, Losol m Dandew departed to Omsk , Bodoo and Dogs returned to Urga, where they were supposed to expand the party and start recruiting to the army, while Choibalsan and Sukhbaatar remained in Irkutsk to maintain communication between them. Immediately before the breakup, the group formulated a revolutionary manifesto: according to it, the Mongol nobility lost its hereditary privileges, and the monarchy of Bogd Khan was replaced by the people's government. The document contained a request to the RSFSR for immediate military assistance. ^[eight]

Military Assistance Negotiations

Upon arrival in Omsk, the Mongols learned that the decisions they requested could be made only in the capital. In Moscow, where Danzan, Dogsom and Losol arrived by mid-September, they met with Soviet and Comintern officials for a month, including V. I. Lenin , without receiving concrete answers and promises. However, when in October the White Guard Asian Equestrian Division under the command of R. F. Ungern-Sternberg entered Mongolia and at the end of the month laid siege to Urga, the Soviet government was forced to speed up the decision on the Mongol issue. On November 10, the Mongolian delegates were urgently summoned to the meeting, and they were informed that the SPP would immediately receive all the required military support. They themselves urgently headed home. At the same time, it was decided to assist the military units of the Mongolian revolutionaries in the defeat of Ungern by the forces of the Red Army . ^[9]

When it became known that the Chinese garrison of Urgi successfully repelled the assault, the Soviet strategy changed; it was decided to leave the only 5th Army in the east of the country, already significantly demobilized, within the borders, and on November 28 the decision to invade was canceled. ^{[10] [11] The} Soviet government tried to offer military aid against Ungern to the Chinese Republic, but in early 1921 the Chinese side rejected this proposal. ^[12]

Meanwhile, Ungern-Sternberg again stormed Urga ; On February 4, 1921, after fierce fighting, the remnants of the Chinese garrison fled in panic from the city; The Chinese administration of Khovd and Ulyasutya went to Xinjiang . Bogd Khan monarchy was restored. This news again changed the Soviet plans. At the plenary session of the Comintern in Irkutsk on February 10, a resolution was adopted on "... assistance in the struggle of the Mongolian people for freedom and independence with money, arms and military instructors ." ^[13]

Forming a People's Government

On March 1-3, 1921, the First Congress of the National Labor Congress took place in Kyakhta. Secretly from the Chinese, at the first session, 17 people met, at the second - 26. The creation of an army led by Sukhe-Bator was approved, to which two Soviet advisers were seconded (from April to the beginning of the meeting - P. I. Litvintsev). The Central Committee of the MNP was elected, headed by Danzan and one representative of the Comintern. The manifesto of the party, written by the Buryat leader Tsyben Zhamtsarano ( Mong. Jamsrangyin Tseveen ), was adopted. ^[14]

On March 13, a seven-person People’s Provisional Government was formed, which was soon headed by Bodoo. March 18 Mongolian army, increased to 400 people. thanks to the volunteers and the call, she defeated the Chinese garrison of the Mongolian settlement Maimachen, which is adjacent to the Russian city of Kyakhta. The party issued an appeal proclaiming the creation of a government, expelling the Chinese, and promising to convene a congress of people's representatives for the election of a permanent government ^[15] . The north of the country filled out MNP leaflets calling for the destruction of the Asian division; the Bogdan-Khan government, on the contrary, convinced the population that revolutionaries intend to destroy the Mongolian state, and shake the very foundations of the “ yellow faith ” ^[12] .

Military action

In March-April, Soviet and Far Eastern troops concentrated near the border with Mongolia. The number of the Mongolian army increased to 800 people. In late May, Ungern attacked Kyakhta , but was thrown back with heavy losses. Upon learning of the defeat of Ungern, he went over to the side of the revolutionaries Hatan-Bator Maksarzhav ; however, on June 11, Sukhe-Bator’s counterattack failed, ^[16] and Ungern’s division went into a raid on Soviet Buryatia , where, although it inflicted significant losses on red, it did not fundamentally change the balance of forces and retreated to the south. Ultimately, a riot broke out in the division; On August 19, Ungern was captured by the Mongols of Bisherelt-guna, and then the red partisans of P. Ye. Schetinkina captured them all.

On June 28, 1921, the Soviet-Mongolian units crossed the border of Mongolia, and, according to tradition, were greeted by the chief of the personal guard Bogd Khan, ^[17] on July 6, they entered the Urgu left by the whites.

First reforms

July 9, 1921 Bogd Khan received a letter in which the leaders of the revolution notified him that all orders in the country, with the exception of religion, would be revised and reformed ^[18] . The next day, the Central Committee issued a decree on the formation of a new government headed by Bodoo, while Bogd Khan was proclaimed a limited monarch; On July 11, he was again ceremonially reintronized.

After the death of the Bogd Gegen on April 17, 1924, the monarchy in the country was finally liquidated; November 26 established the Mongolian People's Republic .

• Mongol operation
• Bogd Khan Mongolia