Page | 2920th-Century Mongolia
Autonomy and the Struggle for Independence
The Qing Dynasty weakened during the later decades of the 19th
century and broke apart completely in 1911. As the Qing
Dynasty crumbled, Outer Mongolia declared its independence in
December of that year, an action that the new Chinese
government did not recognize.^146 The eighth reincarnation of
Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, Mongolia’s Buddhist spiritual leader,
now also became its political leader and received the title of
Bogdo Khan (“holy ruler”). A flurry of treaties and agreements
between the Mongolian, Russian, and Chinese leadership served
to establish Outer Mongolia’s autonomy (if not its
independence).^147 Russia, in earlier treaties and agreement with
Japan and Great Britain, considered Outer Mongolia part of its
“sphere of interest” and did not recognize Outer Mongolia’s
complete independence.^148 Inner Mongolia, meanwhile,
remained firmly under Chinese control.^149
The Russian Revolution of 1917 set the stage for an invasion of Outer Mongolia by
Chinese forces in 1919. A year later, White Russian troops (i.e., tsarist loyalists), partially
funded by the Japanese, marched into Outer Mongolia from the north and pushed the
Chinese out of Niyslel Huree (Ulaanbaatar).
(^150) In return, Mongolian nationalists
organized a resistance movement, advised by Communist officials in Moscow. After
establishing the Mongolian People’s Party and forming a provisional Mongolian
government from their base in Siberia, the Mongolian nationalists joined forces with
Soviet troops and dispatched the White Russian forces from Niyslel Huree in July
1921.^151 Once again Mongolia declared its independence from China.^152
(^146) Robert L. Worden, “Chapter 1: Historical Setting: Mongolia in Transition, 1368–1911: End of
Independence,” in Mongolia: A Country Study, 2nd ed. (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing
Office, 1991), 38.
The new
(^147) Robert L. Worden, “Chapter 1: Historical Setting: Modern Mongolia, 1911–84: Period of Autonomy,
1911 –21,” in Mongolia: A Country Study, 2nd ed. (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1991), 38.
(^148) Stephen Kotkin and Bruce A. Elleman, eds., “Sino-Russian Competition Over Outer Mongolia,” in
Mongolia in the Twentieth Century: Landlocked Cosmopolitan (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 1999), 29.
(^149) The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th e d., “Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region: History,”
Infoplease.com, (Columbia University Press, 2007), http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0858831.html
(^150) Robert L. Worden, “Chapter 1: Historical Setting: Modern Mongolia, 1911–84: Period of Autonomy,
1911 –21,” in Mongolia: A Country Study, 2nd ed. (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1991), 39.
(^151) Robert L. Worden, “Chapter 1: Historical Setting: Modern Mongolia, 1911–84: Period of Autonomy,
1911 –21,” in Mongolia: A Country Study, 2nd ed. (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1991), 40.