Occupation of Mongolia
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The Occupation of Mongolia (later expanded to include Tuva) by the Beiyang Government of the Republic of China began in October 1919 and lasted until the last Chinese forces were routed in 1921.
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[edit] Background
In December 1911, Outer Mongolia took advantage of the Xinhai Revolution to declare independence from the Qing Empire. Mongolia became an aristo-theocratic khanate led by Bogd Khan. Its independence was not recognized by the newly formed Republic of China but was powerless to do anything due to internal discord and the protection of the Russian Empire. A 1915 Sino-Russian agreement gave vague assurances of Chinese "suzerainty". In July 1918, the Beiyang government joined Allied efforts to assist the White movement in Siberia. They sent troops to Vladivostok and Outer Manchuria, thereby making enemies with the Bolsheviks.
[edit] Causes
The invasion of Mongolia was the brainchild of Premier Duan Qirui. When Duan engineered China's entry into the First World War he took out several large loans from the Japanese government including the Nishihara Loans. He used the money to create the War Participation Army ostensibly to battle the Central Powers. His rivals knew the purpose of this army was to crush internal dissent. It existed outside of the Ministry of the Army and was controlled by the War Participation Bureau which the premier led. The Bureau was staffed entirely by Duan's Anhui clique. President Feng Guozhang, Duan's rival, had no control despite constitutionally being commander-in-chief. When the war ended without a soldier stepping foot abroad, his critics demanded the disbanding of the War Participation Army. Duan had to find a new purpose for his army. Mongolia was chosen for several reasons:
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- Duan's envoys during the 1919 Paris Peace Conference sold out Shandong to Japan thereby causing the May Fourth Movement targeting his pro-Japanese policies. His reputation as a patriot was discredited. Reintegrating Mongolia would reverse that.
- The Constitutional Protection War was fought to a bloody standstill in Hunan. Using his army for another risky attempt to retake southern China from the rebels was undesirable.
- The Russian Civil War left Mongolia without a foreign protector. An easy victory would boost Duan's stature.
- Mongolia's long running prime minister, Sain Noyon Khan Shirindambyn Namnansuren, died in April 1919 leaving the country's ruling elite deeply divided over a successor. Some of Mongolia's princes as well as the ethnic Han community longed reunification.
[edit] Invasion
The War Participation Army was renamed the Northwestern Frontier Army. Duan gave control of it to his right-hand, Xu Shuzheng. They announced the expedition was at the invitation of several Mongolian princes to protect Mongolia from Bolshevik incursions. It was supposed to begin in July 1919, but the train broke down. In October, Xu led a spearhead group of 4000 that quickly captured Urga without resistance. Another 10,000 troops followed to occupy the rest of the country. The successful invasion was met with acclaim throughout China, even by Sun Yat-sen's rival southern government.
In February 1920, Xu presided over a very humiliating ceremony in which Bogd Khan and other leaders were forced to kowtow before him and the Five Races Under One Union flag. This event marked the beginning of active resistance against Chinese rule which coalesced into the Mongolian People's Party.
Domestic politics in China soon changed the situation dramatically. The invasion had caused alarm for Zhang Zuolin, the powerful warlord of Manchuria, who was upset that such a large army was moved so close to his territory. He joined the chorus of critics such as Cao Kun and Wu Peifu calling for the removal of the Anhui clique. In July, they forced President Xu Shichang to remove Xu Shuzheng from his position. In response, Xu Shuzheng moved the bulk of his forces to confront his enemies in China. Both he and Duan Qirui were defeated in the ensuing Zhili-Anhui War. This left only a few Chinese troops in Mongolia.
In October, the renegade White Russian Baron Roman Ungern von Sternberg swept into Mongolia from the north and fought many battles with the Chinese garrison stationed in Urga before capturing it on February 1921. There he restored Bogd Khan as a puppet monarch and unleashed a reign of terror upon the city. At around the same time, the MPP engaged in its first battle against Chinese troops. A joint MPP-Red Army expedition led by Damdin Sükhbaatar defeated the Baron in August and the remaining Chinese troops soon after. Tensions leading up to the First Zhili-Fengtian War and the apparent victory of the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War led to the end of China's involvement.
[edit] Results
This was the last foreign occupation in Mongolian history. A communist state in a backwaters such as Mongolia was unexpected in orthodox Marxism, which would probably not have happened if there were no occupation. After a brief period of constitutional monarchy, the Mongolian People's Republic was established in 1924 which would last until 1992.
For China, the occupation indirectly led to the permanent breakup of the Beiyang Army and the fall of strongman Duan Qirui. This marked the period of high warlordism as the former officers of Yuan Shikai battled each other for many years to come. Many White Russian partisans became mercenaries in China after the occupation. Along with the Siberian Intervention, it was the only foreign military expedition carried out by the Beiyang government. The Republic of China continues to not recognize the independence of Mongolia.
[edit] References
Warlord Politics in China:1916-1918.Hsi-sheng Chi, 1976.
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