area handbook series

Mongolia

country study



Mongolia

a country study

Federal Research Division

Library of Congress

Edited by

Robert L. Worden and

Andrea Matles Savada

Research Completed

June 1989
On the cover: A thirteenth-century Mongol hunter

Second Edition, 1991, First Printing, 1991.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Mongolia: A Country Study / Federal Research Division / Library

of Congress, edited by Robert L. Worden and Andrea Matles

Savada—2d ed. Area Handbook Series, DA Pam 550-76

"Research completed June 1989."

Bibliography: pp. 275-301.

Includes index.

Supt. of Docs. no. : D 101.22:550-76/991

1. Mongolia I. Worden, Robert L., 1945- . II. Savada, Andrea

Matles, 1950- . III. Library of Congress. Federal Research Division. IV. Series. V. Series: Area Handbook Series. DS798.W67 1990 951. 7'3—dc20 90-6289 CIP

Headquarters, Department of the Army

DA Pam 550-76

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402
Foreword

This volume is one in a continuing series of books now being

prepared by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under the Country Studies—Area Handbook Program. The

last page of this book lists the other published studies.

Most books in the series deal with a particular foreign country,

describing and analyzing its political, economic, social, and national

security systems and institutions, and examining the interrelationships of those systems and the ways they are shaped by cultural

factors. Each study is written by a multidisciplinary team of social

scientists. The authors seek to provide a basic understanding of

the observed society, striving for a dynamic rather than a static portrayal. Particular attention is devoted to the people who make

up the society, their origins, dominant beliefs and values, their com- mon interests and the issues on which they are divided, the nature

and extent of their involvement with national institutions, and their

attitudes toward each other and toward their social system and

political order.

The books represent the analysis of the authors and should not

be construed as an expression of an official United States government position, policy, or decision. The authors have sought to adhere to accepted standards of scholarly objectivity. Corrections,

additions, and suggestions for changes from readers will be welcomed for use in future editions.

Louis R. Mortimer

Acting Chief

Federal Research Division

Library of Congress

Washington, D.C. 20540

iii

Acknowledgments

The authors are indebted to a number of individuals, without

whose assistance this book would have been much more diffi- cult to make a reality. Dr. Denis Sinor, Distinguished Professor

Emeritus of the Department of Uralic and Altaic Studies, Indiana

University, made an extremely useful critique of the entire

manuscript, helping the authors and the editors to focus their efforts more sharply. Mary Frances Weidlich of the United States Department of State provided a great deal of invaluable assistance, trans- lating Mongol-language research materials, making numerous

helpful suggestions on many of the topics discussed in the book,

and reviewing the completed text. Barbara L. Dash, compiler and

editor of The American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies,

assisted with abundant bibliographic citations on Mongolia and

Inner Asian affairs as well as with translations of Russian-language

materials used in compiling maps.

Various staff members of the Library of Congress also contributed to the research and production of the book. David W. Tsai,

Exchange and Gift Division, supplied current Mongolian research

materials, and Thomas M. Skallerup of the Copyright Office

provided insights on Russian-Mongolian history. The authors also wish to express their appreciation to members of the staff of the

Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, who contributed

to the preparation of the book. Tracy M. Coleman provided

research assistance and word processing for early book drafts. Additionally, Irena A. Weiss assisted with Russian-language sources used in compiling maps, Carolina E. Forrester reviewed the maps

and the geography section for technical details, Stanley M. Sciora

researched the military rank and insignia information, and Serge

Demidenko and Alberta King helped with proofreading. The members of the Graphic Support Unit, David P. Cabitto, Sandra K.

Ferrell, and Kimberly A. Lord, prepared the layout and the graphics for the book; Ms. Lord designed the cover and the chapter

illustrations. Richard F. Nyrop reviewed most parts of the bock

and made valuable suggestions throughout its development before

his retirement. Sandra W. Meditz, his successor, also made useful contributions to the later stages of the completed manuscript.

Martha E. Hopkins, at each critical juncture, managed editing and

also edited portions of the text; Marilyn Majeska managed book

production; and Barbara Edgerton and Izella Watson performed

word processing.

v
The following individuals are gratefully acknowledged as well: Barbara Harrison for editing the body of the book; Carolyn Hinton

for final prepublication editorial review; Shirley Kessel of Communications Connection for preparing the index; and Malinda B. Neale of the Printing and Processing Section, Library of Congress,

for phototypesetting, under the direction of Peggy Pixley. Those

who contributed photographs used to illustrate the book are ac- knowledged in the photo captions.

VI
Contents

Page Foreword iii Acknowledgments v Preface xiii Country Profile xxi Introduction xxvii Chapter 1. Historical Setting 1 Robert L. Worden

EARLY DEVELOPMENT, ca. 220 B.C.-A.D. 1206 5 Origins of the Mongols 5 Xiongnu and Yuezhi 6

Donghu, Toba, and Ruruan 7 Rise of the Turk 10 Influence of Tang China 10 Kitan and Jurchen 11 THE ERA OF CHINGGIS KHAN, 1206-27 13 Rise of Chinggis Khan 13 Early Wars in China 15 Conquest of Khwarizm and Reconnaissance

into Europe 16 The Last Campaign of Chinggis Khan 18 SUCCESSORS OF CHINGGIS, 1228-59 18 Ogedei and Continuing Conquests 18 Subetei and the European Expedition 20

Reign of Kuyuk 21 Mengke and the War in China 22

KHUBILAI KHAN AND THE YUAN DYNASTY,

1261-1368 23

A New Khan , 23

The Yuan Dynasty 25

The Ilkhans 27

The Golden Horde 27

The Mongol Decline 30

MONGOLIA IN TRANSITION, 1368-1911 31 Return to Nomadic Patterns 31 Caught Between the Russians and the Manchus 32

The End of Independence 36

vii
MODERN MONGOLIA, 1911-84 38

Period of Autonomy, 1911-21 38

Revolutionary Transformation, 1921-24 40

Consolidation of the Mongolian People's

Republic, 1925-28 42

Purges of the Opposition, 1928-32 44

Economic Gradualism and National Defense, 1932-45 46

Peacetime Development, 1946-52 50

Socialist Construction under Tsedenbal, 1952-84 .... 51 Chapter 2. The Society and Its Environment 57 Donald R. DeGlopper

GEOGRAPHY 60

Landforms 60

Climate 63

Environmental Concerns 66

POPULATION 67

Vital Rates 67

Pro-natal Policies 69

Population Distribution 71 The Urban Population 71 ETHNIC AND LINGUISTIC GROUPS 72 Mongols and Kazakhs 72 Chinese, Russians, and Others 73 SOCIETY 75

Pastoral Nomadism 75

Traditional Patterns 80

Planned Modernization 81

Collectivized Farming and Herding 87

Kinship, Family, and Marriage 91

Position of Women 94

Social Mobility 96

Cultural Unity and Mongol Identity 98

RELIGION 100

Buddhism 100

The Suppression of Buddhism 102

Uses of Buddhism 103

Religious Survivals 104

HEALTH AND WELFARE 104

Health-Care Systems 104

Precautions Against AIDS 107

EDUCATION 107

The School System 107

Higher Education 110

viii
Study in the Soviet Union 110

Mongolian Science Ill

Science, Progress, and Tradition 112

Chapter 3. The Economy 115

Roxane D. V. Sismanidis

SOCIALIST FRAMEWORK OF THE ECONOMY 118

Role of the Government 118

Planning 119

Budget 121 Structure of the Economy 121 Economic Reforms 123

NATURAL RESOURCES 125

AGRICULTURE 127

Crop Production 131 Animal Husbandry 132

Forestry 134

Fishing 136

INDUSTRY 137

Light Industry 139

Mining 141 Energy 142

Construction 143

SERVICES 144

Banking and Insurance 144

Domestic Trade and Other Services 146

Retail Trade and Consumption 146

LABOR FORCE 149

Composition 149

Labor Force Policy and Planning 150

Working Conditions and Income 152

Trade Unions 154

FOREIGN ECONOMIC RELATIONS AND

COMECON 156

Participation in Comecon 158

Foreign Assistance, Investment, and Joint

Ventures 158

Exports and Imports 161 Trading Partners 162

Tourism 163

TRANSPORTATION 163

Roads , 164

Railroads 165

Inland Waterways 167

IX
Civil Aviation 167

TELECOMMUNICATIONS 168

Chapter 4. Government and Politics m

Marcia R. Ristaino

GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE 173

Form of Government 173

Constitutional Framework 175

Major State Organizations 178

Local Administration 183

MONGOLIAN PEOPLE'S REVOLUTIONARY PARTY ... 184

Membership 185

Party Congress 185

Central Committee 187

Political Bureau and Secretariat 188

Regional and Local Party Organizations 189

Mass Organizations 190

THE POLITICAL PROCESS 194

Democratic Centralism 194

Political Issues 198

Role of the Military 200

General Political Values and Attitudes 202

FOREIGN POLICY 203

Motivation and Goals 203

Ministry of Foreign Affairs 204

Foreign Relations 204

International Organizations 212

THE MEDIA 212

Information Policy 213

Major Channels 214

Foreign Sources 216

Chapter 5. National Security 219

Ronald E. Dolan

THE ARMED FORCES 222

Historical Traditions 222

Beginning of Modern Military Practices, 1911-21 . . . 223

The Mongolian Army, 1921-68 228

Organization since 1968 240

Civil-Military Relations 246

Economic Role 246

Threat Perception 247

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SECURITY 248

The Legal System 249

x
The Penal System 255

Law Enforcement 256

Appendix. Tables 261

Bibliography 273

Glossary 299

Index 303

List of Figures

1 Administrative Divisions of Mongolia, 1989 xxvi

2 Tribes, Nations, and Boundaries of Mongolia and

Inner Asia, ca. A.D. 1150-1227 14

3 The Mongol Empire, ca. A.D. 1280 24

4 Topography and Drainage 62

5 Precipitation 64

6 Temperature 65

7 Population Density, 1986 68

8 Age-Sex Ratio, 1990 Projection 70

9 Minerals and Mining, 1989 . . 126

10 Agriculture and Forestry, 1985 130

11 Industry, 1985 140

12 Transportation, 1989 . 166

13 Organization of the Government, 1989 174

14 Organization of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary

Party, 1989 186

15 Organization of the Armed Forces, 1989 240

16 Armed Forces Personnel Strength, Selected Years,

1978-88 242

17 Officer and Enlisted Ranks and Insignia, 1989 244

XI

Preface

This is the first revised edition of the Area Handbookfor Mongolia,

published in 1970. The new edition recounts events in Mongolia

during the intervening years and brings up to date such developments as the changing geopolitical role of Mongolia in Sino-Soviet

relations, the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and the United States, the evolution to a more open, reformminded administration, and broad economic achievements.

Like its predecessor, this study is an attempt to present an objective and concise account of the major social, economic, political, and national security concerns of contemporary Mongolia, as well as to provide a historical framework for this overview. The

1970 edition, which this volume replaces, was prepared for The

American University by a team composed of Trevor N. Dupuy,

Wendell Blanchard, Martin Blumenson, Richard L. Butwell,

Nancy Gager Clinch, Alvin D. Coox, Grace Person Hayes, Marilyn

Heilprin, Virginia M. Herman, Steven J. Hunter, Brooke Nihart,

Francis J. Romance, and Ellen L. Sato. The current Mongolia: A Country Study results from the combined

efforts of a multidisciplinary team. The authors obtained information from a variety of sources, including scholarly studies, official reports from government and international organizations, as well

as foreign and domestic newspapers and periodicals. Brief commentary on some of the more useful and readily accessible Englishlanguage sources appears at the end of each chapter. Full refer- ences to these and other sources used by the authors are listed in

the Bibliography. Users of the book seeking additional materials on Mongolia, the Mongols, and Inner Asian peoples are encouraged

to consult the annual editions of the Bibliography ofAsian Studies and

The American Bibliography ofSlavic and East European Studies and Lidiia

Pavlovna Popova, et alii Mongol Studies in the Soviet Union: A Bibliography of Soviet Publications, 1981-1986 (Bloomington, Indiana:

Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies, 1988).

The authors have limited the use of foreign and technical terms,

which are defined when they first appear. Readers are also referred

to the Glossary in the back of the book. The contemporary place- names used in this book have been romanized—but without using

the dieresis and breve diacritics—from Mongolian Cyrillic Script

according to the system approved by the United States Board on

Geographic Names and the Permanent Committee on Geographical

Names for British Official Use. The pinyin system of romanization

Xlll
is used for Chinese personal names and place-names, although

occasionally some familiar Wade-Giles romanizations have been

provided. All measurements are given in the metric system. A con- version table is provided to assist readers unfamiliar with metric

measurements (see table 1, Appendix).

xiv
Table A. Chronology of Important Events

Date Events 3d century B.C.

2d- 1st centuries B.C.

lst-2d centuries A.D. 317 386-533

mid-8th century

916-1125

1038-1227

1115-1234

1139-47 1196-1206

1209-15

1220-26

1227

1231

1235 1237-41

1240-1480

c. 1252-79

1260

A.D.

Iron weapons in use; Xiongnu invasion of China

repulsed

Nomads expand west; pressure on China continues Renewed attacks on China

Xianbei conquer northern China

Period of Northern Wei Dynasty, established by

the Toba in northern China

Possible early Mongol links with Tibetan Buddhism

Period of Kitan Liao Dynasty, established over

eastern Mongolia, Manchuria, and northern China

Tangut Western Xia Dynasty, established in northwestern China

Jurchen establish Jin Dynasty in Manchuria,

northern China

Jurchen defeat Mongols in Pamirs Temujin unites Mongols, assumes title of Chinggis Khan

Mongols conquer south to Beijing, west to Lake

Balkash Southwest Asia conquered; invasion of Europe

and China

Chinggis dies Korea invaded

Capital rebuilt at Karakorum

Expedition into Europe, halted at Vienna with death of Ogedei

Suzerainty over Russia established by Golden Horde (see Glossary) Conquest of Song China

Mongols defeated by Egyptian Mamluks

XV
Table A. —Continued

Date Events 1274 and 1281

1279

1368

1388

1391 1400-54

1409-49

1466 1480-1502

1571

1586 1641-52

1672

1691

1728

1732

750s

1783

December 1, 191:

December 28, 1911

Unsuccessful attempts at invasion of Japan Yuan Dynasty established in China Yuan Dynasty destroyed; Mongols driven back

into Mongolia

Chinese troops destroy Karakorum

Timur defeats Golden Horde

Civil war ends Mongol unity

Renewed Mongol invasions of China

Dayan Khan reunites most of Mongolia

Muscovites end Mongol control of Russia; last of Golden Horde defeated Mongols end 300-year war with China

Buddhism becomes state religion

Russians defeat Buryat Mongols, gain control of Lake Baykal region

Mongols raid Siberia and Russia Most Khalkha Mongols accept suzerainty of Manchus, absorbed into Chinese empire

(Qing Dynasty, 1644-1911)

Sino-Russian Treaty of Kyakhta redefines tradi- tional Mongolian borders Dzungar Mongols defeated; Mongol indepen- dence ended

Chinese divide Mongolia into northern, Outer

Mongolia (see Glossary), and southern, Inner Mongolia (see Glossary)

Last reigning descendant of Chinggis in the Crimea deposed by Russians Outer Mongolia proclaims independence from China

Mongolia establishes autonomous theocratic government

XVI
Table A. —Continued

Date Events November 3, 1912

November 5, 1913

May 25, 1915

September 1918 March-June 1920

October 1920 March 1-3, 1921

March 13, 1921

Russia affirms Mongolia's separation from China

Sino-Russian agreement acknowledges Chinese

suzerainty over Mongolia

Treaty of Kyakhta formalizes Mongolian au- tonomy

Chinese troops occupy Outer Mongolia

Mongolian People's Party formed, establishes

links with Communist International (see Glossary) and Soviets

Russian White Guards invade Mongolia

First National Party Congress of the Mongolian

People's Party held in Kyakhta, Soviet Union

Mongolian People's Provisional Government

formed

July 1921

July 11, 1921

September 14, 1921 November 5, 1921

February 22, 1923 May 31, 1924

August 1924

November 6, 1924 November 25, 1924

March 1925 September 1927

Mongolian-Soviet army drives out White Guards

Mongolian People's Government, a limited monarchy, proclaimed

Mongolian independence proclaimed

Soviets recognize Mongolian People's Govern- ment

Revolutionary hero Damdiny Sukhe Bator dies

Sino-Soviet treaty recognizes Chinese sov- ereignty over Mongolia

Mongolian People's Party becomes Mongolian

People's Revolutionary Party

First National Great Hural convenes Mongolian People's Republic proclaimed;

Soviet style state constitution adopted; Niyslel Huree renamed Ulaanbaatar

Soviet troops ostensibly withdraw

Inner-party struggle at Sixth Party Congress

xvii
Table A. —Continued

Date Events December 1928 1929-32

April-May 1932

November 27, 1934

March 12, 1936

1937-39

1938

1939

July-August 1939

March-April 1940

August 10, 1945 January 5, 1946 February 27, 1946

February 1949

January 26, 1952 May 1952 December 1952

April 1956 October 1956

July 6, 1960 October 27, 1961

Horloyn Choybalsan emerges as party leader

Feudal estates confiscated; religious communities suppressed

Soviet troops help quell rebellions; party repudiates extremism

Mongolian-Soviet "gentlemen's agreement"

allows Soviet troops into Mongolia

Treaty and mutual defense protocol signed with

Soviet Union

High-level government purges

Buddhist monasteries closed Choybalsan emerges as undisputed leader Mongolian-Soviet joint force defeats Japanese

at Halhin Gol Yumjaagiyn Tsedenbal becomes party general

secretary Mongolia declares war on Japan

China recognizes Mongolia's independence

Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance and Agreement on Economic and Cultural Cooperation signed with Soviet Union

Ninth National Great Hural, first since 1940, convenes Choybalsan dies Tsedenbal becomes premier

Economic and cultural cooperation agreement

signed with China

"Personality cult" of Choybalsan condemned

New collective efforts start New state Constitution adopted

Mongolia admitted to United Nations

XV111
Table A.—Continued

Date Events January 1962

June 7, 1962

1966 June 1974

August 23, 1984

December 12, 1984

April 1986 January 15, 1987

January 27, 1987

November 28, 1988

March 7, 1989

Choybalsan's "personality cult" again con- demned

Mongolia joins Council for Mutual Economic

Assistance (Comecon—see Glossary)

Serious Mongolian-Chinese differences emerge Jambyn Batmonh becomes chairman of Council of Ministers; Tsedenbal becomes chairman

of the Presidium of the People's Great Hural and continues as party first secretary Tsedenbal retires; Batmonh becomes party general secretary Batmonh elected chairman of Presidium of People 's Great Hural; Dumaagiyn Sodnom be- comes premier

Long-term trade agreement signed with China

Soviet Union announces intention to withdraw

one of five Soviet divisions stationed in Mongolia

Diplomatic relations established with the United

States Treaty on a border control system signed with China

Soviets announce that troop withdrawal plans had been finalized

XIX

Country Profile

Country

Formal Name: Mongolian People's Republic.

Short Form: Mongolia.

Term for Citizens: Mongolian(s).

Capital: Ulaanbaatar.

Date of Independence: March 13, 1921, from China. Formerly

Outer Mongolia (see Glossary), a dependency of China, 169 1-1911;

autonomous state under Russian protection, 1912-19; partially

under Chinese control, 1919-21.

Geography

Size: Total 1,565,000 square kilometers.

Topography: Mountains and rolling plateaus; vast semidesert and

desert plains, 90 percent pasture or desert wasteland, less than 1 percent arable, 8 to 10 percent forested; mountains in north, west

and southwest; Gobi, a vast desert in southeast; Selenge river sys- tem in north.

Climate: Desert; high, cold, dry, continental climate; sharp sea- sonal fluctuations and variation; little precipitation; great diurnal

temperature changes.

Society

Population: 2,125,463 in July 1989; in 1989, birth rate 35.1 per

1,000; death rate 7.6 per 1,000. Approximately 51 percent live in

urban areas; nearly 25 percent in Ulaanbaatar in 1986. In 1987

population density per square kilometer 1.36; sex ratio 50.1 per- cent male, 49.9 percent female as of 1986.

Ethnic Groups: Nearly 90 percent Mongol. Rest Kazakh (5.3 percent), Chinese (2 percent), Russian (2 percent); Tuvins (see Glossary), Uzbeks (see Glossary), Uighurs (see Glossary), and others

(1.5 percent).

Languages: Khalkha Mongol (official language), 90 percent; minor

languages include Turkic, Chinese, Russian, and Kazakh.

xxi
Religion: Predominantly Yellow Sect of Tibetan Buddhism

(Lamaism); about 4 percent Muslim (primarily in southwest), some

shamanism. Limited religious activity although freedom of religion

guaranteed in 1960 Constitution.

Health: Life expectancy in 1989 sixty-three for males, sixty-seven

for females. Infant mortality 49 to 53 per 1,000; 112 hospitals in

1986 with a ratio of 110 hospital beds and 24.8 doctors per 10,000

population. Overall free medical care; medical specialists and facil- ities concentrated in urban areas; close cooperation with Soviet

Union in medical research and training.

Education: Four years compulsory elementary school overall and

four years compulsory secondary school in all but most remote

areas; two-year noncompulsory general secondary. Higher education: one university, seven other institutes of higher learning. In 1985 primary and secondary education included: 28 specialized

secondary schools, 40 vocational schools, 900 general education

schools enrolling 435,900 students; many Mongolian students study

at universities and technical schools in the Soviet Union and East

European countries—approximately 11,000 studied abroad in

1986-87. In the late 1980s, educational reform plans announced

for 1 1 -year system of general education with traditional emphasis. In 1985 national literacy rate estimated at 80 percent; 100 per- cent claimed by government.

Media: Thirty-five newspapers and thirty-eight magazines published in 1986.

Economy

Major Features: Economy traditionally based on agriculture,

livestock breeding, and forestry. In 1980s Soviets assisted in development of extensive mineral resources; mining and processing

of coal, copper, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, and gold accounted

for large portion of industrial production.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): In 1985 estimated at US$1.7

billion; per capita income based on GDP was US$880.

Agriculture: Livestock predominates; camels, cattle, goats, horses,

and sheep major livestock types. Crops include wheat, barley, oats, hay, potatoes, and vegetables.

Industry: Processing of forestry, animal, and fishery products;

building materials, food and beverage; and mining (particularly

coal). xxn
Resources: Coal, copper, molybdenum, tungsten, phosphates, tin, rare earth, sodium chloride, nickel, zinc, wolfram, fluorite, and

gold.

Exports: In 1985 approximately 2 billion tugriks (US$670 million;

free on board). Major commodities: cement, lumber and sawn timber, wool, large and small hides, grain, meat, clothing, and minerals. Nearly all trade with communist countries (about 80 percent

with Soviet Union); 3.3 percent to noncommunist countries in

1986.

Imports: Approximately 3.3 billion tugriks (US$1.0 billion, cost, insurance, and freight, 1985). Major imports: machine tools, diesel

generators, electric motors, transformers, construction equipment,

gasoline and diesel fuel, iron and steel, foodstuffs, and consumer

durables. Nearly all trade with communist countries (about 80 per- cent with Soviet Union); 1.7 percent to noncommunist countries

in 1986.

Exchange Rate: 2.985 tugriks = US$1 in March 1989.

Fiscal Year: Calendar year. Transportation and Communications

Inland Waterways: 397 kilometers of principal routes, primarily on Hovsgol Nuur and Selenge Moron, navigable only 5 months

of year. Roads: In 1986 total highways 6,700 kilometers; 900 kilometers

paved. Main roads linked Ulaanbaatar with Chinese and Soviet

frontiers at Erenhot and Kyakhta, respectively. Bus services in

Ulaanbaatar and other large towns; road haulage services throughout country on basis of motor-transport depots, mosdy in aymag

(provincial) centers. Railroads: Diesel-drive rolling stock; 1,750 kilometers of 1.524-

meter broad-gauge track in 1986. In 1984 accounted for more than

70 percent of total freight turnover. Civil Aviation: Airfields totaled eighty, thirty usable, ten with

permanent-surface runways; largest at Ulaanbaatar. National carrier: Mongolian Airlines (MIAT). Domestic service to provinciallevel and many county centers. International service from Ulaanbaatar to Irkutsk, Soviet Union, and Beijing. Total route length,

38,300 kilometers. Aeroflot connected Ulaanbaatar to major world

capitals.

xxiii
Telecommunications: New radio relay lines planned; 13 AM, 1 FM radio station, 1 television station with 18 provincial-level relays;

88,100 television sets; 207,000 radio receivers; at least one satellite ground station.

Government and Politics

Party and Government: Communist, modeled on Soviet system;

limited degree of private ownership permitted by 1960 Constitution. Unicameral People's Great Hural with 370 deputies elected

in June 1986 for four-year term; 328 were members or candidate

members of ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party. Council of Ministers with highest executive power. Political processes

guided in theory by People's Great Hural, which enacts basic laws

of country, but real power vested in ten-person party Political

Bureau. Central Committee appoints and removes Political Bureau

members and is itself appointed by National Party Congress. Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party only legal party in 1989. Land,

natural resources, factories, transport, and banking organizations

state property. Cooperative ownership of most public enterprises,

especially livestock herding.

Administrative Divisions: Eighteen provinces (aymags), three

municipalities (hots), and counties (somons), each with own Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party organization, which directs

work of local assemblies, cooperatives, and government on its level. Judicial System: Blend of Soviet, Chinese, and Turkish systems

of law; administered by courts and Office of the Procurator of the

Republic—appointed to five-year term by People's Great Hural.

No constitutional provision for judicial review of legislative acts; does not accept International Court ofJustice jurisdiction. Supreme

Court elected by People's Great Hural for four-year term. Lower

court judges elected by local assemblies for three-year terms. People's Great Hural appoints procurator, who appoints lower-level

procurators. Procurator and Supreme Court accountable to People's Great Hural and its presidium.

Foreign Affairs: Heavily dependent on Soviet Union for economic

assistance, technical aid, and labor. Historical focus on two

neighbors—China and Soviet Union, with which it shares strategic

location; latter with a powerful influence over many aspects of for- eign policy. Diplomatic relations established with United States in 1987.

xxiv
National Security

Armed Forces: Mongolian People's Army—21,000 (17,000 conscripts); Mongolian People's Air Force—3,500, in 1988.

Military Budget: US$249.44 million (1987).

Military Units: Four motorized rifle divisions; one air fighter regiment; two transport squadrons; one helicopter squadron.

Equipment: T-54, T-55, T-62 main battle tanks; 100mm antitank guns; 120mm and 160mm mortars; 122mm, 130mm, and

152mm towed artillery; 14.5mm, 37mm, and 57mm air defense

guns; 122mm, 132mm, and 140mm multiple rocket launchers;

SA-7 surface-to-air missiles; MiG-21 fighters; An-2, An-24, An-26,

and An-32 transports; Mi-4 and Mi-8 helicopters.

Auxiliary Forces: Paramilitary force (responsible for border patrol,

guard duty, and immigration) of 15,000 under jurisdiction of Ministry of Public Security; also militia (internal security troops) and

200,000 army reservists.

xxv
xxvi
Introduction

MONGOLIA AND THE MONGOL PEOPLE have periodically

been at the center of international events. The histories of nations

indeed, of continents—have been rewritten and major cultural and

political changes have occurred because of a virtual handful of seemingly remote pastoral nomads. The thirteenth-century accomplishments of Chinggis Khan in conquering a swath of the world from

modern-day Korea to southern Russia and in invading deep into

Europe, and the cultural achievements of his grandson, Khubilai

Khan, in China are well-known in world history. Seven hundred

years later, a much compressed Mongolian nation again attracted

world attention, as a strategic battleground between Japan and the

Soviet Union in the 1930s and between the Soviet Union and China

in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In the 1980s, the Mongolian People's Republic continued to be a critical geopolitical factor in SinoSoviet relations.

The Mongols arose from obscure origins in the recesses of Inner

Asia to unify their immediate nomadic neighbors and then to con- quer much of the Eurasian landmass, ruling large parts of it for more than a century. Emerging from a newly consolidated heartland north of the Gobi in the thirteenth century, the Mongols and

their armies—made up of conquered peoples—thrust through

western Asia, crossed the Ural Mountains, invaded the countries

of Eastern Europe, and pressed on to Austria and the Adriatic.

They also advanced through southwest Asia to the eastern Mediter- ranean and they conquered the Chinese empire. At about the same

time, they embarked on ambitious maritime expeditions against

Java and Japan. The Mongols were phenomenally hard-driving

and ambitious for such a small group, and their accomplishments

were considerable. Only the Mamluks of Egypt, the "divine winds"

ofJapan, and the Mongols' own legal tradition—the need to return home to elect a new khan—halted the inexorable Mongol military

advances.

Resistance to, and accommodation of, the Mongols had mixed

effects on the national development of some of the conquered

nations. European kingdoms and principalities formed alliances

to do battle, albeit unsuccessfully, against the Mongol armies.

Europeans even joined the hated Muslims in Egypt and Palestine

to oppose the common Mongol enemy. Although the Mongol

invasion of Japan was not successful, it contributed to the eventual downfall of Japan's ruling faction. The conquering Mongols

xxvn
brought an infusion of new ideas and unity to China, but they were

eventually absorbed and lost their ability to rule over a people

hundreds of times more numerous than they were themselves.

But Mongol influence did not end with the termination of military conquests or absorption. Their presence was institutionalized

in many of the lands that they conquered, through the adoption

of Mongol military tactics, administrative forms, and commercial

enterprises. The historical development of such disparate nations

as Russia, China, and Iran were directly affected by the Mongols.

Wherever they setded outside their homeland, the Mongols brought

about cultural change and institutional improvements. Although

there never was a Pax Mongolica, the spread of the Mongol polity across Eurasia resulted in a large measure of cultural exchange.

Chinese scribes and artists served the court of the Ilkans in Iran,

Italian merchants served the great khans in Karakorum and Dadu

(as Beijing was then known), papal envoys recorded events in the courts of the great khans, Mongol princes were dispatched to all points of the great Mongol empire to observe and be observed,

and the Golden Horde (see Glossary) and their Tatar (see Glossary) descendants left a lasting mark on Muscovy through administrative developments and intermarriage. Although eventually

subsumed as part of the Chinese empire, the Mongols were quick

to seek independence when that empire disintegrated in 1911.

The Mongol character has been greatly influenced by the ex- tremes of Mongolia's geography, comprising huge rolling plateaus,

rugged mountain ranges, and areas susceptible to earthquakes. On

the one hand, Mongolia has Hovsgol Nuur—one of Asia's largest

freshwater lakes—and river systems that drain toward the Arctic

and Pacific oceans and into Central Asia, and on the other, the

Gobi, a vast arid rangeland within which there are even less hospitable desert areas. The climate is mostly cold and dry with long frigid

winters and short hot summers. Minimal precipitation, temperatures that freeze the nation's rivers and freshwater lakes for long

periods of the year, and severe blizzards and dust storms leave only

about 1 percent of the land arable and make human and livestock

existence fragile at best. Such an inhospitable land, not unexpectedly, is home to a rela- tively small, widely dispersed population. Of the 4 million plus

Mongols—only a fourfold increase over the population of the era

of Chinggis Khan—only a little more than 2 million people live in the modern Mongolian People's Republic (the rest are minority peoples in China and the Soviet Union). Except for a concentration of 500,000 people in Ulaanbaatar, the capital, population

is sparsely distributed: another quarter of the population resides

xxvm
in small urban areas and the remaining approximately 49 percent

live in the vast countryside. The population, however, is young

and growing rapidly as government incentives encourage large families to offset labor shortages. Nearly 90 percent of the population

is composed of ethnic Mongols, making the nation extremely

homogeneous; Turkic peoples, such as Tuvins (see Glossary) and

Kazakhs, Chinese, Russians, and other minorities make up the

remainder.

Nomadic peoples of uncertain origins are recorded as living in

what is now the Mongolian People's Republic in the third century

B.C., and archaeological evidence takes human habitation in the

Gobi back a hundred centuries or more earlier. Warfare was a way

of life, against other nomadic peoples in competition for land, and

in the south against the Chinese, whose high culture and fertile lands were always attractive to the Mongols and other Inner Asian

peoples. China responded with punitive expeditions, which pushed

these pre-Mongol and proto-Mongol peoples farther north, west,

and east and resulted in periods of Chinese hegemony over parts

of Inner Asia. The Mongols of Chinggis Khan emerged in central

Mongolia in the twelfth century under Chinggis 's grandfather.

Tribal alliances, wars, clan confederations, and more wars contributed to a new Mongol unity and organization and the eventual conquest of lands throughout Eurasia.

The high point of Mongol achievements was followed by gradual

fragmentation. The Mongol successes throughout the first part of

the thirteenth century were eroded by overextension of lines of control from the capital, first at Karakorum and later at Dadu. By

the late fourteenth century, only local vestiges of Mongol glory persisted in parts of Asia. The main core of the Mongol population

in China retreated to the old homeland, where their governing sys- tem devolved into a quasi-feudalistic system fraught with disunity

and conflict. Caught between the emergence of tsarist Russia and

the Manchus—distant cousins of the Mongols—in the seventeenth

century, Mongolia eventually was absorbed into the periphery of

the Chinese polity, where it remained until 1911. As the Chinese

imperial system disintegrated, the Mongols sought national in- dependence; the Chinese did not willingly give up, however, and

Mongolia continued to be divided into northern (Outer

Mongolia—see Glossary) and southern (Inner Mongolia—see Glossary) sections. Russian interest in Mongolia was replaced by Soviet

involvement; the Japanese sought political leverage and applied

periodic pressure up through World War II. Throughout the twentieth century, Russian and Soviet influence over Mongolia has been a predominant factor in its national

xxix
development. The tsarist government aided Mongolian revolutionaries both diplomatically and militarily against the Chinese, and

anti-Bolshevik White Russian military forces did active battle against both the Chinese and the indigenous revolutionaries. The

theocratic monarchy established after 1911 was greatly limited by

the Mongolian Revolution of 1921 and eventually was replaced

by a "people's republic" under heavy Soviet influence. This in- fluence continued throughout the twentieth century in the form

of political guidance and economic aid. Severe purges of monarchists, Buddhists, conservative revolutionaries, and any other real or perceived opponent of the new communist regime took place

throughout the 1920s and the early 1930s. Extremism bordered on national disaster before evolving into more moderate policies

of a new Mongolian socialism characterized by closely planned eco- nomic growth. Joint Mongolian-Soviet armies successfully fended

off Japanese military advances in 1939. The rest of World War

II produced further agricultural and industrial development in support of Moscow's war efforts and made Mongolia a critical buffer

in the Soviet Far Eastern defense system. Technically neutral, Mongolia declared war against Japan only in August 1945.

Peacetime brought additional Soviet and East European eco- nomic aid (and eventually membership in the Council for Mutual

Economic Assistance [Comecon—see Glossary]) and a new rela- tionship with the People's Republic of China, after its establishment in 1949. Improved Mongolian-Chinese relations resulted in

still more economic assistance from, and trade with, Beijing. Mongolia's external policies, however, were founded on those of the

Soviet Union, and relations with China, always influenced by sus- picions over real or imaginary claims by China to "lost territo- ries," faltered in the wake of the Sino-Soviet rift that developed

in the late 1950s. By the late 1960s, Mongolia had become an armed

camp; Soviet and Chinese troops were poised against one another

along the Mongolian-Chinese border. Tensions between Ulaanbaatar and Beijing lessened only when Sino-Soviet rapprochement

began to evolve in the mid-1980s. The issue of Soviet troop withdrawal from Mongolia still constrained Mongolian-Chinese rela- tions in the late 1980s.

Some of the same late twentieth-century geopolitical developments that lessened tensions with China also brought Mongolia

farther into the mainstream of world affairs. Mongolia participated more actively in international organizations and improved rela- tions with a growing number of Western countries, including the

United States, which established diplomatic relations with Mongolia in 1987.

XXX
Traditional Mongolian society was affected heavily by foreign

influences: commerce was controlled by Chinese merchants and

the state religion—Tibetan Buddhism (or, Lamaism—see Glossary)—was simultaneously bureaucratic and otherworldly. Modern

society has been shaped by the continued foreign—primarily

Soviet—influence. Despite increasing urbanization and industrialization, however, nearly half of the population in the late 1980s

lived either by the traditional methods of pastoral nomadism

moving their herds (sheep, horses, cattle, goats, and yaks) from

one area of temporary sustenance to another—or in a close symbiotic relationship with the nomads. Despite its hardships, the no- madic life provides Mongols with national values and a sense of

historical identity and pride.

Traditional values and practices have made modernization of

society a difficult task, however. Once they had eliminated what

the communists called feudal aspects of society, Mongolia's new

leaders still had to take radical steps to modernize their country.

Scientific methods were applied to animal husbandry and agriculture, and new industries, such as copper and coal mining, were

developed. Herding and agricultural collectives, mines, factories,

and education institutions became the focal point of a social or- ganization controlled by state administrators, most of whom were members of the ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party.

Modernization inevitably brought greater differentiation and mobility in Mongolian society as party functionaries, white collar administrators, factory workers, and increasing numbers of urban

residents (who typically have larger family units than rural resi- dents) surpassed in numbers and opportunities the once self- sufficient pastoralists, who remain at the bottom of the social system.

The development of the economy has been closely associated with

social modernization in Mongolia. Beginning with the 1921 revolution, the government took increasing control over the economy.

Mongolia has a planned economy based on state and cooperative

ownership. Annual planning began in 1941, and five-year plans

began in 1948. The plans have been closely integrated with the

five-year plans of the Soviet Union since 1961 and with Comecon

multilateral plans since 1976. In the years since 1921, Mongolia

has been transformed from an almost strictly agrarian economy

to a diversified agricultural-industrial economy. Economic reforms

in the Soviet Union inspired similar efforts in Mongolia under

Jambyn Batmonh, premier between 1974 and 1984 and general

secretary of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party after 1984.

The acceleration of economic development, greater application of

science and technology to production, improved management and

xxxi
planning, greater independence for economic enterprises, and better balance among individual, collective, and societal interests were

the target areas of reform in the late 1980s.

Underpinning society and the economy are the government and

party. Mongolia has a highly centralized government run by a cabi- net (the Council of Ministers), with a unicameral legislature (People's Great Hural), and an independent judicial branch overseeing

the courts and the criminal justice system. Provinces, provinciallevel cities, counties, and town centers constitute local administration. As in all communist-run states, there is one-party rule. The Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, with a membership

of nearly 90,000, operates with quinquennial party congresses and

an elected Central Committee. The party's Political Bureau and

Secretariat provide standing leadership and carry out day-to-day

business. Local party administration coincides with government

offices and production units at each level. Mongolia's national security is intimately linked with that of the

Soviet Union. The armed forces have a rich historical tradition

in the legacy of the great khans—an era of Mongolian history still resented by the Soviets—and of their more immediate revolutionary forbearers of the 1910s and 1920s. The Mongolian People's

Army was established in 1921, when the new provisional national

government was proclaimed. As is the case in all aspects of modern

Mongolian organization, Soviet influence has predominated. Soviet

Red Army troops remained in Mongolia at least until 1925, and

they were brought back in the 1930s to help quell anticommunist

rebellions. Since then, they have had a major military presence,

poised first against the Japanese and later against the Chinese threat. Up through the 1940s, Mongolian troops had had fighting

experiences against White Russians, Chinese warlord armies,

Mongolian rebels, the Japanese, and Chinese Guomindang

(Kuomintang in Wade-Giles romanization) or, Chinese Nationalist Party, forces. In the 1950s, serious efforts were made at military modernization, but it was the Sino-Soviet rift that brought about the most

dramatic changes. Increasingly close ties developed between the

Mongolian and Soviet armed forces in accordance with a succes- sion of mutual defense pacts. Open hostilities between Soviet and

Chinese forces in the late 1960s further strengthened ties and led

to still greater modernization of the ground and air forces. By 1988

the armed forces numbered 24,500 active-duty personnel—most

organized into four motorized rifle divisions and a MiG-21 fighter

regiment—and some 200,000 reservists and paramilitary personnel.

xxxn
Military training for able-bodied civilians—both men and

women—and universal male military conscription (from age eigh- teen to age twenty-eight) are key elements in a country with a tra- dition in which all men were considered warriors. Additionally,

all citizens are obliged to participate in civil defense preparedness

activities. Close ties between the military establishment and the

civilian economy have existed since the 1930s; many industries continue to produce both military materiel and civilian-use goods.

Demobilized soldiers normally have greater technical skills than

those who did not serve in the military and thus contributes significantly to the economy upon completion of military service. The

military also plays an important economic role through numerous

military construction projects for the civilian sector. In sum, the Mongolian People's Republic, as it reaches the 1990s,

is a small, economically developing country that has made great

strides since it emerged from centuries of Chinese domination. The

measure of progress is controlled by a one-party, highly centralized system that has long been influenced by its Soviet mentors.

Because Mongolia's foreign policy is coordinated with that of the

Soviet Union and is closely integrated with, and heavily dependent on, Soviet and East European assistance, the degree to which

Mongolia is able to conduct its own affairs is questionable. As it has been for several millennia, Mongolia will continue to be geopolitically important.

June 30, 1989

* * * As this book was being completed, extraordinary developments were occurring in Mongolia. Opposition parties emerged, the top

leadership of the ruling party, the state, and the government was

replaced, and free multiparty elections were held. Criticisms of the

old regime brought admissions of falsified official statistics (the

authors of this book were plagued continually with irreconcilable

figures; users of the statistical data in this book thus are warned

to keep in mind the ''official" nature of many of the figures used).

Accompanying the rejection of the old regime was a resurgence

of nationalism (including renewed and positive interest in the ancient regime of Chinggis Khan). Like the peoples of Eastern Europe

and the Soviet Union, Mongolians wanted to reform their country's social, political, and economic sectors and to be more open

to the West. The changes set in motion in 1984 by the replacement of Yumjaagiyn Tsedenbal with the reform leadership of

xxxiii
Jambyn Batmonh were coming to fruition in 1990, as even Bat- monh himself was replaced as the top party and state leader.

Throughout 1989, Tsedenbal was criticized for having had a "dogmatic interpretation of socialism" and for having rushed to the conclusion that the period of socialism had begun. The 1989

leadership blamed Tsedenbal not only for the problems of the past

but also for having contributed to the current leadership's inability to determine the level of economic construction because of his earlier flawed analyses. In an effort to push blame back still far- ther, Tsedenbal's reputation was linked with that of his predecessor, Horloyn Choybalsan, whom Batmonh had criticized at the Fifth

Plenary Session of the Nineteenth Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party National Party Congress in December 1988.

Amidst the criticism of recent Mongolian leaders, the previous

negative analysis of the historical role of Chinggis Khan was re- vised. Chinggis was seen in an increasingly favorable light as the

Mongol nation's founder and as a national hero, a position not

well received in Moscow. Calls for publication of historical texts and literature in Mongol script, rather than in Cyrillic, grew, and

the usage of Mongol-language rather than Russian-language words

increased. Officials expressed concern midway through 1989 that some of the new nationalist pride might be taking a dangerous anti- Soviet line, and appropriate warnings were made to those whose

thinking may have been swayed by "bourgeois propaganda."

Western material culture also took hold in reform-minded Mongolia. Semi-professional rock music groups emerged after a decade

of low-key development (odes to Chinggis Khan were among the

hottest rock hits), and avant-garde artists began to enjoy official sanction. The emphasis on cultural reform, however, appeared to concentrate on a renewed interest in traditional prerevolutionary

achievements.

High-level exchanges with the Soviet Union continued to be the

norm in relations between Ulaanbaatar and Moscow; these included

Batmonh's brief "working visit" with Soviet president Mikhail

Gorbachev to reaffirm the two communist parties' "close comradeship" in July 1989. As a sign of more openness among communist

countries, in July 1989 Mongolia and Albania restored formal diplomatic relations and the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party

normalized relations with the Chinese Communist Party. Indicative of the continually improving relations with China was the visit one month later to Mongolia by the Chinese foreign minister, Qian

Qichen. The capitalist world was not ignored: the minister of for- eign economic relations and supply was dispatched to Britain and

the United States in July 1989 in search of investment and joint

xxxiv
venture possibilities, and diplomatic relations were established with

the European Economic Community in August 1989.

Domestic organizational activity also took place in the last half of 1989. In August 1989, the government announced that a new draft constitution of the Mongolian People's Republic would

be forthcoming in 1990 as part of the process of changing "outdated laws and rules necessitated by the process of renewal. . . ." There were changes in the top leadership, such as the retire- ment of Minister of Defense Jamsrangiyn Yondon in September

1989 and his replacement by Lieutenant General Lubsangombyn

Molomjamts.

In late 1989, the government revealed the existence in Dornod

Aymag of the Mardai uranium mine and the nearby town of Erdes,

which were developed and run as concessions by the Soviet Union.

Established by a 1981 intergovernmental agreement, the mine

began shipments of uranium ore to the Soviet Union in 1988. The

government also disclosed that unemployment officially was 27,000,

but unofficial estimates ran as high as three times that figure. Furthermore, Mongolia was more forthright about the economic drawbacks stemming from the country's political and ideological

orientation.

In late 1989, the new openness about economic conditions oc- casioned an admission by a deputy minister of foreign economic

relations and supply that many official statistics had been falsified during the Tsedenbal years to bolster claims of economic progress. The statistics had found their way into United Nations (UN) publications and had been used for years by foreign analysts projecting the state of the Mongolian economy. After the admission, both

the Mongolian leadership and media criticized the government's

channelling of inaccurate economic statistics to UN agencies as well

as Mongolia's refusal to seek economic assistance from Western

countries.

Dissatisfaction with Mongolia's previously self-imposed isolation

and with Soviet plans to reduce its economic presence in Mongolia led to great Mongolian efforts in late 1989 and early 1990 to expand foreign economic relations beyond communist countries.

Having joined the Group of 77—the coalition of more than 120

developing countries in the UN—in June 1989, Mongolia sought

to join the Asian Development Bank, to establish official relations

with the European Economic Community, and to become a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization. Mongolian

officials actively promoted joint ventures with capitalist companies,

and they welcomed visits by Western and Asian business representatives. Plans were underway to teach foreign languages for trade xxxv
purposes and to foster expanded tourism. In December 1989, Bat- monh announced that relations between Mongolia and China had

been normalized and that conditions were favorable for economic

cooperation.

The decade ended with the Seventh Plenary Session of the

Nineteenth National Party Congress from December 11 to 12 and

a two-day session of the People's Great Hural from December 12

to 13. The party plenum retired three Political Bureau members

and appointed two new, younger men to candidate membership.

The plenary session closed with a resolution calling for more energetic implementation of the party's economic and social policy and

a promise to hold the Twentieth National Party Congress of the

Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party in late November 1990.

For the first time, People's Great Hural sessions were broadcast

nationally over both radio and television as the deputies approved

a draft socio-economic development plan and a draft state budget

for 1990. Universal, equal, and direct suffrage through secret ballot for national and local assembly elections was provided in a draft

law also approved by the People's Great Hural.

In December 1989 and early 1990, the Mongolian Democratic

Union, a group of intellectuals and students labeled as an "unauthorized organization" by the government-controlled media,

started holding rallies in Ulaanbaatar, first to voice support for the

party and hural documents on socio-economic reconstruction but

later to demand democracy, government reform, and a multiparty

system. They also advocated bringing Tsedenbal, who had been

living in Moscow since 1984, to trial for having allowed Mongolia

to stagnate during his thirty-two-year regime. An early response

from the Political Bureau was the announcement that it had re- habilitated people illegally repressed in the 1930s and 1940s. Amidst

contradictory reports of whether or not the party and government

had both granted official recognition to the Mongolian Democratic

Union but had banned public assemblies and demonstrations, the

media criticized the union for making "ridiculous and contradictory statements" about the administration's reform efforts. Union

members, believing they were acting in defiance of the public as- sembly ban, continued to hold mass rallies and to issue calls for action by the government.

The year 1990 may prove the most momentous in Mongolia's

modern history. In March Council of Ministers Chairman, or Pre- mier, Dumaagiyn Sodnom made a six-day trip to Japan, the first visit of a Mongolian People's Republic leader to a noncommunist

country. Called "epoch making" by Japanese prime minister Kaifu

Toshiki, the trip included a visit with Emperor Akihito, eulogies

xxxvi
for Chinggis Khan, the signing of a most-favored-nation trade

agreement, and Kaifu's promise to donate US$3 million worth of

medical equipment and supplies and to encourage Japanese firms

to assist in the construction of a steel mill in Mongolia.

Momentous change awaited Sodnom upon his return to Ulaanbaatar. From March 12 to 14, 1990, the Eighth Plenary Session

of the Nineteenth National Party Congress was held in response

to the continual protests—including hunger strikes—by opposition

groups. As a result of the meeting, the five-man Political Bureau

including the two new members elected in December 1989—was

replaced with a more reform-minded leadership. The new members were Gombojabyn Ochirbat, the former chairman of the Central Council of the Mongolian Trade Unions who had been ousted

by Tsedenbal in 1982; Lodongiyn Tudeb, director of Unen (Truth),

the party newspaper; Tserenpiliyn Gombosuren, minister of for- eign affairs; Nyamyn Michigdorj, head of the party's new SocialEconomic Department, and Tsebeenjabyn Oold, chairman of the

party's Control Commission. Sixty-one-year-old Ochirbat—seen by observers as a compromise candidate—succeeded Batmonh as general secretary of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party.

In doing so, Ochirbat bypassed the heir apparent to the position,

Tserendashiyn Namsray, who was in charge of party security and

whose succession was feared by liberal party members and opposition groups. Tsedenbal was expelled from the party and party

leaders purged by Tsedenbal in the 1960s were politically rehabilitated. Changes in the government followed. On March 22 Batmonh

was replaced as chairman of the Presidium of the People's Great

Hural—the equivalent of president—by forty-eight-year-old Minister of Foreign Economic Relations and Supply Punsalmaagiyn

Ochirbat (no relation to the new party general secretary). Sodnom

was replaced as an interim premier by flfty-five-year-old Deputy

Premier and Minister of Agriculture and Food Sharabyn Gungaadorj

With new leaders in charge of the ruling party, the state, and

the government, efforts were made to control the pace of reform

while moving ahead with structural political changes. Deputies to the People's Great Hural, however, sought more fundamental

change by amending the preamble and Article 82 of the Constitution to delete references about the leading and guiding role in so- ciety of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party. Presidium

chairman Ochirbat declared this move "as an important step in

separating party and state as well as in the renewal of the state sys- tem. '

' Furthermore, a Law on Elections was passed and multiparty

hural elections were set for June 1990. Because they perceived the xxxvn
new law as favoring the ruling party, opposition groups mounted

still more protests culminating in a demonstration of an estimated

40,000 people in Ulaanbaatar in late March.

While offering limited domestic political reforms, efforts were made to reassure China and the Soviet Union that the new leadership was stable. Presidium chairman Ochirbat visited Beijing

in early May, the first visit by a Mongolian head of state in twentyeight years. After talks with China's top party, state, and government leaders—who expressed concern over the unrest in Mongolia

a joint communique was issued declaring the intention to return

to the level of friendship and cooperation the two countries once

had, noting that their 1960 Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance was still in force. Both party general secretary Ochirbat

and Presidium chairman Ochirbat visited Moscow in mid-March

to seek support for their domestic political reforms and to resolve some of Ulaanbaatar' s economic grievances. Soviet leaders ex- pressed support for Mongolia's 4 'successful renewal" and agreed

to measures that would redress currency exchange and trade

problems between the two countries. To complete the momentous

month of March 1990, the Republic of Korea (South Korea) became

the 106th country to establish diplomatic relations with Mongolia. Later in the year Mongolia entered into substantial telecommunications and trade agreements with South Korea. Despite a

policy that considers Mongolia as part of China, officials of the

Republic of China government in Taiwan held talks with Mongolian representatives in the United States concerning possible

Taiwan agricultural and vocational aid in exchange for trade and

convenient visa issuance procedures.

In the face of continuing opposition hunger strikes and rallies,

the People's Great Hural amended the Constitution in May, legalizing political parties and allowing direct elections. An important

democratic change was the establishment of the Small Hural (Baga

Hural)—a fifty-seat standing legislature empowered to deal with

budgets, economic plans, and supervision of the work of the government. In the Small Hural, seats were apportioned according to party

preferences expressed on ballots by the electorate. The People's

Great Hural would have legislative veto power and the authority

to elect the head of state; members of the Small Hural could not

concurrently be deputies to the People's Great Hural. Agreement

on the amendments came after opposition group representatives

met with the ruling party and reached a consensus.

Structural changes in the government during this period included,

among others, the establishment of several new ministries (Agriculture, Light, and Food Industry; Construction; Education; Health

xxxvm
and Social Security; Heavy Industry; and Trade and Cooperation)

and the consolidation or abolition of several old ministries (Agriculture and Food Industry; Foreign Economic Relations and Supply;

Light Industry; Power, Mining Industry, and Geology; Social

Economy and Services; and Trade and Procurement). All deputy

chairmen of the Council of Ministers, or deputy premiers, were

replaced, as were the majority of ministers. The process was a continual one with more changes in the offing as the decade progressed.

Primary and general elections were held in late July. The Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party won a comfortable majority

in the People's Great Hural, taking 357 of the 430 seats, or 84.6

percent, and 61.7 percent share of the party preference vote, giving it 31 of the 50 seats in the Small Hural. The largest opposition

force, the Mongolian Democratic Party, won thirteen seats, while

the Social Democratic Party and the National Progress Party each

won three seats. The other registered political parties, the Free

Labor Party and the Mongolian Green Party, did not win representation in the Small Hural.

Punsalmaagiyn Ochirbat was sworn in as Mongolia's first elected

president in September 1990, the day after he had been overwhelmingly voted in by the First Session of the Twelfth People's Great

Hural. While noting Mongolia's "historically . . . complicated sit- uation" in his nationally televised inaugural address, Ochirbat

stressed the need to move away from excessive involvement with

the Soviet Union and pursue a nonaligned foreign policy with

stronger ties with the nations of the Asia-Pacific region. He called

for the introduction of a market economy domestically, and said

he would seek membership with the International Monetary Fund,

the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. A possible visit to the United States was an early agenda item for the new president.

The same day Ochirbat was elected president, the People's Great

Hural elected D. Gombojab, a Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party member, as its new chairman. In a move recognizing

the dramatic nature of Mongolia's electoral revolution, Radnaasumbereliyn Gonchigdorj, the thirty- six-year- old leader of the Social

Democratic Party—and former Mongolia People's Revolutionary

Party member—was elected vice president of Mongolia and chairman of the Small Hural. Several days later, the People's Great

Hural elected as premier Dashyn Byambarusen, a forty-eight-yearold reform-minded economist, member of the Mongolia People's

Revolutionary Party, first deputy chairman of the former Council

of Ministers, and chairman of the State Socioeconomic Development Committee. He immediately pledged to form a coalition

government, including members of the Mongolian Green Party, xxxIX
which had failed to obtain a seat in the People's Great Hural or

the Small Hural. Among the problems Byambasuren's government

faced was an accumulated US$5.7 billion debt owed to the Soviet

Union. Structural alterations came with Byambasuren's accession.

His official title was changed from chairman of the Council of

Ministers to premier or prime minister, and the Council of Ministers

became known simply as the government. The Small Hural held

its first session in September and had as its main tasks the revision

of all basic laws and regulations and restructuring the state and the

national economy. By October a new sixteen-member cabinet was

in place.

An easing up on religious institutions accompanied political re- forms. The official media reported in September 1990 that

4 'almost

all" of the eighteen aymags had their own working temples or monasteries. The Gandan monastery in Ulaanbaatar was said to be so "overloaded" that a second monastery, home for 500 monks, was opened in an old temple that had been used as an exhibition

hall since 1937. Moreover, some 80,000 people reportedly joined

the Union of Mongolian Believers and its Democratic Party of Mongolian Believers.

The Mongolian political scene in 1990 was extraordinarily dynamic and, as admitted by its new leaders, complicated. It was

the culmination of more than half a decade of reform efforts and,

perhaps, an evolutionary stage of the revolution that had begun

in 1921. Despite the presence of reform-minded leaders, the in- clusion of opposition parties in decision making, and majority rule

by the communist party, the burgeoning democracy did not as- sure political or economic stability. At best, Mongolian society was

facing a long period of readjustment in all sectors. Just before this book was sent to press, a new comprehensive

reference book on Mongolia

Information Mongolia (Oxford, 1990)

was published by Pergamon Press as part of its Countries of the

World Information Series. It was compiled and edited by the Academy of Sciences of the Mongolian People's Republic and contains a foreword by President Ochirbat. This encyclopedic seventy-two

chapter work is recommended for those seeking greater coverage

and detail than provided by Mongolia: A Country Study.

November 22, 1990 Robert L. Worden

xl
Chapter 1. Historical Setting
Archer and hunting dog
MODERN MONGOLIA—the Mongolian People's Republiccomprises only about half of the vast Inner Asian region known

throughout history as Mongolia. Furthermore, it is only a frac- tion of the great Mongol empire of the thirteenth and fourteenth

centuries that stretched from Korea to Hungary and encompassed

nearly all of Asia except the Indian subcontinent and parts of

Southeast Asia. Because the Mongol empire was so vast—the largest contiguous land empire in the history of the world—the Mongols were written about in many languages by numerous chroniclers

of divergent conquered societies, who provided a wide range of

perspectives, myths, and legends. In addition, because many for- eign accounts are about the Mongol invasions and were written

by the conquered, the Mongols often are described in unfavorable

terms, as bloodthirsty barbarians who kept their subjects under a harsh yoke. Mongol sources emphasize the demigod-like military

genius of Chinggis Khan, providing a perspective in the opposite

extreme. The term Mongol itself is often a misnomer. Although

the leaders and core forces of the conquerors of Eurasia were ethnic Mongols, most of the main army was made up of Uralo-Altaic

people, many of them Turkic. Militarily, the Mongols were stopped

only by the Mamluks of Egypt and by the Japanese, or by their

own volition, as happened in Europe. In their increasingly sophisticated administrative systems, they employed Chinese, Iranians,

Russians, and others. Mongolia and its people thus have had a

significant and lasting impact on the historical development of major

nations, such as China and Russia, and, periodically, they have

influenced the entire Eurasian continent.

Until the twentieth century, most of the peoples who inhabited

Mongolia were nomads, and even in the 1980s a substantial proportion of the rural population was essentially nomadic. Originally

there were many warlike nomadic tribes living in Mongolia, and

apparently most of these belonged to one or the other of two racially

distinct and linguistically very different groupings. One of these

groupings, the Yuezhi, was related linguistically to the ancient

nomadic Scythian peoples—who inhabited the steppes north and

northeast of the Black Sea and the region east of the Aral Sea

and was therefore Indo-European. The other grouping was the

Xiongnu, a nomadic people of uncertain origins.

Although in the course of history other peoples displaced, or be- came mteirningled with, the Yuezhi and the Xiongnu, their activities,

3
Mongolia: A Country Study

conflicts, and internal and external relations established a pattern,

with four principal themes, that continued almost unchanged

except for the conquest of Eurasia in the thirteenth and fourteenth

centuries—until the eighteenth century. First, among these four

themes, there were constant fierce struggles involving neighboring tribes, engaged in frequently shifting alliances that did not al- ways follow ethnic, racial, or linguistic lines. Second, during periods

when China was united and strong, trade with Inner Asian peoples was allowed, and nomadic states either became vassals of the

Chinese emperor, or they retreated beyond his reach into the north- ern steppes; conversely, when China appeared weak, raids were made into rich Chinese lands, sometimes resulting in retaliatory

expeditions into Mongolia. Third, occasional, transitory consolidation—of all or of large portions of the region under the control

of a conqueror or a coalition of similar tribes—took place; such

temporary consolidations could result in a life-or-death struggle between major tribal groupings until one or the other was exterminated or was expelled from the region, or until they joined forces. Fourth, on several occasions, raids into northern China were so vast and successful that the victorious nomads settled in the con- quered land, established dynasties, and eventually became absorbed—sinicized—by the more numerous Chinese.

Within this pattern, the Xiongnu eventually expelled the Yuezhi,

who were driven to the southwest to become the Kushans of Iranian,

Afghan, and Indian history. In turn, the Xiongnu themselves later were driven west. Their descendants, or possibly another group,

continued this westward migration, establishing the Hun empire,

in Central and Eastern Europe, that reached its zenith under Attila. The pattern was interrupted abruptly and dramatically late in

the twelfth century and throughout the thirteenth century by Chinggis and his descendants. During the consolidation of Mongolia and some of the invasions of northern China, Chinggis created sophisticated military and political organizations, exceeding in skill, effi- ciency, and vigor the institutions of the most civilized nations of

the time. Under him and his immediate successors, the Mongols

conquered most of Eurasia.

After a century of Mongol dominance in Eurasia, the traditional

patterns reasserted themselves. Mongols living outside Mongolia

were absorbed by the conquered populations; Mongolia itself again

became a land of incessantly warring nomadic tribes. True to the

fourth pattern, a similar people, the Manchus, conquered China

in the seventeenth century, and ultimately became sinicized.

Here the pattern ended. The Manchu conquest of China came

at a time when the West was beginning to have a significant impact

4
Historical Setting

on East Asia. Russian colonial expansionism was sweeping rapidly

across Asia—at first passing north of Mongolia but bringing in- cessant pressure, from the west and the north, against Mongol

tribes—and was beginning to establish firm footholds in Mongolian

territory by conquest and the establishment of protectorates. At

the same time, the dynamic Manchus also applied pressure from

the east and the south. This pressure was partly the traditional at- tempt at control over nomadic threats from Mongolia, but it also was a response to the now clearly apparent threat of Russian ex- pansionism.

From the late seventeenth century to the early twentieth century, Mongolia was a major focus of Russian and Manchu-Chinese

rivalry for predominant influence in all of Northeast Asia. In the

process, Russia absorbed those portions of historical Mongolia to the west and north of the present Mongolian People's Republic.

The heart of Mongolia, which became known as Outer Mongolia

(see Glossary), was claimed by the Chinese. The area was distinct

from Inner Mongolia, along the southern rim of the Gobi, which

China absorbed—those regions to the southwest, south, and east that now are included in the People's Republic of China. Continuing Russian interest in Mongolia was discouraged by the Manchus.

As Chinese power waned in the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries, however, Russian influence in Mongolia grew. Thus

Russia supported Outer Mongolian declarations of independence

in the period immediately after the Chinese Revolution of 1911.

Russian interest in the area did not diminish, even after the Russian Revolution of 1917, and the Russian civil war spilled over into

Mongolia in the period 1919 to 1921. Chinese efforts to take advantage of internal Russian disorders by trying to reestablish their

claims over Outer Mongolia were thwarted in part by China's in- stability and in part by the vigor of the Russian reaction once the

Bolshevik Revolution had succeeded. Russian predominance in

Outer Mongolia was unquestioned after 1921 , and when the Mongolian People's Republic was established in 1924, it was as a communist-controlled satellite of Moscow.

Early Development, ca. 220 B.C.-A.D. 1206

Origins of the Mongols

Archaeological evidence places early Stone Age human habitation in the southern Gobi between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago. By the first millennium B.C . , bronze-working peoples lived in Mongolia. With the appearance of iron weapons by the third century

B.C., the inhabitants of Mongolia had begun to form tribal alliances

5
Mongolia: A Country Study

and to threaten China. The origins of more modern inhabitants

are found among the forest hunters and nomadic tribes of Inner

Asia. They inhabited a great arc of land extending generally from

the Korean Peninsula in the east, across the northern tier of China

to the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic and to the Pamir Mountains and Lake Balkash in the west (see fig. 1). During most of

recorded history, this has been an area of constant ferment from

which emerged numerous migrations and invasions to the southeast

(into China), to the southwest (into Transoxiana—modern Uzbek

Soviet Socialist Republic, Iran, and India), and to the west (across

Scythia toward Europe). By the eighth century B.C., the inhabitants of much of this region evidendy were nomadic Indo-European

speakers, either Scythians or their kin. Also scattered throughout

the area were many other tribes that were primarily Mongol in

their ethnologic characteristics.

Xiongnu and Yuezhi

The first significant recorded appearance of nomads came late in the third century B.C., when the Chinese repelled an invasion

of the Xiongnu (Hsiung-nu in Wade-Giles romanization) across the Huang He (Yellow River) from the Gobi. The Xiongnu were

a nomadic people of uncertain origins. Their language is not known

to modern scholars, but the people were probably similar in appearance and characteristics to the later Mongols. A Chinese army,

which had adopted Xiongnu military technology—wearing trousers and using mounted archers with stirrups—pursued the Xiong- nu across the Gobi in a ruthless punitive expedition. Fortification

walls built by various Chinese warring states were connected to make a 2,300-kilometer Great Wall along the northern border, as a barrier to further nomadic inroads.

The Xiongnu temporarily abandoned their interest in China and

turned their attention westward to the region of the Altai Mountains and Lake Balkash, inhabited by the Yuezhi (Yueh-chih in

Wade-Giles), an Indo-European-speaking nomadic people who had

relocated from China's present-day Gansu Province as a result of

their earlier defeat by the Xiongnu. Endemic warfare between these

two nomadic peoples reached a climax in the latter part of the third

century and the early decades of the second century B.C.; the

Xiongnu were triumphant. The Yuezhi then migrated to the southwest where, early in the second century, they began to appear in

the Oxus (the modern Amu Darya) Valley, to change the course

of history in Bactria, Iran, and eventually India.

Meanwhile, the Xiongnu again raided northern China about

200 B.C., finding that the inadequately defended Great Wall was

6
Historical Setting

not a serious obstacle. By the middle of the second century B.C.,

they controlled all of northern and western China north of the

Huang He. This renewed threat led the Chinese to improve their

defenses in the north, while building up and improving the army,

particularly the cavalry, and while preparing long-range plans for an invasion of Mongolia.

Between 130 and 121 B.C., Chinese armies drove the Xiongnu

back across the Great Wall, weakened their hold on Gansu Province

as well as on what is now Nei Monggol Autonomous Region (Inner

Mongolia—see Glossary), and finally pushed them north of the

Gobi into central Mongolia. Following these victories, the Chinese

expanded into the areas later known as Manchuria (see Glossary),

the Korean Peninsula, and Inner Asia. The Xiongnu, once more

turning their attention to the west and the southwest, raided deep

into the Oxus Valley between 73 and 44 B.C. The descendants

of the Yuezhi and their Chinese rulers, however, formed a com- mon front against the Xiongnu and repelled them.

During the next century, as Chinese strength waned, border

warfare between the Chinese and the Xiongnu was almost incessant. Gradually the nomads forced their way back into Gansu and

the northern part of what is now China's Xinjiang-Uygur Autonomous Region. In about the middle of the first century A.D., a

revitalized Eastern Han Dynasty (A.D. 25-220) slowly recovered

these territories, driving the Xiongnu back into the Altai Mountains and the steppes north of the Gobi. During the late first cen- tury A.D., having reestablished the administrative control over

southern China and northern Vietnam that had been lost briefly

at beginning of this same century, the Eastern Han made a concerted effort to reassert dominance over Inner Asia. A Chinese army

crossed the Pamir Mountains, conquered territories as far west as the Caspian Sea, defeated the Yuezhi Kushan Empire, and even

sent an emissary in search of the eastern provinces of Rome.

Donghu, Toba, and Ruruan

Although the Xiongnu finally had been driven back into their

homeland by the Chinese in A.D. 48, within ten years the Xianbei

(or Hsien-pei in Wade-Giles) had moved (apparently from the north

or northwest) into the region vacated by the Xiongnu. The Xianbei were the northern branch of the Donghu (or Tung Hu, the Eastern

Hu), a proto-Tunguz group mentioned in Chinese histories as exist- ing as early as the fourth century B.C. The language of the Donghu,

like that of the Xiongnu, is unknown to modern scholars. The

Donghu were among the first peoples conquered by the Xiongnu.

Once the Xiongnu state weakened, however, the Donghu rebelled.

7
Mongolia: A Country Study

By the first century, two major subdivisions of the Donghu had

developed: the Xianbei in the north and the Wuhuan in the south.

The Xianbei, who by the second century A.D. were attacking

Chinese farms south of the Great Wall, established an empire,

which, although short-lived, gave rise to numerous tribal states along the Chinese frontier. Among these states was that of the Toba

(T'o-pa in Wade-Giles), a subgroup of the Xianbei, in modern

China's Shanxi Province. The Wuhuan also were prominent in

the second century, but they disappeared thereafter; possibly they were absorbed in the Xianbei western expansion. The Xianbei and

the Wuhuan used mounted archers in warfare, and they had only

temporary war leaders instead of hereditary chiefs. Agriculture,

rather than full-scale nomadism, was the basis of their economy.

In the sixth century A.D., the Wuhuan were driven out of Inner

Asia into the Russian steppe.

Chinese control of parts of Inner Asia did not last beyond the

opening years of the second century, and, as the Eastern Han Dynasty ended early in the third century A.D., suzerainty was limited primarily to the Gansu corridor. The Xianbei were able to make forays into a China beset with internal unrest and political

disintegration. By 317 all of China north of the Chang Jiang

(Yangtze River) had been overrun by nomadic peoples: the Xianbei

from the north; some remnants of the Xiongnu from the northwest; and the Chiang people of Gansu and Tibet (present-day

China's Xizang Autonomous Region) from the west and the southwest. Chaos prevailed as these groups warred with each other and

repulsed the vain efforts of the fragmented Chinese kingdoms south

of the Chang Jiang to reconquer the region.

By the end of the fourth century, the region between the Chang

Jiang and the Gobi, including much of modern Xinjiang, was dominated by the Toba. Emerging as the partially sinicized state of Dai

between A.D. 338 and 376 in the Shanxi area, the Toba established control over the region as the Northern Wei Dynasty (A.D.

386-533). Northern Wei armies drove back the Ruruan (referred

to as Ruanruan or Juan-Juan by Chinese chroniclers), a newly aris- ing nomadic Mongol people in the steppes north of the Altai Mountains, and reconstructed the Great Wall. During the fourth century

also, the Huns left the steppes north of the Aral Sea to invade

Europe. By the middle of the fifth century, Northern Wei had

penetrated into the Tarim Basin in Inner Asia, as had the Chinese

in the second century. As the empire grew, however, Toba tribal customs were supplanted by those of the Chinese, an evolution not

accepted by all Toba.

8
Chinggis Khan, detail from a sixteenth-century

Iranian genealogical manuscript

Courtesy The Granger Collection

9
Mongolia: A Country Study

The Ruruan, only temporarily repelled by Northern Wei, had

driven the Xiongnu toward the Ural Mountains and the Caspian

Sea and were making raids into China. In the late fifth century,

the Ruruan established a powerful nomadic empire spreading generally north of Northern Wei. It was probably the Ruruan who first used the title khan (see Glossary).

Rise of the Turk

Northern Wei was disintegrating rapidly because of revolts of semitribal Toba military forces that were opposed to being sinicized, when

disaster struck the flourishing Ruruan empire. The Turk, a vassal

people, known as Tujue to Chinese chroniclers, revolted against their Ruruan rulers. The uprising began in the Altai Mountains, where

many of the Turk were serfs working the iron mines. Thus, from

the outset of their revolt, they had the advantage of controlling what

had been one of the major bases of Ruruan power. Between 546

and 553, the Turk overthrew the Ruruan and established themselves

as the most powerful force in North Asia and Inner Asia. This was

the beginning of a pattern of conquest that was to have a signifi- cant effect upon Eurasian history for more than 1,000 years. The

Turk were the first people to use this later widespread name. They

are also the earliest Inner Asian people whose language is known,

because they left behind Orkhon inscriptions in a runic-like script,

which was deciphered in 1896.

It was not long before the tribes in the region north of the Gobi

the Eastern Turk—were following invasion routes into China used

in previous centuries by Xiongnu, Xianbei, Toba, and Ruruan.

Like their predecessors who had inhabited the mountains and the

steppes, the attention of the Turk quickly was attracted by the wealth

of China. At first these new raiders encountered little resistance,

but toward the end of the sixth century, as China slowly began

to recover from centuries of disunity, border defenses stiffened.

The original Turk state split into eastern and western parts, with some of the Eastern Turk acknowledging Chinese overlordship.

For a brief period at the beginning of the seventh century, a new

consolidation of the Turk, under the Western Turk ruler Tardu,

again threatened China. In 601 Tardu 's army besieged Chang' an (modern XTan), then the capital of China. Tardu was turned back,

however, and, upon his death two years later, the Turk state again

fragmented. The Eastern Turk nonetheless continued their depredations, occasionally threatening Chang'an.

Influence of Tang China

From 629 to 648, a reunited China—under the Tang Dynasty

(A.D. 618-906)—destroyed the power of the Eastern Turk north

10
Historical Setting

of the Gobi; established suzerainty over the Kitan, a semi-nomadic

Mongol people who lived in areas that became the modern Chinese

provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin; and formed an alliance with

the Uighurs (see Glossary), who inhabited the region between the

Altai Mountains and Lake Balkash. Between 641 and 648, the Tang

conquered the Western Turk, reestablishing Chinese sovereignty over Xinjiang and exacting tribute from west of the Pamir Mountains. The Turk empire finally ended in 744.

For more than a century, the Tang retained control of central

and eastern Mongolia and parts of Inner Asia. During this century, the Tang expanded Chinese control into the Oxus Valley.

At the same time, their allies and nominal vassals, the Uighurs,

conquered much of western and northern Mongolia until, by the

middle of the eighth century, the Uighur seminomadic empire ex- tended from Lake Balkash to Lake Baykal.

It was at about this time that the Arab-led tide of Islam reached

Inner Asia. After a bitter struggle, the Chinese were ejected from

the Oxus Valley, but with Uighur assistance they defeated Muslim efforts to penetrate into Xinjiang. The earliest Mongol links

with Tibetan Buddhism, or Lamaism (see Glossary), also may have

been established in this period (see Religion, ch. 2). During this time, the Kitan of western Manchuria took advantage of the situ- ation to throw off Chinese control, and they began to raid north- ern China.

Despite these crippling losses, the Tang recovered and, with considerable Uighur assistance, held their frontiers. Tang dependence

upon their northern allies was apparently a source of embarrassment to the Chinese, who surreptitiously encouraged the Kirghiz

and the Karluks to attack the Uighurs, driving them south into

the Tarim Basin. As a result of the Kirghiz action, the Uighur empire collapsed in 846. Some of the Uighurs emigrated to Chinese

Turkestan (the Turpan region), where they established a flourishing kingdom that freely submitted to Chinggis Khan several

centuries later (see Early Wars in China, this ch.). Ironically, this weakening of the Uighurs undoubtedly hastened the decline and

fall of the Tang Dynasty over the next fifty years. Kitan and Jure hen

Free of Uighur restraint, the Kitan expanded in all directions

in the latter half of the ninth century and the early years of the

tenth century. By 925 the Kitan ruled eastern Mongolia, most of

Manchuria, and much of China north of the Huang He. In the recurrent process of sinicization, by the middle of the tenth cen- tury Kitan chieftains had established themselves as emperors of

11
Mongolia: A Country Study

northern China; their rule was known as the Liao Dynasty (916—

1125).

The period of the eleventh and twelfth centuries was one of consolidation, preceding the most momentous era in Mongol history,

the era of Chinggis Khan. During those centuries, the vast region

of deserts, mountains, and grazing land was inhabited by people

resembling each other in racial, cultural, and linguistic characteristics; ethnologically they were essentially Mongol. The similarites

among the Mongols, Turk, Tangut, and Tatars (see Glossary) who

inhabited this region causes considerable ethnic and historical confusion. Generally, the Mongols and the closely related Tatars in- habited the northern and the eastern areas; the Turk (who already

had begun to spread over western Asia and southeastern Europe) were in the west and the southwest; the Tangut, who were more

closely related to the Tibetans than were the other nomads and

who were not a Turkic people, were in eastern Xinjiang, Gansu,

and western Inner Mongolia (see fig. 2). The Liao state was

homogeneous, and the Kitan had begun to lose their nomadic

characteristics. The Kitan built cities and exerted dominion over

their agricultural subjects as a means of consolidating their empire.

To the west and the northwest of Liao were many other Mongol

tribes, linked together in various tenuous alliances and groupings,

but with littie national cohesiveness. In Gansu and eastern Xinjiang,

the Tangut—who had taken advantage of the Tang decline—had

formed a state, Western Xia or Xixia (1038-1227), nominally under

Chinese suzerainty. Xinjiang was dominated by the Uighurs, who

were loosely allied with the Chinese.

The people of Mongolia at this time were predominantly spirit

worshipers, with shamans providing spiritual and religious guidance

to the people and tribal leaders. There had been some infusion of

Buddhism, which had spread from Xinjiang, but it did not yet have

a strong influence (see The Yuan Dynasty; Return to Nomadic

Patterns, this ch.). Nestorian Christianity also had penetrated Inner

Asia.

In the eleventh century, the Kitan completed the conquest of

China north of the Huang He. Despite close cultural ties between

the Kitan and Western Xia that led the latter to become increasingly sinicized, during the remainder of that century and the early

years of the twelfth century, the two Mongol groups were frequently

at war with each other and with the Song Dynasty (A.D. 960-1279)

of China. The Uighurs of the Turpan region often were involved

in these wars, usually aiding the Chinese against Western Xia.

A Tungusic people, the Jurchen, ancestors of the Manchu,

formed an alliance with the Song and reduced the Kitan empire

12
Historical Setting

to vassal status in a seven-year war (1 1 15-1 122; see Caught Between

the Russians and the Manchus, this ch.). The Jurchen leader

proclaimed himself the founder of a new era, the Jin Dynasty

(1115-1234). Scarcely pausing in their conquests, the Jurchen subdued neighboring Koryo (Korea) in 1226 and invaded the terri- tory of their former allies, the Song, to precipitate a series of wars

with China that continued through the remainder of the century.

Meanwhile, the defeated Kitan Liao ruler had fled with the small

remnant of his army to the Tarim Basin, where he allied himself

with the Uighurs and established the Karakitai state (known also as the Western Liao Dynasty, 1124-1234), which soon controlled

both sides of the Pamir Mountains. The Jurchen turned their at- tention to the Mongols who, in 1 139 and in 1 147, warded them off. The Era of Chinggis Khan, 1206-27

Rise of Chinggis Khan

After the migration of the Jurchen, the Borjigin Mongols had

emerged in central Mongolia as the leading clan of a loose federation. The principal Borjigin Mongol leader, Kabul Khan, began

a series of raids into Jin in 1 135. In 1 162 (some historians say 1 167),

Temujin, the first son of Mongol chieftain Yesugei, and grandson

of Kabul, was born. Yesugei, who was chief of the Kiyat subclan

of the Borjigin Mongols, was killed by neighboring Tatars in 1 175,

when Temujin was only twelve years old. The Kiyat rejected the

boy as their leader and chose one of his kin instead. Temujin and

his immediate family were abandoned and apparently left to die

in a semidesert, mountainous region.

Temujin did not die, however. In a dramatic struggle described

in The Secret History of the Mongols, Temujin, by the age of twenty,

had become the leader of the Kiyat subclan and by 1 196, the unquestioned chief of the Borjigin Mongols. Sixteen years of nearly

constant warfare followed as Temujin consolidated his power north

of the Gobi. Much of his early success was because of his first alli- ance, with the neighboring Kereit clan, and because of subsidies

that he and the Kereit received from the Jin emperor in payment

for punitive operations against Tatars and other tribes that threatened the northern frontiers of Jin. Jin by this time had become

absorbed into the Chinese cultural system and was politically weak

and increasingly subject to harassment by Western Xia, the

Chinese, and finally the Mongols. Later Temujin broke with the

Kereit, and, in a series of major campaigns, he defeated all the

Mongol and Tatar tribes in the region from the Altai Mountains

to Manchuria. In time Temujin emerged as the strongest chieftain

13
Mongolia: A Country Study
Historical Setting

among a number of contending leaders in a confederation of clan

lineages. His principal opponents in this struggle had been the

Naiman Mongols, and he selected Karakorum (west- southwest of

modern Ulaanbaatar, near modern Har Horin), their capital, as the seat of his new empire.

In 1206 Temujin's leadership of all Mongols and other peoples

they had conquered between the Altai Mountains and the Da

Hinggan (Greater Khingan) Range was acknowledged formally by

a kuriltai (council—see Glossary) of chieftains as their khan. Temujin

took the honorific chinggis, meaning supreme or great (also romanized as genghis or jenghiz), creating the title Chinggis Khan, in an

effort to signify the unprecedented scope of his power. In latter hagiography, Chinggis was said even to have had divine ancestry.

The contributions of Chinggis to Mongol organizational development had lasting impact. He took personal control of the old clan

lineages, ending the tradition of noninterference by the khan. He

unified the Mongol tribes through a logistical nexus involving food

supplies, sheep and horse herds, intelligence and security, and trans- portation. A census system was developed to organize the decimalbased political jurisdictions and to recruit soldiers more easily. As

the great khan, Chinggis was able to consolidate his organization

and to institutionalize his leadership over a Eurasian empire. Critical ingredients were his new and unprecedented military system

and politico-military organization. His exceptionally flexible

mounted army and the cadre of Chinese and Muslim siege-warfare

experts who facilitated his conquest of cities comprised one of the

most formidable instruments of warfare that the world had ever

seen (see Historical Traditions, ch. 5). At the time of his first kuriltai at Karakorum, Chinggis already was engaged in a dispute with Western Xia, the first of his wars

of conquest. In 1205 the Mongol military organization, based on

the tumen (see Glossary), had defeated the much larger Tangut forces

easily. Despite problems in conquering the well-fortified Western

Xia cities, the results were the same in the campaigns of 1207 and

1209. When peace was concluded in 1209, the Western Xia emperor, with substantially reduced dominion, acknowledged Chinggis

as overlord.

Early Wars in China

A major goal of Chinggis was the conquest ofJin, both to avenge

earlier defeats and to gain the riches of northern China. He declared war in 1211, and at first the pattern of operations against Jin was

the same as it had been against Western Xia. The Mongols were

victorious in the field, but they were frustrated in their efforts to

15
Mongolia: A Country Study

take major cities. In his typically logical and determined fashion,

Chinggis and his highly developed staff studied the problems of

the assault of fortifications. With the help of Chinese engineers,

they gradually developed the techniques that eventually would make

them the most accomplished and most successful besiegers in the

history of warfare.

As a result of a number of overwhelming victories in the field and a few successes in the capture of fortifications deep within

China, Chinggis had conquered and had consolidated Jin ter- ritory as far south as the Great Wall by 1213. He then advanced

with three armies into the heart of Jin territory, between the

Great Wall and the Huang He. He defeated the Jin forces, devastated northern China, captured numerous cities, and in 1215 besieged, captured, and sacked the Jin capital of Yanjing (later known

as Beijing). The Jin emperor did not surrender, however, but re- moved his capital to Kaifeng. There his successors finally were

defeated, but not until 1234. Meanwhile, Kuchlug, the deposed

khan of the Naiman Mongols, had fled west and had conquered

the state of Karakitai, the western allies that had decided to side

with Chinggis.

By this time, the Mongol army was exhausted by ten years of

continuous campaigning against Western Xia and Jin. Therefore,

Chinggis sent only two tumen under a brilliant young general, Jebe,

against Kuchlug. An internal revolt was incited by Mongol agents;

then Jebe overran the country. Kuchlug' s forces were defeated west

of Kashgar; he was captured and executed, and Karakitai was an- nexed. By 1218 the Mongol state extended as far west as Lake

Balkash and adjoined Khwarizm, a Muslim state that reached

to the Caspian Sea in the west and to the Persian Gulf and the

Arabian Sea in the south.

Conquest of Khwarizm and Reconnaissance into Europe

In 1218 the governor of an eastern province of Khwarizm mistreated several Mongol emissaries. Chinggis retaliated with a force

of more than 200,000 troops, and Khwarizm was eradicated by

1220. A detachment of about 25,000 Mongol cavalry, as part of

the Khwarizmian campaign, had crossed the Caucasus Mountains,

had skirted the Caspian Sea, and had briefly invaded Europe.

After defeating the Georgians and the Cumans of the Caucasus, the small Mongol expedition advanced in 1222 into the steppes

of the Kuban. Combining rapid movement with guile, the Mongols again defeated the Cumans, captured Astrakhan, then crossed

the Don River into Russia. Penetrating the Crimea, they stormed

16
Stone turtle marking the reputed site of

Chinggis Khan 's capital at Karakorum

Courtesy Steve Mann

the Genoese fortress of Sudak on the southeastern coast, then turned

north into what later became known as the Ukraine.

The Mongol leaders now thought they had accomplished their

mission. Before returning to Mongolia, however, they decided to

rest their troops and to gain more information about the lands to the north and the west. They camped near the mouth of the Dnieper

River, and their spies soon were scattered throughout eastern and

central Europe.

Meanwhile, a mixed Russian-Cuman army of 80,000 under the

leadership of Mstislav, prince of Kiev, marched against the Mongol encampment. Jebe and Subetei, another great Mongol general, sought peace; however, when their envoys were murdered,

they attacked and routed Mstislav' s force on the banks of the Kalka

River. Historian Charles Halperin estimated that by this time the

''destructive power of the Mongol war machine eclipsed anything

the Russians had seen before," and the Kievan Russians found

themeselves faced no longer with a renewal of the sporadic raids

of the past but with the threat of subjugation and foreign domination. In compliance with a courier message from Chinggis, the ex- pedition then marched eastward. As the Mongols were marching

north of the Caspian Sea, Jebe died of illness. In 1224 Subetei led

17
Mongolia: A Country Study

the expedition back, after a trek of more than 6,400 kilometers,

to a rendezvous with the main Mongol armies, that were returning

from their victories over the Khwarizm.

The Last Campaign of Chinggis Khan

The vassal emperor of Western Xia had refused to take part in

the war against the Khwarizm, and Chinggis had vowed punishment. While he was in Iran, Western Xia and Jin had formed an

alliance against the Mongols. After rest and a reorganization of

his armies, Chinggis prepared for war against his foes. By this time, advancing years had led Chinggis to prepare for the future and to assure an orderly succession among his descendants. He selected his son Ogedei as his successor and established

the method of selection of subsequent khans, specifying that they

should come from his direct descendants. Meanwhile, he studied

intelligence reports from Western Xia and Jin and readied a force

of 180,000 troops for a new campaign.

Late in 1226, when the rivers were frozen, the Mongols struck

southward with their customary speed and vigor. The Tangut, well

acquainted with Mongol methods, were ready, and the two armies

met by the banks of the frozen Huang He. Despite a Western Xia

army of more than 300,000 troops, the Mongols virtually annihilated the Tangut host. Pursuing energetically, the Mongols killed the Western Xia emperor in a mountain fortress. His son took refuge in the great walled

city of Ningxia, which the Mongols had failed to conquer in earlier wars. Leaving one-third of his army to take Ningxia, Chinggis sent Ogedei eastward, across the great bend of the Huang He, to drive

the Jin forces from their last footholds north of the river. With the

remainder of his troops, he marched southeast, evidentiy to eastern Sichuan Province, where the Western Xia, the Jin, and the Song

empires met, to prevent Song reinforcements from reaching

Ningxia. Here he accepted the surrender of the new Western Xia

emperor but rejected peace overtures from Jin.

A premonition of death caused Chinggis to head back to Mongolia, but he died en route. On his deathbed in 1227, he outiined

to his youngest son, Tului, the plans that later would be used by

his successors to complete the destruction of the Jin empire.

Successors of Chinggis, 1228-59

Ogedei and Continuing Conquests

In compliance with the will of the dead khan, a kuriltai at Karakorum in 1228 selected Ogedei as khan. The kuriltai also decided to

18
Historical Setting

launch a campaign against the Bulghars, Turks in the region of

Kazan on the middle Volga River, and to complete the conquest

of the outiying Western Xia territories. By 1229 Batu Khan, grand- son of Chinggis, had defeated most of the Bulghar outposts, and

in 1231 Ogedei sent an expedition to conquer the Korean Peninsula.

That same year, Ogedei decided to destroy Jin. He formed an

alliance with the Song, then sent Tului southward with a large army

into Jin territory. In 1232 in the middle of the campaign, Tului

died, and Subetei took command. He continued on to besiege

Kaifeng, the Jin capital. Despite the defenders' skillful use of explosives, the city fell to the Mongols after a year's siege. Subetei

then completed the conquest of the Jin empire, driving many of

the Jurchen back into their original homeland, but absorbing others

into the Mongol army for the further conquest of China. Ogedei

refused to divide the conquered region with the Song, which in

1234 attempted to seize part of the former Jin empire. This was

the signal for another war, which lasted forty-five years. Ogedei committed the Mongols, whose total population could

not have exceeded 1 million, to an offensive war against the most

populous nation on earth, while other Mongol armies were invading Iran, Anatolia, Syria, and the steppes of western Siberia and

Russia. By this time, ethnic Mongols were a minority of the Mongol armies. The remainder were Turks, Tatars, Tangut, Cumans,

Bulghars, and other Inner Asian peoples. Nonetheless, the confidence with which the Mongol armies embarked on these far-flung wars was almost as remarkable as the invariable success of their

operations. In compliance with the wishes of Chinggis, as expressed presumably in his legal code, the yasaq (see Glossary), his vast empire had

been apportioned among his sons (only three survived; the eldest,

Jochi, had died in 1227), and his sons' descendants, subject to the

overall authority of the khan at Karakorum, which was rebuilt in

1235 by Ogedei. Jochi' s son, Batu, ruled the region to the north

and the west of Lake Balkash. Chagadai, the second son of Chinggis, was given the southwestern region that includes modern Afghanistan, Turkestan (now in the Soviet Union), and central

Siberia. He and his successors were known as the khans of the

Chagadai Mongols. By implication, this realm extended indefinitely to the southwest, as Batu's did to the northwest. Ogedei and his

progeny were awarded China and the other lands of East Asia.

Tului, the youngest of the four principal heirs, was to have central Mongolia, the homeland, in accordance with Mongol custom.

He and his descendants, however, were to share Mongolia's pre- cious fighting manpower with the other three khanates.

19
Mongolia: A Country Study

The kuriltai of 1235 authorized at least two more major offensive operations: one against Tibet, the other in Eastern Europe.

The Tibetan expedition was led by Godan, son of Ogedei, and the

conquest was completed in 1239.

Subetei and the European Expedition

The European expedition was to be a major Mongol effort, comparable in scope to the war against China. It was to become a catas- trophe of monumental proportions for medieval East Europeans,

who were confronted with devastating wars and serious social dis- ruption. Nominal command was to be exercised by Batu, because

this was the part of the world he had inherited from Chinggis. The

actual commander was the aging, but still brilliant, Subetei. He

was probably the most gifted of all Mongol generals, after Chinggis himself, and he had been one of the commanders of the momentous reconnaissance that had swept through southern Russia fifteen years earlier. The Bulghars were defeated in 1236, and in December 1237

Subetei and Batu led an army of 600,000 across the frozen Volga

River. The Mongols spread destruction and death through Russia. Moscow, Vladimir, and other northern Russian principalities were destroyed before summer 1238. Subetei then turned south

to the steppe region around the Don, to allow his army to rest, to regain strength, and to prepare for new advances. Apparentiy

his timetable was delayed for a year by a dispute between Batu

and other royal princes commanding various hordes (see Glossary).

Nonetheless, this additional time gave Subetei an opportunity to accumulate still further information about central and western

Europe from his spies.

In November 1240, after the rivers and marshes of what, in modern times, is the Ukraine had frozen enough to take the weight

of cavalry, the Mongol army crossed the Dnieper River. On December 6, it conquered Kiev, the seat of the grand prince and the

Metropolitan See of Rus'. Subetei continued westward, his army

advancing, typically, on a broad front in three major columns.

To the north was the horde of Kaidu Khan, three tumen strong,

protecting the right flank of the main body. Kaidu swept through

Lithuania and Poland; on March 18 he destroyed the Polish army

at Cracow. He detached a tumen to raid along the Baltic coast and

with the remainder headed westward into Silesia. On April 9. 1241

at Liegnitz (Legnica, in Poland), the more disciplined Mongol army

decisively defeated a numerically superior combined European army

in a bitterly contested battle.

20
Historical Setting

Meanwhile, a horde of three tumen under Kadan, another son

of Ogedei, protected the southern flank and advanced through

Transylvania, into the Danube Valley, and into Hungary. In midApril Kadan and Kaidu joined the main body—under Batu—in

central Hungary.

Batu led the central force across the Carpathian Mountains in

early April 1241 , lured the army of King Bela IV of Hungary into

battle at the Sajo River on April 1 1, and annihilated it. The Mongols then seized Pest, and they spent the rest of the year consolidating their control of Hungary east of the Danube River.

Late in 1241 , the Mongols were ready to move again. In December the army crossed the frozen Danube. Scouting parties raided

into northern Italy toward Venice and Treviso, and up the Danube

toward Vienna. But suddenly the advance halted. Word had come,

by way of the incredibly swift Mongol messenger service, that

Ogedei had died on December 11. Theyasaq explicitly provided that after the death of the ruler all offspring of the house of Chinggis Khan, wherever they might be,

must return to Mongolia to take part in the election of the new

khan. From the outskirts of Vienna and Venice, the tumen countermarched, never to reappear. They moved through Dalmatia and

Serbia, then eastward where they virtually destroyed the kingdoms

of Serbia and Bulgaria before crossing the lower Danube. They

evacuated Hungary for lack of sufficient pasture and moved into

the southern Russian steppes. Advances into India also ceased.

Reign of Kuyuk

It was not until the summer of 1246 that a kuriltai assembled at Karakorum to select a successor to Ogedei. This was mainly be- cause of political maneuvering by Batu and other royal princes who

had hopes of being elected. While deliberately stalling in Bulghar

in 1241, Batu founded Sarai (near modern Leninsk, Russian Soviet

Federated Socialist Republic) on the lower Volga River, as the capital of his Khanate of Kipchak, best known to history as the Gold- en Horde (see Glossary; The Golden Horde, this ch.).

Between 1242 and 1246, Ogedei' s widow, Teregene, held power

as regent in preparation for the selection of her son, Kuyuk, as the new khan. Present during the kuriltai was the Franciscan friar,

John of Piano Carpini, a papal envoy sent to ascertain the intentions of the Mongols. He recognized that the Mongols planned the

conquest of Europe, and he belatedly urged Europe's monarchs

to adopt Mongol strategy and tactics to oppose the coming onslaught.

21
Mongolia: A Country Study

Kuyuk apparently was torn between completing the conquest

of China and continuing the conquest of Europe. The latter project was complicated, however, by Kuyuk' s continuing rivalry with

Batu. Just as civil war seemed imminent in 1249, Kuyuk died.

Mengke and the War in China

Except for the descendants of Ogedei and Chagadai, most of the

royal princes thought that Batu should be elected khan. By this time, however, Batu had decided that he preferred the steppes of

the Volga to the steppes of Mongolia. He declined the offer and

nominated Mengke, the eldest son of Tului (who had died in 1233),

unquestionably one of the most gifted descendants of Chinggis.

Mengke' s nomination was confirmed by a kuriltai in 1251 . He ex- ecuted several of Ogedei's sons who had opposed his election and

quickly restored to Mongol rule the vigor that had been lacking

since the death of Chinggis.

Taking seriously the legacy of world conquest, Mengke decided

to place primary emphasis on completing the conquest of Asia, particularly China; Europe was to be dealt with later. Because the Song

had had the benefit of a lull of nearly ten years in which to recover and to reorganize, conquering Asia had become more difficult than

it would have been earlier. Mengke himself took command, but

he also placed great responsibility on his younger brother, Khubilai.

Another brother, Hulegu, was sent to Iran to renew the expansion of Mongol control in Southwest Asia. Mengke encouraged

Batu to raid Central Europe, but did not send him additional

resources. Thus, although Batu's armies raided deep into Poland,

Lithuania, and Estonia, and again overran Serbia and Bulgaria,

these campaigns were not so important as the ones being undertaken in Southeast Asia and Southwest Asia.

Mengke also made some major administrative changes in the

khanates established by the will of Chinggis. He disinherited the

surviving sons of Ogedei, arranging that he and Khubilai would

inherit the lands of East Asia. He also placed a limit on the domains of the successors of Chagadai; these were to end along the

Oxus River and the Hindu Kush, instead of extending indefinitely

to the southwest. Southwest Asia was to be the inheritance of

Mengke's brother, Hulegu, the first of the Ilkhans ("subservient

khans") or Mongol rulers of Iran (see The Ilkhans, this ch.).

Mengke prosecuted the war in China with intensity and skill. His principal assistant was Khubilai, who was appointed viceroy

in China. In 1252 and 1253, Khubilai conquered Nanchao (modern

Yunnan). Tonkin (as northern Vietnam was known) then was

22
Historical Setting

invaded and pacified. The conquest ended with the fall of Hanoi

in 1257.

Song resistance in southern China was based upon determined

defense of its well-fortified, well-provisioned cities. The Chinese

empire began to crumble, however, under the impact of a series of brilliant campaigns, personally directed by Mengke between 1257

and 1259. His sudden death from dysentery in August 1259,

however, caused another lull in the war with China and put a stop

to advances in West Asia.

Khubilai Khan and the Yuan Dynasty, 1261-1368

A New Khan

The overwhelming choice of the kuriltai as Mengke's successor was his equally brilliant brother, Khubilai. Khubilai' s selection was

opposed violently, however, by his younger brother, Arik-Buka.

This opposition precipitated a civil war won by Khubilai in 1261

For the next few years, the new khan devoted his attention to administrative reforms of his vast empire (see fig. 3). A major development was Khubilai 's establishment in 1260 of a winter capital

at what is now Beijing but was then called Dadu ("great capital,"

also called Khanbalik—Marco Polo's Cambaluc) which shifted the

political center of the Mongol empire south into China and increased

Chinese influence. Khubilai maintained a summer residence north

of the Great Wall at Shangdu (the Xanadu of Coleridge).

In 1268 Khubilai was able to turn his full attention to the war

in China. A series of campaigns, distinguished by the skill of Bayan

(grandson of Subetei), culminated in 1276 in the capture of Hangzhou, the Song capital. It took three more years to subdue the out- lying provinces. The last action of the war—a naval battle in

Guangzhou Bay, in which the remnants of the Song fleet were destroyed by a Mongol fleet made up of defectors from the Song

navy—took place in 1279.

Khubilai did not share Mengke's fierce desire to conquer the

world. He had warred against China with determination, but apparently he realized that there was a limit to the Mongol capabilities for consolidating and for controlling conquered territory. It

is likely that he recognized that this limit was being approached

because of an event that occurred during the interregnum between

Mengke's death and his own accession.

Hulegu, who had seized Baghdad and defeated the Abbasid

Caliphate in 1258 and conquered Mesopotamia and Syria, had

returned to Mongolia upon receiving news of Mengke's death.

While he was gone, his forces were defeated by a larger, Mamluk,

23
Mongolia: A Country Study
Historical Setting

army at the Battle of Ain Jalut in Palestine in 1260. This was the

first significant Mongol defeat in seventy years. The Mamluks had

been led by a Turk named Baibars, a former Mongol warrior who

used Mongol tactics. Neither Khubilai nor Hulegu made a serious effort to avenge

the defeat of Ain Jalut. Both devoted their attention primarily to consolidating their conquests, to suppressing dissidence, and to reestablishing law and order. Like their uncle, Batu, and his Golden

Horde successors, they limited their offensive moves to occasional

raids or to attacks with limited objectives in unconquered neighboring regions. After the failure of two invasion attempts against

Japan in 1274 and 1281, Khubilai also gave up his goal of expansion to the east. In January 1293, Khubilai invaded Java and defeated the local ruler, only to be driven off the island by a Javanese

ally who turned against him.

After the Song Dynasty had been destroyed, in 1279 Khubilai

declared himself emperor of a united China with its capital at Dadu,

and he established the Yuan ("first," "beginning") Dynasty

(1279-1368). Khubilai, who took the Chinese-style reign title Zhiyuan ("the greatest of the Yuan"), proved himself to be one

of the most able rulers of imperial China.

The Yuan Dynasty

A rich cultural diversity evolved in China during the Yuan Dynasty, as it had in other periods of foreign dynastic rule. Major

achievements included the development of drama and the novel

and the increased use of the written vernacular. The Yuan was

involved in a fair amount of cultural exchange because of its ex- tensive West Asian and European contacts. The introduction of

foreign musical instruments enriched the Chinese performing arts. The conversion to Islam of growing numbers of people in northwestern and southwestern China dates from this period. Nestorian

Christianity and Roman Catholicism also enjoyed a period of toleration. Lamaism flourished, although native Daoism endured Mongol

persecutions. Chinese governmental practices and examinations were reinstated by the Mongols in the hope of maintaining order

within society. Advances were realized in the fields of travel litera- ture, cartography, geography, and scientific education. Certain key

Chinese innovations—such as printing techniques, porcelain playing

cards, and medical literature—were introduced in Europe, while

European skills, such as the production of thin glass and cloisonne,

became popular in China.

The Mongols undertook extensive public works. Land and water

communications were reorganized and improved. To provide

25
Mongolia: A Country Study

against possible famines, new granaries were ordered to be built

throughout the empire. Dadu was rebuilt with new palace grounds

that included artificial lakes, hills, and parks, and the capital be- came the terminus of the Grand Canal, which was completely reno- vated. These commercially oriented improvements encouraged

overland as well as maritime commerce throughout Asia and facili- tated the first direct Chinese contacts with Europe. Chinese and

Mongol travelers to the West were able to provide assistance in

such areas as hydraulic engineering, and they brought back to China

new scientific discoveries, agricultural crops, methods of food preparation, and architectural innovations.

Early records of travel by Westerners to East Asia date from this time. Much that the Western world of the thirteenth and fourteenth

centuries knew about the Mongols and Asia was the result of the

famous missions of a Venetian trading family. The first mission was by two brothers, Niccolo and Maffeo Polo, from 1260 to 1268.

Another started in 1271, when they were joined by Niccolo 's son, Marco. Marco Polo, who remained in Asia until 1295, was trusted

by Khubilai Khan and undertook a number of diplomatic missions

and administrative assignments for him throughout the empire.

The account of his travels, // milione (or, The Million, known in

English as the Travels ofMarco Polo), appeared about the year 1299

and astounded the people of Europe, who knew little of the highly

developed culture of East Asia. The works ofJohn of Piano Carpini

and William of Rubruck also provided early descriptions of the

Mongols to the West.

The Mongols sought, but failed, to govern China through its traditional institutions. At the outset, they discriminated against

the Chinese socially and politically, monopolized the most important central and regional government posts, and developed an unprecedented and complex six-tier local- government administration.

Mongols also preferred employing non-Chinese from other parts

of the Mongol domain—Inner Asia, the Middle East, and even Europe—in those positions for which no Mongol could be found.

Chinese, in turn, were more often employed in non-Chinese regions

of the empire.

In time, Khubilai 's successors became sinicized, and they then

lost all influence on other Mongol lands across Asia. Gradually,

they lost influence in China as well. The reigns of the later Yuan

emperors were short and were marked by intrigues and rivalries. Uninterested in administration, they were separated from both their

Mongolian army and their Chinese subjects. China was torn by

dissension and unrest; bandits ranged the country without interference from the weakening Yuan armies.

26
Historical Setting

The last of the nine successors of Khubilai was expelled from

Dadu in 1368 by Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and died in Karakorum in 1370. Although Zhu,

who adopted Mongol military methods, drove the Mongols out of

China, he did not destroy their power. A later Chinese army in- vaded Mongolia in 1380. In 1388 a decisive victory was won; about

70,000 Mongols were taken prisoner, and Karakorum was annihilated.

The llkhans

The Mongol defeat at Ain Jalut in 1260 led directly to the first important war between grandsons of Chinggis. The Mamluk leader,

Baibars, made an alliance with Berke Khan, Batu's brother and

successor. Berke had converted to Islam, and he thus was sympathetic to the Mamluk for religious reasons, as well as because

he was jealous of his nephew, Hulegu. When Hulegu sent an army

to Syria to punish Baibars, he was attacked suddenly by Berke.

Hulegu had to turn his army back to the Caucasus to meet this threat, and he made repeated attempts to ally himself with the kings

of France and England and with the Pope in order to crush the

Mamluks in Palestine. Berke withdrew, however, when Khubilai

sent 30,000 troops to aid the llkhans.

This chain of events marked the end of the Mongol expansion

in Southwest Asia. Although Hulegu 's successors did not exhibit

the austere martial qualities of their forebears, they did bring a

partial and brief economic revival to Iran. An increase in commerce and the expansion of trade routes brought a measure of cross culturization between Iran and China. The Mongol rulers devoted

themselves to a more genteel life and let their provinces be governed

by Turkish viziers. Finally these viziers seized control, and the

Ilkhan khanate ended with the death of Abu Said in 1335.

The Golden Horde

The Golden Horde of Batu had more time and more room for expansion of its territories than any other Mongol khanate. The

Mongols maintained sovereignty over eastern Russia from 1240

to 1480, and they controlled the upper Volga area, the territories

of the former Volga Bulghar state, Siberia, the northern Caucasus, Bulgaria (for a time), the Crimea, and Khwarizm. By applying the principle of indirect rule, the Golden Horde Mongols were

able to preserve the Mongol ruling class and the local dynasties

for more than 200 years. The influence that the Golden Horde Mongols came to have over medieval Russia and other areas was im- mense and lasting. They played a role in unifying the future Russian

27
Mongolia: A Country Study

state, provided new political institutions, influenced imperial visions,

and, through indirect rule, facilitated the appearance of a Muscovite autocracy.

The Golden Horde capital at Sarai became a prosperous center of commerce. Here, as in China, Mongol rule meant free trade,

the exchange of goods between the East and the West, and also

broad religious toleration.

In the mid-thirteenth century, the Golden Horde was administratively and militarily an integral part of the Mongol empire with

its capital at Karakorum. By the early fourteenth century, however,

this allegiance had become largely symbolic and ceremonial.

Although certain Mongol administrative forms—such as census and

postal systems—were maintained, other customs were not. The

Golden Horde embraced Islam as its state religion and, with it, adopted new and more complex administrative forms to replace

those of the old regime that had been devised for conquest. Even

though most Mongols remained steppe nomads, new cities were

founded, and a permanent urbanized bureaucracy and social struc- ture took shape at Sarai. The Golden Horde allied itself with the

Mamluks and negotiated with the Byzantines to combat the Ilkhans

in a struggle to control Azerbaijan. Rather than isolating Russia,

the Mongol presence and extensive diplomatic system brought

envoys to Sarai from central and southern Europe, the Pope, Southwest Asia, Egypt, Iran, Inner Asia, China, and Mongolia.

The Mongols' vast contacts opened Russia to new influences,

both Eastern and Western. The reason the Mongols did not oc- cupy Russia itself, but left its administration to local princes, was

not inability to administer a society that was both urban and agrarian, or Russian resistance. Rather, some historians believe that

Russia had little to offer the Mongols in terms of produce or trade

routes, and even tax revenues were insignificant compared with

the wealth of the southern realms under their control. The inability of cavalry to operate in forests and swamps—a factor that limited the northward advance of the Mongols and largely determined

the northern frontier of their empire—was undoubtedly a distinct

disincentive as well. In time the Golden Horde Mongols and the Mongol Tatars,

although still nomads, lost their original identities and—as happened to Mongols in China and Iran—became largely synonymous

with the local Turkic peoples, the Kipchak. Arabic and Tatar

replaced Mongol as the official language of the Golden Horde, and

increasing political fragmentation occurred. The power of the

Golden Horde khans slowly declined, particularly as a powerful

new state rose in central Russia.

28
Elephants carrying Khubilai Khan 's command post in battle Courtesy Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

29
Mongolia: A Country Study

The Mongol Decline

Contributing to the eventual Mongol decline in Eurasia was a

bitter war with Timur, also known as Timur Lenk (or Timur the

Lame, from which Tamerlane is derived). He was a man of

aristocratic Transoxianian birth who falsely claimed descent from

Chinggis. Timur reunited Turkestan and the lands of the Ilkhans;

in 1391 he invaded the Eurasian steppes and defeated the Golden

Horde. He ravaged the Caucasus and southern Russia in 1395.

Timur' s empire disintegrated, however, soon after his death in

1405.

The effects of Timur' s victory, as well as those of devastating

drought and plague, were both economic and political. The Golden

Horde's central base had been destroyed, and trade routes were moved south of the Caspian Sea. Political struggles led to the split

of the Golden Horde into three separate khanates: Astrakhan,

Kazan, and the Crimea. Astrakhan—the Golden Horde itself

was destroyed in 1502 by an alliance of Crimean Tatars and Muscovites. The last reigning descendant of Chinggis, Shahin Girai,

khan of the Crimea, was deposed by the Russians in 1783.

The Mongols' influence and their intermarriage with the Russian aristocracy had a lasting effect on Russia. Despite the destruction caused by their invasion, the Mongols made valuable

contributions to administrative practices. Through their presence,

which in some ways checked the influence of European Renaissance ideas in Russia, they helped reemphasize traditional ways.

This Mongol—or Tatar as it became known—heritage has much

to do with Russia's distinctiveness from the other nations of Europe.

There were a number of reasons for the relatively rapid decline

of the Mongols as an influential power. One important factor was

their failure to acculturate their subjects to Mongol social traditions. Another was the fundamental contradiction of a feudal, es- sentially nomadic, society's attempting to perpetuate a stable,

centrally administered empire. The sheer size of the empire was

reason enough for the Mongol collapse. It was too large for one

person to administer, as Chinggis had realized, yet adequate coor- dination was impossible among the ruling elements after the split

into khanates. Possibly the most important single reason was the

disproportionately small number of Mongol conquerors compared

with the masses of subject peoples.

The change in Mongol cultural patterns that did occur inevitably exacerbated natural divisions in the empire. As different areas adopted different foreign religions, Mongol cohesiveness dissolved.

The nomadic Mongols had been able to conquer the Eurasian land

30
Historical Setting

mass through a combination of organizational ability, military skill, and fierce warlike prowess, but they fell prey to alien cultures, to the disparity between their way of life and the needs of empire,

and to the size of their domain, which proved too large to hold

together. The Mongols declined when their sheer momentum could no longer sustain them.

Mongolia in Transition, 1368-1911

Return to Nomadic Patterns

The end of the Yuan was the second turning point in Mongol

history. The retreat of more than 60,000 Mongols into the Mongolian heartland brought radical changes to the quasi-feudalistic

system. In the early fifteenth century, the Mongols split into two

groups, the Oirad in the Altai region and the eastern group that

later came to be known as the Khalkha (see Glossary) in the area north of the Gobi. A lengthy civil war (1400-54) precipitated still more changes in the old social and political institutions. By the middle of the fifteenth century, the Oirad had emerged as the

predominant force, and, under the leadership of Esen Khan, they

united much of Mongolia and then continued their war against

China. Esen was so successful against China that, in 1449, he defeated and captured the Ming emperor. After Esen was killed in

battle four years later, however, the brief resurgence of Mongolia came to an abrupt halt, and the tribes returned to their traditional

disunity.

After nearly two more decades of Oirad-Khalkha conflict, another

Oirad chieftain, Dayan Khan, assumed central leadership in 1466

and reunited most of Mongolia. By the end of the fifteenth century, he had restored peace and had established a new confederation comprising a vast region of north-central Asia, between the

Ural Mountains and Lake Baykal. He then extended his control

eastward to include the remainder of Khalkha Mongolia. The Oirad were surrounded by the Turkic descendants of the Chagadai Mongols who occupied the lowlands to the east and west, in the three

independent khanates of Yarkand (modern Xinjiang south of the

Tian Shan Mountains), Ferghana, and Khwarizm. Early in the

sixteenth century, these three khanates were overwhelmed,

however, by the Uzbeks (see Glossary), who earlier had broken

loose from Mongol authority. The Uzbeks consolidated their control over Bukhara (Bokhara), Samarkand, Khwarizm, and Herat.

During Dayan Khan's rule, quasi-feudalistic administration was

reestablished, and tribes became more settied, with more specified

grazing areas. What litde government existed was exercised by noble

31
Mongolia: A Country Study

descendants of Chinggis (including Dayan), but it met with great

resistance.

After the death of Dayan in 1543, the Oirad and the Khalkha

disintegrated once more into insignificant and quarrelsome tribal groupings. The Torgut subclan of the Oirad was now perhaps the

most vital of the Mongol peoples. The Torgut raided frequently

across the Urals into the Volga Valley, which had been conquered

by the new Muscovite empire. Farther east the Khalkha roamed

the region north and south of the Gobi; the Ordos Mongols and

the Chahar Mongols became loosely grouped in a confederation

holding most of Southern Mongolia. The boundaries of territories

ruled by the Uzbeks remained relatively stable. Throughout this period of discord among the Mongols, they

nonetheless shared a continuing hostility to the Ming. The struggle was maintained principally by the Khalkha. Although the title had become almost meaningless, the line of the khans had con- tinued in the Chahar tribe, the leader of which became the rallying point for the conflict against China.

The war with China was renewed with considerable energy after Altan Khan (1507-83) of the Turned clan united the Khalkha.

Although he was not so prominent in history as his predecessor,

Dayan, or his successor, Galdan Khan (1632-97), Altan was probably the greatest of the Mongol princes in the centuries following

the collapse of the Yuan. By 1552 he had defeated the Oirad and

had reunited most of Mongolia. It soon became obvious to Altan

that there was nothing to be gained by continuing the war with

the Ming; the empire of Chinggis never could be restored. Accordingly, he concluded a treaty with the Ming emperor in 1571 , ending a struggle that had lasted more than three centuries.

In the remaining eleven years of his life, Altan aggressively

pushed Mongol power to the south and the southwest, and he raided

Tibet extensively. Altan, in turn, was coopted by a Buddhist revival

in Tibet, and he became a fervent convert. In 1586 the first lamaist

monastery was established in Mongolia, and Buddhism—specifically, Lamaism—became the state religion.

Caught Between the Russians and the Manchus

By the early seventeenth century, the power of the khan was

greatiy weakened, and the pattern of decentralized rule reemerged.

Small tribes within each tumen became petty realms ruled over by

individual princes. Division of inheritances further weakened the

overall power structure, and tumen subdivisions (battalions, referred

to in later Mongol history as banners—see Glossary—or koshuus

in Mongol) were widely dispersed and therefore fragmented. At

32
Historical Setting

the same time that Mongol rule was disintegrating, tsarist Russia

in the west and the Manchus in the east were expanding steadily.

The Mongol and the Turkic peoples, traditionally conquerors, could

now be conquered themselves not because their warlike proclivities had decreased, but because the art of war had progressed beyond the capacity of essentially nomadic peoples. Their economic

resources would not permit the production or the purchase of

muskets and cannon, against which their cavalry could not stand.

A new process of conquest began when most of what is now north- eastern China was consolidated by the Manchus. Essentially

nomadic in origin, the Manchus were descended from the Jurchen,

who earlier had established the Jin empire. Early in the seventeenth

century, under their leader Nurhaci, the Manchus began to press

into southern Mongolia.

The westward movement of the Manchu soon involved them

in a struggle with the last of the great khans, Ligdan Khan of the

Chahar Mongols. Ligdan had been attempting to reestablish

Chahar predominance among the Khalkha, particularly among

those tribes inhabiting the region south of the Gobi. These efforts alarmed his neighbors, who called upon Nurhaci for assistance.

For several years, it appeared that the Manchu conqueror had met

his match because Ligdan possessed some of the military prowess

of his ancestors. Although he could not prevent the Manchus from

gaining control of the territory of the neighboring Ordos Mongols,

Ligdan beat back Manchu efforts to move farther west. After his

death in 1634, however, Mongol resistance to the Manchus col- lapsed in southern Mongolia. This is the period of the Mongolian

national hero, Tsogto Taji, who is said to have been the only north- ern Mongol aristocrat to have led his subjects against the Manchus in defense of the southern Mongols.

Meanwhile, many of the Torgut, the westernmost of the Oirad

Mongols, began to migrate westward in approximately 1620. Possibly the movement was a reaction to the growing dominance of

the Dzungar Mongols, an Oirad subclan and neighbors of the

Torgut to the south. In any event, the Torgut fought their way

through Kirghiz and Kazakh territory, to cross the Embe River.

Becoming better known as the Kalmyk tribe, they subsequently

settled in the Trans-Volga steppe and raided Russian settlements on both sides of the river. Finally submitting to Russia in 1646,

they maintained autonomy under their own khan. They became

an excellent source of light cavalry for the Russians, who later used

them in campaigns against the Crimean Tatars and in Inner Asia.

The Mongol interest in Tibet that had been aroused in Altan's

campaigns seems to have been transmitted to the Dzungar. They

33
Mongolia: A Country Study

inhabited a region east of Lake Balkash that extended eastward

into northern Xinjiang. They carried out a number of campaigns

into Tibet, and by 1636 they had established a virtual protectorate over the region. Because of the generally high quality of their leader- ship at this time, the Dzungar dominated Mongolia for much of

the seventeenth century.

Farther east, the religious revival begun by Altan had continued

unabated, and it was perhaps the greatest single influence on Mongol life and culture during the seventeenth and succeeding centuries. In 1635 the khan of the Tushetu tribe proclaimed that his son was the reincarnation of an ancient and respected scholar, who had

achieved such a state of virtue that he had become known as a buddha. Thus the young Tushetu prince was named the Jebtsundamba Khutuktu or Living Buddha, becoming the highest ecclesiastical figure in Mongolia. This was the beginning of a line of

theocratic leaders that was to continue unbroken for nearly three

centuries. The successors of the first Jebtsundamba Khutuktu were

also believed to be reincarnations, and all were found among the

Tushetu.

By the middle of the seventeenth century, Russian exploration

and annexation had become very worrisome to the Mongols and

the Turks to the southwest. In response to this pressure, in 1672

Ayuka Khan of the Torgut Mongols raided through western Siberia, across the Urals and the Volga, and into Russia. He then made

peace with the Russians on terms that enabled him to continue

to control his lands in relative tranquility for the remainder of the

century.

Later in the seventeenth century, a new effort toward Mongol

unity was attempted by Galdan Khan of the Dzungar. He con- quered most of Kashgar, Yarkand, and Khotan (Hotan) from the

Kirghiz, and he expanded into Kazakh territory. In about 1682,

intending to conquer the Khalkha, he turned eastward. In 1688

the hard-pressed Khalkha appealed to the Manchus for aid. The

Manchus were more than pleased to respond, and a ChineseManchu army marched to help. A development that further in- tegrated the Mongols into the Manchu apparatus was the Manchus' adoption of the Mongol banner system, which combined

administrative and military functions.

By this time, the Manchus had conquered all of China and had

established the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) with its capital in Beijing. They had become concerned over the steady Russian expansion eastward that, up to this time, had remained far to the north.

The Russians had carefully avoided the still-formidable Torgut,

who inhabited the region that now comprises central Siberia. In

34
Seventeenth-century

incense burner Courtesy Prints and

Photographs Division,

Library of Congress

this way, the Russians had reached the Amur Valley and the Pacific

Ocean by mid-century. In the period between 1641 and 1652, the

Russians gradually conquered the Buryat Mongols, thereby

gaining control of the region around Lake Baykal. The Manchus

observed with considerable apprehension Russia's growing

pressure on the Turkic peoples and the Mongols of Inner Asia.

As early as 1653, there were clashes between Manchus and

Russians in the Amur Valley. In 1660 the Manchus ejected the

Russians from the Amur region, only to see them reappear when

the Manchus became occupied with internal troubles in southern

China.

In 1683 a second Manchu military expedition began systematic

operations to eject the Russians, and in 1685 it seized the Russian

stronghold at Albazin. But later that year, when the Manchus withdrew, the Russians reconstructed the fortifications. The Manchus

began to prepare for a more extensive war. It was at this time that

the Khalkha appealed to the Manchus for aid. The Manchus

prompdy responded, seeing an opportunity to gain control of Mongolia as a base for possible war with Russia.

This move was probably understood by the Russians. They were

conducting a campaign in Europe, and they decided that the dis- pute with China must be settled peacefully. This led to the SinoRussian Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689, in which the Russians agreed

to abandon Albazin and the area north of the Amur River. The

35
Mongolia: A Country Study

terms of that treaty were supplemented in 1727 by the Treaty of

Kyakhta, which further delineated the Sino-Russian border.

The End of Independence

Meanwhile, the Manchus had sent a large army into northern

Mongolia to confront Galdan in an effort to preempt any attempts

at establishing a new Mongol empire. The employment of artillery

had a decisive effect, and the Dzungar were routed. In May 1691

Qing emperor Kangxi called a kuriltai of principal Khalkha chiefs

at Dolonnur. Those present acknowledged Manchu overlordship

in return for protection against the Dzungar. It had become apparent by this time that, although there were strong ties between

the Qing court and local Mongol rulers, the relations among in- dividual Mongol leaders were weak. The head of each banner was

a vassal of the Qing emperor and was beholden to the Chinese trea- sury for a pension. Mongols not only pledged personal loyalty to the emperor, but they also became inseparable from their banner

and could not serve in any capacity in another banner. Membership was hereditary; class structure was rigid; and the whole feudallike system helped the Manchus isolate and control the Mongols.

The banners, in effect, became petty fiefdoms.

By this time, the Jebtsundamba Khutuktu had fled to escape

Galdan's renewed advances. After five years of continued raiding

by the Dzungar into central Mongolia, Kangxi led 80,000 troops

into Mongolia and in 1696 crushed Galdan near Jao Modo (south

of present-day Ulaanbaatar). Galdan retreated, and he died the next year. This ended the influence of the Dzunger in most of Mongolia, although they retained control of the western regions and

of parts of Xinjiang and Tibet.

Despite the defeat at Jao Modo, twenty years later the Dzungar

again were embroiled in war with the Qing. In 1718 Galdan'

nephew and heir, Tsewang Rabdan, invaded Tibet to settle a prolonged dispute over the successor to the Dalai Lama. His troops

seized Lhasa, imprisoned the Dalai Lama, and ambushed a Manchu relief force. Kangxi retaliated in 1720; two Chinese armies

defeated the Dzungar and drove them from Tibet. This was the

first war in which Mongol forces made extensive use of musketry;

they were not very effective, however, against the larger, better- armed and better-equipped Qing forces. After the death of the Dalai

Lama, a new Dalai Lama was installed by Kangxi, and a Manchu

garrison was left in Lhasa. Meanwhile, another Chinese army in- vaded Dzungar territory to capture Uriimqi and Turpan. Additional

Chinese punitive expeditions eventually defeated the Dzungar in

36
Historical Setting

1732 and virtually ended Mongolian independence for nearly two

centuries.

The Russian and the Chinese empires continued their expansions into Inner Asia during the eighteenth century. They found

it expedient to delimit the borders between the respective areas of

ancient Mongolia that they had conquered in the seventeenth century. This was done by the Treaty of Kyakhta in 1727, which es- tablished the border between the portions of Mongolia controlled

by China and those controlled by Russia.

In the period 1755 to 1757, serious revolts against Chinese rule

broke out among the Dzungar in Xinjiang. These were suppressed

promptly, and Chinese control over western Mongolia and Oirad

territory was strengthened. In 1771 the Chinese government per- suaded part of the Kalmyk tribe to return from Russia to repopulate the devastated region.

During the 1750s, as a result of Manchu administrative policies, the first distinction was made between northern and southern

Mongolia. The southern provinces—Suiyuan, Chahar (or Qahar),

and Jehol (or Rehol), known as Inner Mongolia—were virtually

absorbed into China. The remainder of the region—the northern

provinces, which became known as Outer Mongolia—was considered an "outside subordinate" by the Manchus, and it was largely

ignored. After another 100 years, however, China again became

alarmed by Russia's expansionist policy and colonial development

in the regions north and west of Outer Mongolia. Increased Chinese

activity in Outer Mongolia resulted in some economic and social

improvements, but it also revealed to the Mongolians the possibilities of playing off the two great empires against each other. Chinese

merchants and moneylenders had become ubiquitous, and the extent of Mongol debt had become enormous, by the early nineteenth

century. The debt situation, combined with growing resentment

over Chinese encroachment, gave impetus to Mongol nationalism

by the beginning of the twentieth century.

During the period of Chinese dominance, Mongolia not only

experienced a century of peace, but it became an increasingly

theocratic society. Buddhism relatively early had absorbed shamanism, and the result was a unique local religion (see Religion, ch. 2). By the mid-nineteenth century, however, turmoil in China, caused

by internal rebellion and by pressures from the West, resulted in a breakdown of the increasingly expensive administrative apparatus in Outer Mongolia. Mounting debts and higher taxes, which

led to a growing impoverishment of Outer Mongolia, gradually

rekindled traditional Mongol dissatisfaction with the Manchu overlord. Rioting, Mongol troop mutinies, and other anti-Chinese

37
Mongolia: A Country Study

incidents occurred with increasing regularity in the late nineteenth

and the early twentieth centuries. Outside help was sought from

Russia in 1900, when a mission—which failed—was sent to St. Petersburg. Thereafter, reform-minded Chinese leaders abolished

many old social and political proscriptions, and, despite Mongol

resentment of the idea and of continued Chinese repression, preparations were being made for constitutional government when revo- lution broke out in China.

Modern Mongolia, 1911-84

Period of Autonomy, 1911-21

With the end of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the

Republic of China in 1911, revolutionary ferment also emerged

in Mongolia. As early as July 1911, participants in an anti-Chinese

meeting in Yihe Huree (see Glossary) had petitioned the Russian

government—which long had sought the independence of Outer

Mongolia—for help against China. On December 1, 1911, Outer

Mongolia in effect proclaimed its independence on the basis that

its allegiance had been to the Manchus, not to China. On December 28, the eighth Jebtsundamba Khutuktu became Bogdo Khan

(holy ruler) of an autonomous theocratic government; a 20,000-

troop army was created; and Russian officers appeared in Yihe

Huree (renamed Niyslel—capital—Huree, or Urga) to equip, to organize, and to train the army. The new Chinese government

refused to recognize Mongolian independence, but it was too pre- occupied with internal discord to enforce its sovereignty.

Meanwhile, Russia was moving rapidly to take advantage of the

situation. On November 3 and December 19, 1912, respectively,

Mongolian-Russian and Mongolian-Tibetan agreements were

signed in Niyslel Huree. The latter agreement granted mutual

recognition of independence; the former only affirmed Mongolia's

autonomy from China. The Russian agreement and a protocol to

it created a tsarist protectorate over Outer Mongolia. The Japanese,

too, sought, unsuccessfully, to influence the independence move- ment in 1911 and 1912 with contributions of arms and money. Following the mobilization of a Mongol army to liberate Inner

Mongolia, several other agreements affecting Mongolia were

reached. In a November 5, 1913, agreement, Russia recognized

Chinese suzerainty over Mongolia, and China recognized Outer

Mongolia's right to self-rule and to the control of its own commerce

and industry. China also agreed not to send troops into Mongolia. On May 25, 1915, a second, tripartite agreement (among

China, Mongolia, and Russia), the Treaty of Kyakhta, formalized

38
Historical Setting

Mongolian autonomy. Russia's involvement in World War I, however, reduced the attention that the tsar's government could

pay to Mongolia. This neglect, which occurred at the same time

as new monarchical machinations in China, rekindled Japanese

interest in, and aid to, anti-Chinese forces in Mongolia and neighboring Manchuria.

After revolution broke out in Russia in November 1917, Japan

moved to aid anti-Bolshevik forces in Mongolia, and a Japanesefostered pan-Mongol movement was established under the influence

of the Buryat Mongols. A pan-Mongolia conference was held in

February and March 1919 in Chita, Siberia. The participants decided to establish a Mongol state, comprising Outer Mongolia,

Inner Mongolia, and Buryatia (present-day Buryatskaya Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic) and to send letters to the Versailles

Peace Conference that ended World War I. Despite formation of a small provisional government—in which Outer Mongolia refused

to participate—and promises ofJapanese aid, the movement failed in the face of renewed Chinese efforts to regain control over all of Mongolia. In October 1919, a Chinese warlord army, emboldened by the demise of the tsarist regime, occupied Niyslel Huree

and received an acknowledgment of Chinese sovereignty from the

Bogdo Khan government. The Mongol army was disarmed and

disbanded.

Soon, however, the effects of the upheaval in Russia began to reach Mongolia. In October 1920, Russian White Guard troops

under Baron Roman Nicolaus von Ungern-Sternberg invaded from

Siberia. In February 1921, after a fierce battle, von UngernSternberg drove the Chinese out of Niyslel Huree and occupied

the city. At first the White Guards were hailed as liberators by

Mongolian monarchists, but in the next several months von

Ungern-Sternberg's reign of terror and destruction aroused popular

opposition.

The threatening actions of Chinese, Japanese, and White Russian forces greatly stimulated Mongolian nationalism during this time. Two secret revolutionary circles emerged in Niyslel Huree

in 1919, the military-oriented Dzuun (East) Huree Group, under

Damdiny Sukhe Bator and Horloogiyn Dandzan, and the civilian- oriented Consul's Group, headed by Horloyn Choybalsan and Dogsomyn Bodoo. The Communist International (see Glossary), also called the Comintern, which was headquartered in Moscow, advised the two groups to merge in order to present a united front

to the Chinese and the White Russian occupation forces. The

merger was accomplished at a conference in Irkutsk in March 1920,

with the formation of the Mongolian People's Party under the

39
Mongolia: A Country Study

leadership of Sukhe Bator. The Jebtsundamba Khutuktu gave his

encouragement and support to the revolutionary leaders, and in

his name they appealed to Moscow for more assistance.

The Japanese were pressing ahead with efforts to take advantage of the chaos caused by the Russian civil war. A large Japanese

force, nominally part of an anti-Bolshevik Allied Expeditionary

Force intervening in eastern Siberia, had taken over much of the

Trans-Siberian Railway between Vladivostok and Lake Baykal.

Japanese funds were provided to von Ungern-Sternberg and other

White Russian elements, in order to prevent the Soviet government from establishing control in eastern Siberia and from obtaining too much influence in Mongolia. The Japanese efforts were

thwarted to a large degree, however, by the neutralist attitude of

United States elements of the Allied Expeditionary Force, and Soviet

forces gradually established control over Siberia.

The improved Soviet position in Siberia enabled Moscow to respond to the appeals of the Mongolian nationalists. Earlier, in

the 1918 to 1919 period, Moscow had renounced all agreements

regarding Mongolia that had been reached with Japan and China.

The First Party Congress of the newly formed Mongolian People's

Party, was held at Kyakhta (in Siberia, near the Mongolian border) on March 1 to 3, 1921 . On March 13, the new party Central Committee formed the Mongolian People's Provisional Government,

and, after Sukhe Bator's Mongolian Partisan Army (established

in February 1921) captured the Mongolian city of Khiagt (across

the border from Kyakhta), a new capital was established. A

Mongolian-Soviet military force also had been formed, and by early

July it had driven von Ungern-Sternberg's forces out of Niyslel

Huree and had occupied the city. OnJuly 11 —the date recognized

as Mongolia's national day—the Bogdo Khan government was

replaced by a new People's Government of Mongolia, a limited

monarchy nominally headed by the Jebtsundamba Khutuktu under

the title of khan. Bodoo was named premier and foreign minister;

Sukhe Bator continued as commander in chief and became minister

of war, with Choybalsan as his deputy. The government was bolstered by Soviet troops, who virtually occupied the country (see

Historical Traditions, ch. 5). Revolutionary Transformation, 1921-24

Fighting against the White Russians culminated in the capture

of von Ungern-Sternberg in August 1921 ; the rest of his forces were

defeated by January 1922. On September 14, 1921, the independence of Mongolia was proclaimed, and on October 26 a legisla- tive assembly, the National Provisional Little Hural, opened. The

40
The Bogdo Khan 's palace, now a museum, Ulaanbaatar

Courtesy Allen H. Kassof

formalization of Mongolian-Soviet relations then was accelerated.

On November 5, 1921, a bilateral Agreement on Mutual Recognition and Friendly Relations was signed in Moscow. It recognized

the People's Government of Mongolia, and it facilitated the ex- change of diplomatic representatives. Furthermore, it provided for the self-determination of Tannu Tuva (see Glossary), a region in

northwestern Mongolia that had been a Russian protectorate between 1914 and 1917.

At this juncture, discord emerged among the Mongolian fac- tions. When supporters of the Bogdo Khan regime expressed dis- pleasure with the limits placed on the monarchy, the Mongolian

People's Party levied further restrictions on it, while giving more

power to the party-controlled government. At the same time, some members of the new regime were concerned about Mongolia's close relationship with the Soviet Union. Even Premier Bodoo sought

to distance himself from Soviet influence. In August 1922, however,

he and forty others were arrested and charged with 4 'counterrevolutionary activities" and with wanting to restore an unlimited monarchy. Bodoo and fourteen others were executed. When the Second

Party Congress of the Mongolian People's Party was held in July

1923, Mongolian-Soviet solidarity was reiterated amid calls, for

41
Mongolia: A Country Study

the first time, in favor of purging "oppressor class elements" from

the party.

At this critical stage, several key leadership changes occurred

that caused momentous political developments. On February 22,

1923, thirty-year-old revolutionary hero Sukhe Bator died of ill- ness (although Choybalsan later claimed he had been poisoned),

leaving the way clear for Choybalsan' s eventual accession. Next,

the Jebtsundamba Khutuktu died on May 20, 1924, and the People's Government, which had resolved to form a republic, forbade

the traditional search for the reincarnation of the defunct ruler. This move eliminated the theocratic symbol of Mongolia. At the same time, a new Soviet treaty with China on May 31 , 1924 (which

provided for the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Mongolia), set the stage for the final step in the nominal independence of Mongolia.

The Third Party Congress of the Mongolian People's Party met

in Niyslel Huree from August 4 to 24, 1924, but it quickly became

embroiled in a debate led by party chairman Dandzan, who, like Bodoo, hoped to reduce Soviet influence. The congress culminated

in the arrest and execution of the "capitalist" Dandzan. Among

the achievements of the congress was purging the party of "useless elements" and renaming it the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party. On November 25, 1924, with the adoption of a

Soviet- style state constitution by the First National Great Hural,

the new national assembly, the Mongolian People's Republic was

formally established. The National Little Hural, the standing body

when the National Great Hural was not in session, was elected;

it, in turn, elected a cabinet with Balingiyn Tserendorj as premier

and Choybalsan as commander in chief of the army. At the same

time, Niyslel Huree was renamed Ulaanbaatar (literally, Red

Hero).

Consolidation of the Mongolian People's Republic, 1925-28

Soviet troops ostensibly were withdrawn in March 1925 (although some historians have debated whether all actually departed). Despite

the treaty—between the Soviet Union and China—that acknowledged Outer Mongolia as an autonomous, but integral, part of

China, the Soviet Union explicitly recognized Mongolia's independence of China in internal affairs and its ability to pursue an in- dependent foreign policy. While continuing its cautious relationship

with Beijing, Moscow made it clear that it would permit no Chinese

encroachment on Mongolia. Mongolia's general foreign policy line was based on strong ties with the Soviet Union, "the reliable pil- lar of [Mongolia's] independence and prosperity4

' according to the

party line.

42
Historical Setting

Under Moscow's guidance, the leftist leaders of Mongolia began

to strengthen their still -weak position. The Mongolian communists,

with Comintern help, gradually undermined the rightist elements

in the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party and attacked the

power of the two great institutions that had dominated Mongolia

for centuries: first the nobles; then, the abbots (whose monastic

followers comprised at least one-third of the adult males). In this period of cautious consolidation, the party abolished the aristocracy's feudal privileges, a reform which had the initial effect of in- fluencing wealthy nobles to embark on capitalist ventures, such

as investing in the new cooperatives. Gradually, however, the

revolutionaries built a state-guided economy supported by Mongolian cooperatives and by Soviet trade.

Moscow's economic hold on Mongolia tightened as exports to the Soviet Union rose rapidly from about 14 percent of Mongolia's total production (chiefly livestock and animal products), in

1923 to 1924, to 85 percent, in 1928 to 1929. By 1929 Mongolia's

imports lagged far behind its exports. Aside from the provision of

technical and political advisers, Soviet trade policy did not yet provide for economic development aid to newer socialist countries as had been envisioned by Lenin in 1920.

Other areas of the economy showed more progress. The Mongolian National Bank, established in 1924 as a joint MongolianSoviet company, issued the tugrik, the new national currency, as part of monetary reform. The cooperative movement, directed by

the Mongolian Building Cooperative, began to show impressive

results. A standardized tax system was instituted, and other administrative reforms slowly took hold. The army, equipped and

trained by the Soviets, was steadily growing and improving (see

The Mongolian Army, 1921-68, ch. 5). The government refrained

from a direct attack on the venerated religious establishment, but some higher-level monks were imprisoned and executed.

Although the Mongolian communists had not yet overthrown

the conservatives in the government and the economic sectors during this period, they had gained progressively in strength as evi- denced by the changes they had made in society (see Society, ch. 2). Slowly, the young Soviet- taught Mongols were taking over the political, the military, and the economic apparatus. Many nobles re- tained their wealth, however, and the number of monastics actually

increased between 1925 and 1928. Nearly 90 percent of all trade was controlled by Chinese firms in Mongolia. The Fourth Party

Congress (September 1925), the Fifth Party Congress (September 1926), and the Sixth Party Congress (September 1927) had

43
Mongolia: A Country Study

witnessed policy struggles between leftist and rightist elements that

presaged the victory of the left. Purges of the Opposition, 1928-32

A decisive clash between leftists and rightists occurred at the

Seventh Party Congress from late October to December 10, 1928.

After forty-eight days of debate, party chairman Tseren-Ochiryn

Dambadorj was exiled to Moscow, and other rightist members were

expelled as the left seized control of the party and the government.

With their power now secure at the top and with party opinion

united on major policy goals, the leftists accelerated their programs.

Strong Soviet backing was assured by Josef Stalin, who in the

meantime had triumphed over his political foes in Moscow. In addition, after 1927 Soviet caution toward China no longer was necessary; Stalin was no longer constrained by his relationship with

Chiang Kai-shek's Guomindang (Kuomintang in Wade-Giles

romanization), or Chinese Nationalist Party, which had broken

with the Chinese Communist Party and had consolidated its rule over eastern China from Nanjing. Both domestic and international

changes had freed Mongolian leftists for radical changes.

Policies confirming the party line of developing the country along

noncapitalist lines were ratified by the Fifth National Great Hural

in December 1928. As conservative officials were eliminated from

the government, Choybalsan was chosen as head of the National

Little Hural. The leftist leaders called for the immediate confiscation of feudal property, the development of a five-year plan, the

collectivization of stockbreeders, the ouster of Chinese traders, and

the implementation of the Soviet trade monopoly. These extreme measures followed standard Soviet economic policy. In less- sophisticated Mongolia, however, the economic situation seemed

to defy such planning. The basically nomadic society was largely

illiterate, and there was no industrial proletariat; the aristocracy

and the religious establishment held a large share of the country's

wealth; popular obedience to traditional authorities continued to be widespread; the party lacked grass-roots support; and the government had little organization or experience. Nevertheless, the party was receptive to Moscow's directives; and the Mongolian revolutionaries made mistakes similar to those of the Soviets through an

excess of zeal, intolerance, and inexperience.

The first harsh repression of opposition came in 1929. Under

the direction of Choybalsan, more than 600 feudal estates (herds

and fixed property) were confiscated and were given to members

of the laity and to monks who left their monasteries. In 1931 and

1932, the property of more than 800 religious and secular leaders

44
Historical Setting

was seized, and more than 700 heads of households were killed or imprisoned. The antireligious campaign was three-pronged: ordinary monks were forced to leave the monasteries and enter the army

or the economy; monks of middle status were put in prison camps;

and those of highest rank were killed. Collectivization followed ex- propriation, and by 1931 more than one-third of the stock-raising

households had been forcibly communized.

The brutal collectivization of herdsmen was rapid, and it caused

bloody uprisings. Although the Eighth Party Congress from February to April 1930 had recognized that the country was unprepared

for total socialization, the party reaction to opposition was to reenforce its measures nevertheless. The massive shift from private

property to collectivization and communization was accelerated.

The party then attacked the entire monastic class, the nobility, the

nomads, and the nationalists, while purging its own ranks. The

government imposed high and indiscriminate taxes, confiscated pri- vate property, banned private industry, forced craft workers to join

mutual aid cooperatives, and nationalized foreign and domestic

trade and transportation.

Extremism produced near-disaster. The power of the monks and

the feudal nobles finally was broken, Chinese traders and other

foreign capitalists were ousted, and still greater dependence on

Soviet aid was required (see The Suppression of Buddhism, ch. 2). The mechanical imposition of communes on an unprepared no- madic sheep-herding and cattle-herding society, however, resulted

in the slaughter of 7 million animals in three years by angry and

frightened herders. Mongolia's economy, which rested entirely on

animal husbandry, was severely affected. The failure of communes,

the hasty destruction of private trade, and inadequate Soviet supplies contributed to spreading famine. By 1931 to 1932, thousands were suffering severe food shortages, which, together with the people's reaction to terror, had brought the nation to the verge of civil war. Finally the government was forced to call in troops and tanks;

with Soviet assistance, it suppressed the spreading anticommunist

rebellion in western Mongolia.

In May 1932, a month after anticommunist uprisings in western

Mongolia, the Comintern and the Communist Party of the Soviet

Union directed the Mongolian party to end its extremism. The next month, the party Central Committee rejected its prior policy as

"leftist deviation" and expelled several top leaders as "left-wing

adventurers." Choybalsan announced that "the overall development of our country has not yet entered the stage of social- ism, and also it is wrong to copy Soviet experience in every single

thing." The entire socioeconomic pattern was swiftly changed. The

45
Mongolia: A Country Study

collective farm experiment was dropped, worker cooperatives were abandoned, the cattle tax was reduced, and herders and peasants

again were allowed to hold private property. Foreign trade, still channeled exclusively to the Soviet Union, continued to be controlled by the state, however. Under continuing Soviet protection

and domination, Mongolia now settled down to a period of gradual

social change.

An underlying reason for Moscow's reversal of the course of

Mongolian socialism had been the growing Japanese threat. The

September 18, 1931, Mukden incident had opened the way for Japan to establish Manchukuo (Japanese-controlled Manchuria).

Mongolians were not alone in the fear that Japan might try to es- tablish a Japanese-controlled Mongolian monarchy, Mengkukuo.

Economic Gradualism and National Defense, 1932-45

The New Turn Policy, 1932-40

The new policy of socioeconomic gradualism—the New Turn

Policy—continued until the mid- 1940s, when Mongolian social- ism entered its modern stage of collectivization and economic

growth. The Ninth Party Congress in September and October 1934

pronounced the New Turn a success, but it became obvious that

this gradualism actually had been determined by the basic Soviet

need to maintain Mongolia as a stable buffer state against either

Japanese or Chinese expansion. At the beginning of this period,

the Soviets did not want to enlarge Mongolia's small-scale industries because this might provide a further incentive for Japanese

invasion. Instead, Mongolia's raw materials were used to strengthen

the Soviet Union, while Soviet Red Army units and a large cavalryoriented Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army were deployed

to defend Mongolia against attack.

On November 27, 1934, a Mongolian-Soviet ' 'gentlemen's

agreement" was reached that provided for mutual assistance in

the face ofJapanese advances in Manchuria and Inner Mongolia.

In January 1935, Soviet troops reentered Mongolia as Japanese

forces began to probe the Mongolian-Manchurian border. On

March 12, 1936, the 1934 agreement was upgraded when the ten- year Mongolian-Soviet Treaty of Friendship—which included a mutual defense protocol—was signed. The pact did not mention

Chinese sovereignty over Mongolia, and Moscow ignored Chinese

protests.

In addition to concluding defense treaties with the Soviet Union,

Mongolia concentrated on building its army with Soviet guidance

46
Monument to Sukhe Bator, Ulaanbaatar

Courtesy Allen H. Kassof

and military aid. In 1936 military expenditures were doubled, and

by 1938 more than half of Mongolia's budget was for defense. The

government built paved roads, extended railroads, and established

military air bases and communication lines, all with Soviet aid.

Military equipment and training also were supplied by the Soviet

Union. It is estimated that during World War II the Mongolian

Army numbered between 80,000 and 100,000 troops, a huge per- centage of the total population of 900,000.

Security concerns and a more conservative economic approach

prevented major advances in stock raising and other internal development during this period. A few small Mongolian-Soviet enterprises were initiated to support the war economy. The abandonment

of agricultural communes and the return to private enterprise signaled a trend toward gradualism. Voluntary producers' cooperatives were encouraged, but they remained small until the 1950s

(see Peacetime Development, 1946-52, this ch.). Only a few state farms were started. Apart from some veterinary and credit as- sistance, the government made few efforts to support the nomads,

and by 1941 herds had reached the highest recorded growth in Mongolian history. Consumer cooperatives continued to expand, and

the state controlled the rest of internal trade.

47
Mongolia: A Country Study

The policy of gradualism was particularly ineffective in education. In 1941 an estimated 90 percent of the people were illiterate. In 1942 the country's first university—Choybalsan University, later renamed Mongolian State University—was established in Ulaanbaatar, but the spread of general education had to await the late 1940s and the 1950s. The first large-scale literacy program did not

begin until 1947 (see Education, ch. 2). Despite the government's official policy of not overtly persecuting religious beliefs, its antireligious campaign continued slowly

but relentlessly. Emphasis was placed on ideological and economic

persuasion, which curtailed monastic growth and induced monks

of lower rank to return to secular life. Government representatives were attached to monasteries to monitor their activities, construction of new monasteries was forbidden by law, the enrollment of

minors was disallowed, and monks became eligible for military ser- vice. Many monasteries were destroyed; others were converted to secular use. Methods of suppression became especially bloody in

the second half of the 1930s. In 1935 abbots and monks of higher

rank were tried publicly; in 1937 and 1938, about 2,000 of them

were executed. Thousands of others were arrested and jailed. The

financially shattered monasteries gradually were closed in the period

1938 to 1939.

The campaign against the Buddhists was largely successful. Within two decades, the resident monastic population was reduced

from about 15,000 to approximately 200 monks. A handful of small

monasteries and one large institution were all that were left physically of what had been, at the century's start, the best organized

and most intellectual force in Mongolian life. There also were renewed purges in the inner party ranks in 1937

to 1939. Minor rebellions continued to plague the government, and

uncooperative political leaders increasingly were accused of aiding the opposition or the Japanese. One after the other, many top

party and government officials fell from power and were executed

or were imprisoned. By 1939 Choybalsan had emerged as the pre- mier, the minister of war, and the undisputed leader of Mongolia.

It later was acknowledged, in 1956 and in 1962, that Choybalsan

had "committed serious errors" and had established a "personality cult" during this period (see Socialist Construction under

Tsedenbal, 1952-84, this ch.).

In March and April 1940, the Tenth Party Congress met.

Although it confirmed Yumjaagiyn Tsedenbal as general secretary,

Choybalsan continued to be the predominant force in the party.

The ensuing Eighth National Great Hural adopted a new state constitution, which, however, made no basic alterations in the 1924

48
Historical Setting

constitution. Although it emphasized the new Mongolian authority structure, the bypassing of capitalism, and the necessity of overall

state planning, the 1940 constitution did not change the policy of

gradualism. Private ownership, especially of livestock, was allowed

until the turn to total communization began in late 1947.

National Defense, 1940-45

As political and religious purges finally drew to a close, the in- ternational situation worsened. Fighting had broken out, in May

1939, with Japanese forces based in Manchukuo. That summer

a Japanese army invaded eastern Mongolia. Soviet General Georgi

Zhukov commanded the Soviet-Mongolian army that met this in- vasion. Between May and September 1939, there was large-scale

ground and aerial fighting along the Khalkhyn Gol, a river in north- eastern Mongolia. The Mongolian troops and their Soviet allies severely defeated the Japanese, who may have sustained as many

as 80,000 casualties compared with 1 1,130 on the Mongolian-Soviet

side. Hostilities ended on September 16, 1939. The Soviet Union

and Japan signed a truce, and a commission was set up to define

the Mongolian-Manchurian border. Although Japan did not in- vade again, it did mass large military forces along the Mongolian

and the Soviet borders in the course of the war, while continuing

its southward drive into China.

The Soviet position in Mongolia was now fully consolidated.

Throughout World War II, Choybalsan followed Moscow's directives, and Mongolia supported the Soviet Union with livestock, raw materials, money, food, and military clothing. The Mongolian

army was maintained intact throughout the war; it served as an

important buffer force in the Soviet Far East defense system, but

it did not actually join the Red Army. Moreover, the Soviets, on

the occasion of the April 13, 1941, Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact,

obtained a commitment from Japan to respect Mongolia's territorial integrity.

Modernizing the army and keeping it at peak mobilization was

a heavy drain on the nation's undeveloped economy and small

population. Even so, the party leaders pressed on with what limited social progress they could manage in a wartime situation. As

more teachers became trained, literacy began to accelerate, and

government efforts to assist the herdsmen in sheltering, feeding,

and caring for their livestock continued. Stock raising bore the major war burden, however, and with large Soviet requisitions to fill, herd

totals fell sharply during the war. Mongolia's wartime neutrality ended in the closing days of World

War II. On August 10, 1945, two days after the Soviet Union had

49
Mongolia: A Country Study

declared war on Japan, Mongolia also declared war onJapan. The

Mongolian army, some 80,000 strong, joined Soviet troops in in- vading Inner Mongolia and Manchuria. On August 14, 1945, in

the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance, China agreed

to recognize the independence of Mongolia within its "existing

boundary," provided that a plebiscite confirmed the Mongolian

people's desire for independence. Mongolia obliged, and in an October 20 referendum, 100 percent of the electorate voted for in- dependence from China. On January 5, 1946, China recognized

Mongolian independence and, on February 14, agreed to exchange

diplomatic representatives. None, however, were exchanged. The

ensuing Chinese civil war and the victory of the Chinese communists

over the Guomindang government in 1949 led instead to Ulaanbaatar's recognition of the new People's Republic of China.

Peacetime Development, 1946-52

On February 27, 1946, Mongolia and the Soviet Union signed

the ten-year renewable Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance

and the first Agreement on Economic and Cultural Cooperation.

With the war over and Chinese and Japanese threat eliminated

from Mongolia, the way for renewed assertion of Soviet influence

in Mongolia was clear. Mongolia was a strong defense buffer, a

trading partner, and a dependable ally in international conferences

for the Soviet Union. A further indication of close ties was Mongolia's adoption in February 1946 of the Cyrillic alphabet for use

in schools and military units (see Ethnic and Linguistic Groups,

ch. 2). Secure in its relations with Moscow, Ulaanbaatar expanded its other international ties. Diplomatic relations were established with

the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the

new communist governments in Eastern Europe. Mongolian participation in communist-sponsored conferences and international

organizations increased; Mongolia applied for membership in the

United Nations, but representatives from Ulaanbaatar were not

seated until 1961 (see Socialist Construction under Tsedenbal,

1952-84, this ch.). Mongolia was among the first countries to recog- nize the new People's Republic of China in October 1949.

In its shift to postwar development, the party and the government reduced defense expenditures and shifted personnel from mili- tary to civilian enterprises. Rationing was curtailed, and prices for some manufactured items and foodstuffs were reduced. Attention was given to redeveloping the livestock and the agrarian sectors

at the same time that modern mining, industrial, transportation,

and communications sectors were being established. Initiatives also

50
Historical Setting

were taken in raising education and health levels and in improving the general well-being of the people. The First Five-Year Plan

(1948-52), presented at the Eleventh Party Congress in December 1947, was important in carrying out postwar construction (see

Socialist Framework of the Economy, ch. 3). The first session of

the national hural held since 1940, was convened in February 1949

as the Ninth National Great Hural.

Socialist Construction under Tsedenbal, 1952-84

Choybalsan died onJanuary 26, 1952, and a major era in modern

Mongolian history came to an end. He was succeeded as government leader by Tsedenbal who continued to be party general secre- tary as well. Economic developments and extensive purges of party and

government personnel marked the transition. In March 1953, a

party Central Committee plenum was convened to review the results of the First Plan, and in November 1954, the Twelfth Party Congress belatedly approved guidelines for the Second Five-Year Plan

(1953-57). A continuing major economic target included in the

plan was the development of the livestock sector, and a 72 percent

increase in grain production over 1952 levels was envisioned. Special

attention also was paid to expanding electrification and international economic cooperation. Also at the Twelfth Congress, Dashiyn

Damba was elected general secretary, replacing Tsedenbal as party

leader.

In 1956 the party Central Committee condemned the ' 'personality cult" of Choybalsan, specifically pointing out the excesses of

the 1937 to 1939 period. Claiming success for the Second Plan,

the Thirteenth Party Congress, March 17 to 22, 1958, adopted

a special Three-Year Plan (1958-60), aimed at raising Mongolia

from a livestock economy to an agricultural-industrial economy,

all with Soviet aid. New emphasis was placed on stepping up in- dustrial capacities—particularly in the coal mining, electric power,

and construction sectors—and on increasing output of petroleum

industry products, minerals, and nonferrous ores (see Industry,

ch. 3). Damba was reelected at the Thirteenth Congress, only to be dismissed for ideological reasons and replaced by Tsedenbal

several months later. On July 6, 1960, the government adopted

the national Constitution that continued to be in force in 1989 (see

Constitutional Framework, ch. 4). In January 1962, Choybalsan's " personality cult" again was attacked by the party Central Committee.

Foreign inputs and expansion of international contacts were important to Mongolia's development plans in the 1950s. A result

51
Mongolia: A Country Study

of the close alliance of China and the Soviet Union during this period was Sino-Soviet cooperation in developing Mongolia. In

1952 a ten-year Sino-Mongolian Agreement on Economic and Cultural Cooperation marked an important step in developing rela- tions between the two long-estranged nations. China helped build

railroad lines, gave ruble aid and loans for construction projects,

and even sent large contingents of laborers in the mid-1950s. Ulaanbaatar also subscribed to the anticolonial stance of the 1955 Bandung Conference and adopted the Five Principles of Peaceful

Coexistence (see Glossary; see also Foreign Policy, ch. 4). Relations were developed with countries beyond the communist bloc

for example, India, Burma, Cambodia, nations in Africa and the

Middle East, and, later, Cuba.

Soviet troops were withdrawn in 1956, increasing Mongolia's

control over its own internal affairs. There were residual fears of a renewed Chinese ascendancy, however, despite Mongolia's signing of the Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance with China

on May 31, 1960, and the improved state of bilateral affairs. Memories of Chinese claims to "lost territories" —a theme, in

Chinese foreign policy toward Mongolia, raised by Sun Yat-sen

in 1912; reiterated by Chiang Kai-shek in the 1920s and by Mao

Zedong in the 1930s; and, although rebuffed, raised at the 1945

Yalta Conference, when Chiang asserted China's claim to suzer- ainty based on the 1924 treaty with the Soviet Union—were strong

in Mongolian consciousness.

Soon after the July 1961 Fourteenth Party Congress, Mongolia

had garnered enough support from communist countries and from

the Third World to be admitted to the United Nations in October

1961. The following June, Mongolia joined the Soviet-sponsored

Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon—see Glossary).

Mongolian-Soviet ties continued to be close during the 1960s;

additional aid was granted to Mongolia, and repayment deadlines were extended. In October 1965, a new three-year Agreement on Economic and Cultural Cooperation was signed. A twenty-year

Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance, which

replaced the 1946 treaty, was the culmination of a state visit to Ulaanbaatar by the Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev, in January

1966. Soon after the signing of the friendship treaty, which included a defense clause, there was a buildup in Mongolia of Soviet troops

and military infrastructure (including bases, roads, airfields,

sheltered fighter aircraft sites, radar detection networks, communication lines, and missile sites). Mongolia, more than ever, had

become a front line of Soviet defense against China. As part of

52
Historical Setting

its alliance with the Soviet Union, Mongolia signed the Nuclear

Test Ban Treaty in 1963.

As relations with Moscow grew still closer, there was a cor- responding coolness in those with Beijing. Although a difficult bilateral question was resolved with China in December 1962, when

a border demarcation agreement was reached, by 1966 serious

Mongolian-Chinese differences had surfaced. Chinese aid was

stopped; trade decreased to low levels; relations cooled. The Chinese were angry over Ulaanbaatar's siding with Moscow in the SinoSoviet rift; Mongolia, observing the excesses of China's Cultural

Revolution, was concerned anew over China's designs on its sovereignty.

After the Fifteenth Party Congress had approved new economic

plans in June 1966, Mongolia continued to try to transform its no- madic economy into ranch-style livestock herding and to expand

its industrial sector. The economy, however, continued to have se- vere problems. For example, poor weather plagued the country;

in 1967, blizzards caused a US$37 million loss in livestock alone.

Severe winters were followed by drought and by plummeting harvests and exports. Planned increases in agricultural and industrial

production did not materialize, and the lack of raw materials continued to hamper even light industry. Some of the blame was placed on the pullout of Chinese economic and technical assistance and

the end of trade with China in consumer goods. It was admitted,

however, that the economy envisioned in the Fourth Five-Year Plan

(1966-70) had ''not developed as rapidly as those of fraternal socialist states," and, indeed, achievements fell notably short of goals.

Large infusions of Soviet and Comecon aid eventually had salu- tary effects in the early 1970s. High-level state visits were exchanged

in the 1969 to 1971 period, with the result that Moscow agreed

to underwrite the Fifth Five-Year Plan (1971-75). Soviet economic

difficulties in the early 1970s, however, had repercussions for Mongolia. The Soviet Union started insisting that trade quotas be

honored, a move that caused economic disruption just as Mongolia was recovering from the economic distress of the late 1960s.

Nevertheless, some economic progress was achieved between 1971

and 1974, a period during which gross industrial production rose by nearly 45 percent. Severe winters continued to hurt the antici- pated growth of livestock herds. By the mid-1970s, direct business

and other cooperative links had been established between cor- responding Mongolian and Soviet ministries, departments, research

institutes, and industries, and cooperative ties also had been es- tablished between neighboring Mongolian aymags (see Glossary)

and Soviet oblasts.

53
Mongolia: A Country Study

More than 100,000 Soviet troops were garrisoned in Mongolia

in the early 1970s. Ulaanbaatar's anti-Chinese criticism intensified during this period, ostensibly because of increased numbers

of Chinese military exercises along the frontier and alleged antiMongolian subversive activities. Mongolia received assurances that Soviet troops would remain; Brezhnev himself, when in Ulaanbaatar, said that Beijing's demand for withdrawal of Soviet troops

from Mongolia, as a precondition for the normalization of SinoSoviet relations, was "absolutely unacceptable."

After a decade of steady growth in party membership, a dramatic change occurred in the composition of those attending the

Sixteenth Party Congress in July 1971 . Although membership on

the Political Bureau, the Central Committee, and the Secretariat

remained stable, 82 percent of the delegates were new. As the decade continued, changes at the top began to emerge. In June 1974,

Tsedenbal, while retaining his position as general secretary of the

Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, resigned as chairman

of the Council of Ministers—the premiership—to become chairman of the People's Great Hural, the de facto president of Mongolia. The former rector of the Mongolian State University, Jambyn

Batmonh, in a move presaging the succession a decade later, was

appointed premier; he also was elevated to the party Political

Bureau. After these changes, the party leadership was more sta- ble. The closeness of Mongolian-Soviet relations was manifested

by meetings in October 1976 in Moscow among Tsedenbal,

Batmonh, and three other party Political Bureau members and the

Soviet Communist Party general secretary Leonid Brezhnev; the

president, Nikolai Podgorny; and the premier, Alexei Kosygin.

While the talks were described as "fraternal," they also were characterized as "frank," probably because of increased Mongolian demands for economic aid. Soviet aid was forthcoming for the Sixth

Five-Year Plan (1976-80), primarily in support of agriculture, mining, fuel, power, food, and light industries. Mongolian relations

with Beijing—following Moscow's lead—were less hostile in the

years after the 1976 death of Mao, but fears of China's "predatory aspirations" still lingered in Ulaanbaatar. In 1980 Chinese

nationals were expelled from Mongolia on charges ranging from

gambling and drug use to public disorder and espionage.

Severe weather in the winter of 1976 to 1977 caused some of

the worst damage to animal husbandry in a decade. Heavy snowfalls, severe frosts, disease, starvation, and mismanagement combined to create a perilous economic situation. Recovery was slow,

and livestock targets were overestimated continually throughout

the rest of the 1970s. Developments in other economic sectors, such

54
Former burial site of Sukhe

Bator, Altan Olgiy Mountain

Courtesy Institute of

Party History, Ulaanbaatar

as mining and irrigated farming, saw some improvement during

the period, however.

The 1980s began with some improvements in the economy, but

also with a number of top party and state leadership changes, cul- minating in the end of Tsedenbal's rule. While Tsedenbal was in

Moscow in August 1984, special sessions of the party and the People's Great Hural were held to announce his retirement. Batmonh

replaced the reportedly ailing party head, amid tributes to Tsedenbal's forty-four-year career as an "outstanding leader" and "very

close friend." In December 1984, Batmonh also was elevated to the chairmanship of the Presidium of the People's Great Hural,

and Vice Premier Dumaagiyn Sodnom became premier as Mongolia embarked on historic reforms (see The Political Process, ch. 4).

* * * A number of scholarly sources provide the basic framework for studying Mongolian history. Rene Grousset's The Empire of the Steppes provides a detailed historical analysis of Mongolian history

from the Scythian period to the annexation of Mongolia by the

Manchus. David Morgan's The Mongols provides a succinct account

of the high point of Mongol history in the thirteenth and the fourteenth centuries. A more general treatment of Mongol history in

the context of general Asian history is in East Asia: Tradition and

55
Mongolia: A Country Study

Transformation by John K. Fairbank, Edwin O. Reischauer, and

Albert M. Craig. Key sources for those studying Mongolian his- tory are two translated works under the same title, History of the Mongolian People's Republic—a condensed Soviet translation of a

larger Russian/Mongolian edition by Soviet and Mongolian academicians, which covers the history of Mongolia from the stone age

to 1971 —and an American translation and annotation of volume

three of an original Mongolian work written by Mongolian scholars, which covers the years 1921 to 1966. A detailed documentary

history of Mongolia's independence movement is Urgunge Onon

and Derrick Pritchatt's Asia 's First Modern Revolution. Several works

by Denis Sinor and Sechin Jagchid also are important contributions. Mongolia's Culture and Society, by Jagchid and Paul Hyer, pro- vides excellent background on the historical development of

Mongolia. A seminal work on the modern period, which includes an extensive chronology and bibliography, is Robert A. Rupen's

Mongols of the Twentieth Century. The Minorities of Northern China by

Henry G. Schwarz and Russia and the Golden Horde by Charles J. Halperin provide useful information on Mongol integration into

neighboring cultures. For those interested in original source material, The Secret History of the Mongols, translated by Francis Woodman Cleaves, should be consulted. (For further information and

complete citations, see Bibliography.)

56

A balladeer playing a two-stringed morin huur
IN 1986 MONGOLIA CELEBRATED the sixty-fifth anniversary of the revolution that had begun the transformation of a traditional feudal society of pastoral nomads into a modern society of

motorcycle-mounted shepherds and urban factory workers. The

reshaping of Mongolian society reflected both strong guidance and

a high level of economic assistance from the Soviet Union. The

relations between Mongolia and the Soviet Union have been ex- tremely close. The ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party

has so faithfully echoed the line of the Communist Party of the

Soviet Union that some Western observers have doubted the reality of Mongolia's independence.

From Ulaanbaatar, however, issues of autonomy and the path

of social development are seen differendy. Of all the peoples of Inner

Asia—Uighurs (see Glossary), Uzbeks (see Glossary), Kirghiz,

Tibetans, Tajiks, and others—only those in Mongolia retain any

degree of independence. As a small nation of barely 2 million

people, caught between two giant and sometimes antagonistic neighbors, China and the Soviet Union, Mongolia has had to accom- modate itself to one or the other of those neighbors. Twice as many

Mongols live outside the boundaries of Mongolia (3.4 million in

China and .5 million in the Soviet Union), as live within it, and

the fate of the larger Mongol population of China, who have be- come a 20 percent minority in the Nei Monggol Autonomous

Region—once part of their own country—demonstrates that alter- natives to the pro- Soviet alignment might well be less attractive.

In the opinion of most Western observers, most Mongolians traditionally have tended to view the Soviet Union as a model of modern

society, and the Russian language has been the vehicle for the in- troduction of science and modern technology and for contacts with

the larger communist world.

Mongolia in 1921 was an exceptionally economically undeveloped society in which nomadic herders, illiterate and marginally

involved in a market economy, constituted most of the population.

They supported some petty nobles and a large number of Buddhist monks. The society's dominant institution was the Buddhist

monastic system, which enrolled much of the adult male population as monks. Such limited commerce as existed was controlled

by Chinese merchants, to whom the native nobility was heavily

in debt. The only avenue of mobility and escape from broad and

ill-defined obligations to hereditary overlords was provided by

59
Mongolia: A Country Study

entrance to the Buddhist clergy, whose monks devoted themselves

primarily to otherworldly and economically unproductive pursuits.

The population appears to have been declining, because of high death

rates from disease and poor nutrition, the large proportion of celi- bate monks, and high levels of infertility caused by venereal disease.

Against such a historical foundation, claims that contemporary

Mongolia represents a completely new society are quite plausible. In many ways, the society has been transformed, and in the 1980s

rapid social change continued. The ruling party saw the nation as having leaped directly from feudalism to socialism, bypassing the

capitalist stage of development. Many of the forms of socialist organization, particularly in the rapidly growing urban and industrial sectors, appeared to be direct copies of Soviet models, with some modification to fit the Mongolian context. The population

has nearly tripled since 1920, as the government pursued a pronatal policy rare among developing nations. Mongolia's herds of

livestock, which outnumbered the human population by at least ten-to-one, had been collectivized, and herders in the 1980s worked

as members of pastoral collectives that drew up monthly and an- nual plans for milk and wool production.

By 1985 a slim majority of Mongolia's population was urban,

working in factories and mines, and increasingly housed in Sovietmodel, prefabricated highrises. Public health and education had

been the objects of intense development, which by the 1980s had

produced vital rates approaching those of developed nations and

nearly universal literacy among the younger generation. Much of

Mongolia's industrial development and urban growth has taken

place since the mid-1970s and has been so recent that the country was only beginning to recognize the problems attending rapid in- dustrialization, urbanization, and occupational differentiation.

The drive for modernization along Soviet lines has been accompanied by an equally strong, but much less explicitly articulated,

determination to maintain a distinctive Mongolian culture and to keep control of Mongolia's development in Mongolian hands.

Although the topic was politically sensitive, Mongolia's leaders were

nationalists as well as communists, and they aspired to much more

independence than was permitted to the "national minorities" of

the Soviet Union and China with whom the Mongolians otherwise

had so much in common.

Geography

Landforms

The terrain is one of mountains and rolling plateaus, with a high

degree of relief (see fig. 4). Overall, the land slopes from the high

60

Figure 4. Topography and Drainage
The Society and Its Environment

Altai Mountains of the west and the north to plains and depressions in the east and the south. Hutyen Orgil (sometimes called

Nayramadlin Orgil—Mount Friendship) in extreme western Mongolia, where the Mongolian, the Soviet, and the Chinese borders

meet, is the highest point (4,374 meters). The lowest is 560 meters, an otherwise undistinguished spot in the eastern Mongolian plain.

The country has an average elevation of 1,580 meters. The landscape includes one of Asia's largest freshwater lakes (Hovsgol Nuur),

many salt lakes, marshes, sand dunes, rolling grasslands, alpine

forests, and permanent montane glaciers. Northern and western

Mongolia are seismically active zones, with frequent earthquakes

and many hot springs and extinct volcanoes.

Mongolia has three major mountain ranges. The highest is the

Altai Mountains, which stretch across the western and the southwestern regions of the country on a northwest-to- southeast axis. The Hangayn Nuruu, mountains also trending northwest to southeast, occupy much of central and north-central Mongolia.

These are older, lower, and more eroded mountains, with many

forests and alpine pastures. The Hentiyn Nuruu, mountains near

the Soviet border to the northeast of Ulaanbaatar, are lower still. Much of eastern Mongolia is occupied by a plain, and the lowest area is a southwest-to-northeast trending depression that reaches

from the Gobi region in the south to the eastern frontier. The rivers

drain in three directions: north to the Arctic Ocean, east to the

Pacific, or south to the deserts and the depressions of Inner Asia.

Rivers are most extensively developed in the north, and the country's major river system is that of the Selenge Moron, which drains

into Lake Baykal. Some minor tributaries of Siberia's Yenisey River

also rise in the mountains of northwestern Mongolia. Rivers in

northeastern Mongolia drain into the Pacific through the Argun

and Amur (Heilongjiang) rivers, while the few streams of southern

and southwestern Mongolia do not reach the sea but run into salt lakes or deserts. Climate

Mongolia is high, cold, and dry. It has an extreme continental

climate with long, cold winters and short summers, during which

most precipitation falls. The country averages 257 cloudless days

a year, and it is usually at the center of a region of high atmospheric

pressure. Precipitation is highest in the north, which averages 20

to 35 centimeters per year, and lowest in the south, which receives

10 to 20 centimeters (see fig. 5). The extreme south is the Gobi, some regions of which receive no precipitation at all in most years. The name Gobi is derived from the Mongol word govi, meaning

63
Huyten Orgil ^j^-' rr

(4374) *Cf. 11vs

z

Choybalsan

r

V * Dalandzadgad

Go^ " ...

>

Boundary representation

not necessarily authoritative.

International

boundary

® National capital

• Populated place

100 200 Kilometer

I 1 1—'

1 100 200 Miles

Figure 4. Topography and Drainage

62

Mongolia: A Country Study
The Society and Its Environment

65
Mongolia: A Country Study

desert, depression, salt marsh, or steppe, but which usually refers to a category of arid rangeland with insufficient vegetation to support marmots but with enough to support camels. Mongols distin- guish govi from desert proper, although the distinction is not always

apparent to outsiders unfamiliar with the Mongolian landscape.

Govi rangelands are fragile and are easily destroyed by overgrazing, which results in expansion of the true desert, a stony waste

where not even Bactrian camels can survive.

Average temperatures over most of the country are below freez- ing from November through March and are about freezing in April

and October. January and February averages of -20°C are com- mon, with winter nights of -40°C occurring most years. Summer

extremes reach as high as 38°C in the southern Gobi region and

33 °C in Ulaanbaatar. More than half the country is covered by

permafrost, which makes construction, road building, and mining difficult. All rivers and freshwater lakes freeze over in the winter,

and smaller streams commonly freeze to the bottom. Ulaanbaatar

lies at 1,351 meters above sea level in the valley of the Tuul Gol, a river. Located in the relatively well-watered north, it receives an annual average of 31 centimeters of precipitation, almost all of which falls in July and in August. Ulaanbaatar has an average

annual temperature of-2.9°C and a frost-free period extending on the average from mid-June to late August (see fig. 6). Mongolia's weather is characterized by extreme variability and

short-term unpredictability in the summer, and the multiyear aver- ages conceal wide variations in precipitation, dates of frosts, and

occurrences of blizzards and spring dust storms. Such weather poses

severe challenges to human and livestock survival. Official statistics list less than 1 percent of the country as arable, 8 to 10 percent

as forest, and the rest as pasture or desert. Grain, mostly wheat,

is grown in the valleys of the Selenge river system in the north,

but yields fluctuate widely and unpredictably as a result of the

amount and the timing of rain and the dates of killing frosts. Although winters are generally cold and clear, there are occasional

blizzards that do not deposit much snow but cover the grasses with

enough snow and ice to make grazing impossible, killing off tens of thousands of sheep or cattle. Such losses of livestock, which are an inevitable and, in a sense, normal consequence of the climate,

have made it difficult for planned increases in livestock numbers

to be achieved (see Agriculture, ch. 3). Environmental Concerns

After many years of uncritical fostering of industrial and urban

growth, Mongolia's authorities became aware in the late 1980s of

66
The Society and Its Environment

the environmental costs of such policies. Belated Soviet concern

over the pollution of Lake Baykal encouraged Mongolian actions

to preserve their counterpart Hovsgol Nuur, which is linked to Lake

Baykal through the Selenge Moron. A wool-scouring plant that

had been discharging wastes into Hovsgol Nuur was closed; truck

traffic on the winter ice was banned; and the shipping of oil in barges on the lake was stopped. Deforestation in the Hangayn Nuruu,

had reduced the flow of northern Mongolia's rivers, which were

polluted by runoff from the fertilized and pesticide-treated grain

fields along their banks, by industrial wastes, and by untreated sew- age from growing settlements. Ulaanbaatar—located in a valley

with factories and 500,000 inhabitants who depend on soft coal,

had severe air pollution, especially when the air was still and cold

in winter. Deforestation, overgrazing of pastures, and efforts to increase grain and hay production by plowing up more virgin land

had resulted in increased soil erosion, both from wind and from

heavy downpours of the severe thunderstorms that bring much of

Mongolia's rain. In the south, the desert area of the Gobi was ex- panding, threatening the fragile govt pasturelands. The government

responded by founding the Ministry of Environmental Protection

in 1987 and by giving increased publicity to environmental issues. Population

Vital Rates

Mongolia's population is sparsely distributed, young, and in- creasing rapidly. With an estimated midyear 1989 population of

2,125,463, the average population density was 1.36 people per

square kilometer (see fig. 7). The annual growth rate was about

2.7 percent, which, if sustained, would double the population in

27 years. The rate of natural increase was the result of high birthrates and of death rates that were relatively low by world standards

(see table 2, Appendix). Mongolia does not publish figures for in- fant mortality, but estimates in the late 1980s ranged between 49

and 53 per 1 ,000 births. The population's sex ratio was nearly even, with official 1986 figures showing 50. 1 percent of the total population as male and 49.9 percent as female.

Such high population growth was one of the most striking ex- amples of the profound transformation of traditional Mongolian

society. The high growth rate dated only to the late 1950s, when

the effects of improved public health and medical services were

reflected in sharply reduced death rates. Despite a growth rate of

under 3 percent, government statistics claimed that the population

doubled between 1963 and 1988. The rate of population increase

67
Mongolia: A Country Study
The Society and Its Environment

had peaked in 1960 at 3.27 percent, but it had declined to about

2.7 percent by 1989. Such a quickly growing population was necessarily a young population. In 1988 population experts in a World

Bank publication projected that by 1990 72 percent of Mongolia's

population would be fourteen years old and younger (see fig. 8). Pro-natal Policies

A larger population has been a long-standing goal of the government, which provided a series of incentives to encourage large

families. A labor shortage has provided the primary overt justification for the policy, and economic aid from the Soviet Union has

enabled Mongolia to meet the costs of supporting a large and eco- nomically unproductive cohort of children. Because the economy

of Mongolia was to a large extent integrated with that of eastern

Siberia, where the Soviet Union has suffered endemic labor short- ages, encouraging the growth of the Mongolian population and

labor force was in the interest of the Soviet Union (see Socialist

Framework of the Economy, ch. 3). Reinforcing the policy may

be a desire to ensure the survival of Mongols as an ethnic group

and to boost the initially somewhat questionable legitimacy and

sovereignty of the Mongolian People's Republic by occupying the

land and by ensuring that key institutions and enterprises are staffed by Mongolians rather than by management imported at the behest of the Soviet Union.

The government and the ruling party put no obstacles in the

way of early marriages, and engagements and marriages among

university students were common. In 1985 there were 6.3 marriages and 0.3 divorces per 1,000 people. A March 1989 Mongolian

newspaper reported that every twentieth marriage broke up, that more than 15,000 mothers were receiving alimony from former

husbands, and that 45,000 of the 870,000 children aged fifteen and

younger were illegitimate. When resident Chinese laborers were

expelled from Mongolia in the late 1960s as a result of the SinoSoviet conflict, their alleged offenses included the possession and

the distribution of contraceptives (see Socialist Construction Under

Tsedenbal, 1952-84, ch. 1). Childbearing was promoted as every

woman's patriotic obligation, and exhortations to fecundity were

backed up by a range of material incentives (see The Position of

Women, this ch.). Working women were granted a maternity leave

of 101 days, and the Labor Law prohibited dismissal of pregnant

women and of those with children younger than one year. Parents

received family allowances in cash; subsidies, paid to families with more than four children younger than sixteen, could amount to as much as an average industrial wage. Women with five or more

69
Mongolia: A Country Study

AGE-GROUP

75 AND OVER m 70-74

65-69 m

mm 60-64

55-59 MALES FEMALES

50-54 45-49 40-44 v///////mmm

35-39

30-34 Y/A

25-29 V/////

20-24

15-19 10-14

5-9

0-4

400 300 200 100 100 200 300 400 POPULATION IN THOUSANDS

Source: Based on information from K.C. Zachariah and My T. Vu, World Population Projections, 1987-88 Edition, Baltimore, 1988, 282.

Figure 8. Age-Sex Ratio, 1990 Projection

living children received the Order of Maternal Glory, Second Class,

medal and an annual subsidy of 400 tugriks (for value of the tugrik

see Glossary) per child; those with more than eight children received

the Order of Maternal Glory, First Class, and 600 tugriks per child. The medals entitied the mothers to all-expenses paid annual vacations of two weeks at the hot springs spa of their choice, steep dis- counts in fees for child care, and other benefits. Marriage and

childbearing also were promoted by a special tax (of an unspecified

amount) levied on unmarried and childless citizens between the ages

of twenty and fifty. Full-time students in secondary schools and col- leges were exempted from this tax, as were military conscripts.

The birth needed to bring the current Mongolian population to

2 million was the occasion for national celebration in 1987. The

government's Central Statistical Board determined that one of the

260 babies born July 1 1 (Mongolia's National Day) was the 2 millionth citizen. Twenty-five of the babies were selected as "Two

Million Babies." The state awarded each of their families two new

residences (probably apartments), the Children's Foundation

awarded each a 5,000-tugrik subsidy (industrial wages range from

an average of 550 tugriks to a high of 900 tugriks per month), and

local governments and the parents' workplaces also gave gifts.

70
The Society and Its Environment

Population Distribution

The 1979 census showed that 51 percent of the population was

urban, and this percentage remained unchanged through 1986.

Rural population density in the mid-1980s was highest in the well- watered regions of the north and the west and lowest in the arid

and desert areas of the south and the east. The country as a whole

averaged 1.36 people per square kilometer, with rural densities in

1986 ranging from 1 .9 people per square kilometer in Bayan-Olgiy

and Selenge aymags (see Glossary) to 0.22 people per square kilo- meter in Omnogovi Aymag (see fig. 1). The three largest cities

Ulaanbaatar, Darhan, and Erdenet—are in north-central Mongolia, on or near the main railroad line and the Selenge Moron

or its major tributaries. Half the country's population lived in this core area, with its river valleys, productive upland pastures, coal

and copper mines, and relatively well-developed transportation sys- tem. The remaining, much larger area—occupied by widely dis- persed herders and by isolated administrative centers—was the

economic and social periphery.

The Urban Population

The city system is dominated by Ulaanbaatar—a classic primate

city far larger than the second-ranking or third-ranking cities—in

which all important political, economic, and cultural functions are

centralized. In 1986 Ulaanbaatar had 500,200 people, or nearly

25 percent of the nation's population. Its dominant position was

demonstrated by the transportation system, which radiated out from

Ulaanbaatar (see Transportation, ch. 3). The industrial center of

Darhan, on the main railroad line north of Ulaanbaatar, had 74,000

people in 1986; Erdenet, founded in 1976 and built around a major

copper and molybdenum mining complex, had 45,400. Fourth place

went to Choybalsan, the industrial metropolis of eastern Mongolia in Dornod Aymag, which had 28,600 people in 1979. Fifth

through tenth places were occupied by a set of aymag seats with

populations in the 16,000-to-18,000 range in 1979. The lowest rung

of the urban hierarchy was occupied by the headquarters of state farms or herding cooperatives, which usually featured administrative offices, primary schools with boarding facilities, clinics, assembly halls, fodder storage facilities, and the cooperative's motor pool

and truck maintenance centers. During the 1980s, the pace of urban residential construction was

rapid, and an increasing proportion of the urban populace was

housed in Soviet-designed, prefabricated four-story or high-rise

apartment complexes. Such housing complexes—equipped with

71
Mongolia: A Country Study

heat from central plants and served by planned complexes of shops,

schools, and playgrounds as well as by bus routes—represented

the zenith of modernism and progress. Many people in cities con- tinued to live in the traditional Mongolian round felt tents called

ger (see Glossary). Mongolians do not regard ger as backward or shameful, even in Ulaanbaatar, but urban planners considered that the much higher population densities afforded by high-rise housing would permit optimum use of often-scarce flat ground and would

afford the most efficient utilization of public transportion and public

utilities such as water and sewer lines. Ethnic and Linguistic Groups

Mongols and Kazakhs

Mongolia's population is ethnically quite homogenous; about

90 percent of the populace speaks one of several dialects of the Mongol language. Mongol is an Altaic language, related to the Turkic

languages, such as Uzbek, Turkish, and Kazakh (see Glossary),

and more distantly to Korean and perhaps, in the opinion of some

linguists, to Japanese. Except for the dialect of the Buryat Mongols, who predominantly inhabit the area around Lake Baykal in

Siberia, and the dialects of scattered isoglosses in Mongolia, all dialects of Mongol spoken in Mongolia are readily understood by

native speakers of the language. The Khalkha (see Glossary) Mongols are the largest element of the population. According to the

1979 census, they made up 77.5 percent of the population (see

table 3, Appendix). The term khalkha, which means "shield," has

been used at least since the mid-sixteenth century to refer to the

nomads of the traditional Mongol heartland of high steppes and

mountains. They have been the most thoroughly pastoral of all the

Mongol tribes or subethnic groups, the nomads' nomads, and the

least affected by foreign influences. In the twentieth century, they

occupied most of the central and the eastern areas of the country.

Khalkha Mongol is the standard language; it is taught in the schools

and is used for all official business. The written language is based on the Khalkha of the Ulaanbaatar region, and when Mongol script was replaced by a Cyrillic alphabet between 1941 and 1946, the

Russian Cyrillic was modified to suit the phonetic structure of

Khalkha.

Another 12 percent of the population in 1979 spoke a variety

of western or northern Mongol dialects, such as Dorbet, Dzakchin,

Buryat, or the southeastern Dariganga. Speakers of these dialects were concentrated in their ancestral territories in far western or northwestern Mongolia in Hovd, Uvs, and Hovsgol aymags, or along

72
The Society and Its Environment

the Chinese frontier in the southeast. Ethnic distinctions among

the various Mongol subgroups have been relatively minor; they

have been expressed in oral traditions of historical conflicts among

the groups, in such ethnic markers as women's headdresses or the

shapes of boots, and in such minor variations in pastoral technique

as placement of camels' nose pegs (see Mongolia in Transition,

1368-1911, ch. 1). Apart from immediate adaptation to different

environments, Mongol culture has been relatively uniform over

large areas, and dialect or tribal differences have not become significant political or social issues. Mongolia's largest minority, accounting for 5.3 percent of the

population in 1979, is the Kazakh people of the Altai. The Kazakhs,

who also live in the Soviet Union's Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic

and in China's Xinjiang-Uygur Autonomous Region, are a pastoral, Turkic-speaking, and traditionally Muslim people who live in Bayan-Olgiy Aymag in extreme western Mongolia. Bayan-Olgiy

is a largely Kazakh administrative unit, where the Kazakh language

is used in the primary schools and in local administrative offices. There is a fairly high level of contact with the Soviet Union's Kazakh

Republic, which provides textbooks for the schools. Kazakhs of the

Altai traditionally have hunted from horseback with trained golden

eagles on their wrists and greyhounds slung across the saddle

both to be launched at game—and pictures of eagle-bearing

Kazakhs are common in Mongolian tourist literature. Mongol is taught as the second language and Russian as the third in Kazakh

schools, and bilingual Kazakhs appear to participate in the Mongolian professional and bureaucratic elite on an equal footing with

Mongols. Kazakhs also make up a disproportionate number of the

relatively highly paid workers in the coal mines of north-central

Mongolia; this situation may indicate either limited opportunities

in the narrow valleys of Bayan-Olgiy Aymag or government efforts to favor a potentially restive minority, or both.

Chinese, Russians, and Others

The 1979 census identified the "nationality" of 5.5 percent of

the population simply as "other," an undefined category that

presumably included small numbers of Tungusic- speaking hunters and reindeer herders in the northeast, some Turkic- speaking

Tuvins (see Glossary) in Uvs and Dzavhan aymags, and, in the Altai

region, isolated clusters of Uzbeks and Uighurs (the latter of

whom—whose ancestors migrated north from Xinjiang in northwestern China—grow irrigated rice in the relatively sheltered Hovd

Basin). The category also included Russian and Chinese residents,

whose national and legal status is, perhaps intentionally, obscure.

73
Mongolia: A Country Study

Mongolia's 1956 census counted Chinese as 1.9 percent and Russians as 1 .6 percent of the population, but as of 1989 no totals for those groups had been published since. The United States Government in 1987 estimated 2 percent of the population as Russian and

2 percent as Chinese.

Historically, the Gobi served as a barrier to large-scale Chinese

settlement in what was, before 1921, called Outer Mongolia (see

Glossary); the unsuitability of most of the territory for agriculture

made southern settlement less attractive. The small Chinese population in the early 1920s consisted of merchants or peddlers, arti- sans working for Buddhist monasteries or Mongol aristocrats, and

a few market gardeners near Ulaanbaatar (then called Niyslel

capital—Huree, or Urga—see Glossary) and the smaller population centers of the Selenge region (see Religion, this ch.). Many

of the Chinese married or formed liaisons with Mongol women.

Their children, who spoke Mongol as first language, were regarded

as Chinese by the rules of patrilineal descent common to both

Chinese and Mongols. In the early 1980s, Ulaanbaatar was reported

to have a small Chinese community, which published a Chineselanguage newspaper and which looked to the Chinese embassy for moral support. In 1983 the Mongolian government expelled about

1 ,700 Chinese residents, who were accused of "preferring an idle,

parasitic way of life" to honest labor on the state farms to which

they had been assigned. At the same time, ethnic Chinese who had

become naturalized citizens were reported to be unaffected. Because the presence and the status of Chinese residents in Mongolia were politically sensitive subjects, Mongolian sources usually

avoided mentioning the Chinese at all. The same sources frequently referred to the Soviet residents of

Mongolia, but they always described them as helpful foreigners

who would return to their proper homes when their terms of ser- vice were over. Most presumably were not included in the Mongolian census figures. There were small numbers of descendants

of Russian settlers along the border, and the "national" status of

Buryat Mongols, Tuvins, or Kazakhs who at some point had

crossed the border from their home territories in the Soviet Union

was not clear. Thousands of Soviet nationals were working in Mongolia as technical experts, advisers, and skilled workers; they were

a noticeable presence in Mongolian cities in the late 1980s. Erdenet, which was built around a joint Mongolian-Soviet coppermolybdenum mining and processing complex in the late 1970s, had

a 1987 population of 40,000 Mongols and 10,000 Soviet workers on three-year contracts. In the 1980s, an estimated 55,000 Soviet

troops were based in Mongolia, and some of them worked on

74
The Society and Its Environment

construction projects in cities (see Threat Perception, ch. 5). Although since 1920 many Russians have settled in the Tannu Tuva

and Buryat Mongol regions of Siberia across the border from north- ern Mongolia, there has been no Russian migration to, and settle- ment in, Mongolia.

Society

Pastoral Nomadism

Almost every aspect of Mongolian society has been shaped by

pastoral nomadism, an ecological adaptation that makes it possible

to support more people in the Mongolian environment than would

be true under any other mode of subsistence. Pastoralism is a complex and sophisticated adaptation to environments marked by ex- treme variability in temperature and precipitation, on time scales ranging from days to decades. Mongolia's precipitation is not only

low on the average; it varies widely and unpredictably from year

to year and from place to place. The dates of first and last frosts,

and hence the length of the growing season, also vary widely. Such

general conditions favor grasses rather than trees, and they produce

prairies rather than forests. Grain can be grown under such conditions, but not every year. Any population attempting to support

itself by cereal agriculture could expect to lose its entire crop once

every ten years, or every seven years, or every other year, depending on the localities they were farming. Because ecological systems

adapt to extreme limiting conditions rather than to the mean of variation, agriculture is not adaptive to Mongolian circumstances.

Pastoralism, however, permits societies to exploit the variable

and patchy resources of the steppe. The key to pastoralism is mobility, which permits temporary exploitation of resources that are not sufficient to sustain a human and herbivore population for an

entire year. Pastoralism may be combined with agriculture if a stable resource base, such as an oasis, permits, or agriculture may serve,

as in central Mongolia, only to supplement herding and may be

practiced only to the extent that labor is available.

A host of features of nomadic life reflect the demands and costs of mobility and of dependence on herds of animals to convert the

energy stored in grasses to the milk and meat that feed the human

population. Such societies commonly develop a conscious and explicit nomadic ethos, which values mobility and the ability to cope

with problems by moving away from threats or toward resources and which disparages permanent setdement, cultivation of the earth,

and accumulation of objects.

75
Mongolia: A Country Study

Societies based on pastoral nomadism do not exist in isolation,

and nomads commonly live in symbiotic relationships with settled agriculturalists, exchanging animal products for grain, textiles, and

manufactured goods. Both the nomads and the agriculturalists can,

if necessary, survive without the goods provided by the other, but

under most circumstances both benefit from exchange. Mongols typically dressed in sheepskin tunics covered with Chinese silk; drank

tea from China; consumed a certain amount of millet, barley, and

wheat flour; and used cooking pots and steel tools produced by non- nomadic smiths, some of whom were Mongols and some Turkic

speakers or Chinese. However, the scattered nature of the population and the necessity of moving trade goods long distances by camel

caravan limited the quantity of bulky goods available to nomads.

Pastoralism as a Cultural System

Mongolian society and culture developed in interaction with, and

in conscious opposition to, that of settled agriculturalists, most of

them Chinese. Along the ill-defined Inner Asian frontier between

the lands with sufficient rainfall and warm weather to support

agriculture and the grasslands most effectively exploited by pastoralists, people and cultural elements for centuries have moved

in both directions, with some agriculturalists abandoning their marginal farms and becoming herders, and with some herders settling

down either as dominant overlords or as laborers. Superimposed on the gradation and shading that are characteristic of frontier cul- tural and biological systems is a cultural system of ethnic groups

that exaggerates distinctions and denies commonalities.

Much of Mongolian traditional culture thus goes beyond the objective, technical demands of pastoral life to a conscious glorification of the values of nomadism and a disparagement of practices

associated with settlement in general and with Chinese culture in

particular. Traditionally, Mongols not only preferred a diet of meat

and milk, but they despised, and refused to eat, vegetables, justifying this with a proverb, "Meat for men, leaves for animals."

Although Mongolian lakes and rivers are full of fish, traditionally

Mongols did not eat fish. Mongols disdained the sort of regular,

patient toil practiced by Chinese farmers or traders, and scorned

any work that could not be performed from horseback. Such values

and attitudes have presented severe obstacles to efforts to modernize Mongolian society.

Pastoralism in Practice

Mongols herd sheep, horses, cattle, goats, camels, and yaks.

Although horses are the most valued animal, Mongols actually

76
A yurt or ger

Courtesy Regina Genton

depend on sheep for their basic livelihood. Horses are the focus

of an elaborate cultural complex, in which the care of horses is a male prerogative, whereas tending and milking sheep is a female

task. In Mongolian epics, the second lead is always the horse, which

gives sound advice to the hero. In Mongolian chess, the most powerful piece is called the horse, rather than the queen. The national

musical instrument is a bowed string instrument with a carved

horse's head, called a morin huur, which, according to legend, was

invented by a rider who used the rib bones and the mane of his

favorite horse to make an instrument to express his sorrow at its death. Fermented mare's milk, ayrag, is the national drink; it is considered to have special nutritional and tonic qualities. State- owned mines and factories maintain special herds of horses to provide their workers with the ayrag they are thought to require to maintain their health.

Sheep provide milk, which is processed into butter, cheeses, and

other dairy products; mutton, wool, and hide for clothes and tents; and dung for cooking and heating. Sheep can be herded on foot,

with one person and a few dogs responsible for a flock. Mongolian

dogs, which are famous for their ferocity and hostility to strangers,

do not help herd sheep as Western sheepdogs do, but they protect

77
Mongolia: A Country Study

the flocks from wolves or other predators. Sheep are driven back

to the camp every night, both for their protection and to provide a concentrated and convenient supply of dung. The sheep are led

out to pasture each day, ideally moving out from the camp in a

spiral until fresh pasture is so far away that it is more convenient

to move the camp.

Each species of animal is herded separately, and herders must

balance, therefore, the expected benefit from each type of animal

against the cost of providing human labor to watch each separate

herd and to move to the precise environment to which each animal

is best suited. Sheep are basic, horses something of a luxury item,

and other species are added to the camp inventory as labor power

and environmental considerations dictate. The demands on human

labor mean that a single household is not the optimal unit for herding. The basic unit in Mongol pastoralism is a herding camp, composed of two to six households, that manages its flocks as a single

integrated economic unit. In the past, the members of a herding

camp were usually, though not necessarily, patrilineal kinsmen.

Membership of the herding camp was reconstituted on a year-toyear basis, with some households remaining in the same camp,

others leaving to join different camps, and some camps dividing

if their human and animal populations grew too large for effective

operation. Under collectivization, herding camps remained the basic

unit of pastoral production.

Constraints on Herding

The harsh winter provides the greatest challenge to pastoralists.

The herds traditionally have spent the winter eating dried grasses on the range, with at most a stone corral for shelter from the worst

winter blizzards. Since the 1950s, Mongolian authorities have

worked to provide shelters and fodder for the herds. Catastrophic

storms, coming in midwinter or at the spring lambing season, can wipe out entire herds or severely reduce their numbers. Herders

move to special winter campsites, and they reduce the size of the

herd to be carried on the winter pasture by slaughtering any animals

thought unlikely to survive the winter. Late fall is the only time

Mongols routinely slaughter animals; the meat, preserved by drying and freezing, sustains the people during the season when neither

sheep nor horses are producing milk. (Mongols do not eat horseflesh; Kazakhs do.) Mongols traditionally have consumed more

milk products than meat; animals are slaughtered in seasons other

than fall only for ceremonial occasions or for obligatory hospitality to guests.

78
High-rise apartment building, Ulaanbaatar

Courtesy Steve Mann

Winter conditions, which severely test the Mongols' ability to sustain their herds and hence themselves, throw the society's

property system and the larger political structure into relief. The

key element in bringing a herd through the winter is a suitable

winter campsite, which must have a source of water near terrain

sheltered from the worst storms but open enough for the wind to blow snow off the grasses. The number of winter campsites is limited, and their ownership always has been well-defined. In the past,

they were owned privately by families under the residual ownership of the lowest-level local administrative unit known by a number of names, banners (see Glossary) being common. Now they

are owned by the herding cooperative or state farm, which allo- cates them to herding camps.

Outsiders, who tended to observe Mongolian herders only in

the summer, mistakenly assumed that they wandered randomly

across an undifferentiated sea of grass. From a Mongolian perspective, however, the landscape was far from undifferentiated, and

each move of a camp reflected a careful decision that matched the

needs of the herd with an estimate of the condition of the grasses and the water supply at several known sites within a large, but

bounded, territory. Traditionally, Mongols thought of ownership

79
Mongolia: A Country Study

and territory not, as an agriculturalist would, in terms of square

kilometers or hectares of ground with a sharp line around them,

but as rights to use certain strategic areas in the landscape, such

as springs, streambanks adjacent to good pasture, or named and

permanent winter campsites. Such areas were the objects of conflict between and among groups of herders; the larger political struc- ture, both past and present, regulated access to these key resources and adjudicated claims to them.

Traditional Patterns

Mongolia's modern rulers, using common Marxist categories,

describe society before 1921 as "feudal." The term, although not

totally accurate, better fits traditional Mongolian society than it does many other societies that have undergone communist-directed

revolutions. In traditional Mongolian society, almost all statuses were hereditary. Most exchanges were embedded in long-term,

multifaceted social relations rather than transacted in an impersonal market through money; the political system was based on

a hierarchy of all-embracing service owed to hereditary overlords;

and such limited formal education and social mobility as existed

took place within the monasteries of Tibetan Buddhism, or Lamaism (see Glossary). The society was dominated by hereditary nobles,

who claimed descent from Chinggis Khan and governed the commoners. The nobles were vassals of the Manchu emperors of

China's Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and the hierarchy continued

down to the level of the common herders (see Caught Between the

Russians and the Manchus, ch. 1). In this system, people owed

broad and ill-defined service, including military duty, the temporary

provision of horses to those traveling on official business, and the

supply of sheep and livestock on both fixed and special occasions

to their overlords. Mongol social life was marked by an elaborate

etiquette that expressed degrees of hierarchy and deference through

words and gestures.

Above the level of the herding camp, Mongols were enrolled in larger groups that had exclusive rights to use of territory and were,

in their formal structure, hereditary military units. Such groups,

the names of which varied from place to place and from time to time (banner, aymag, and so forth), were established by political

rulers, and people originally were allocated to them regardless of

kinship or preexisting social bonds. Membership in such groups was thus fundamentally a political status. Although Mongols recog- nized exogamous lineages based on patrilineal descent, lineages were not political or property-holding groups, and their membership commonly was spread over several territorial groups.

80
The Society and Its Environment

Commerce was in the hands of foreign merchants, most of them

Chinese. Traditional Mongols exhibited a cavalier disdain for money and practiced careful pecuniary calculation. Mongol aris- tocrats ran up huge debts to Chinese and Russian merchants, and

when pressed by creditors, tried to exact more livestock or services

from their dependent commoners. The merchants controlled the

interface between the internal Mongol economy—which operated

largely with the social mechanisms of reciprocity and redistribution—and the larger market economy, and they profited in the con- version from one economic sphere of exchange to the other. During

the 1920s, foreign merchants were expelled from Mongolia, and

the debts owed to them were repudiated.

The only alternative to the all-embracing feudal system of subordination was provided by the Tibetan Buddhist church, which

recruited both young boys and men as monks, or lamas, and offered careers to those with talent. Although rational and bureaucratic

in its organization and accounting, the Buddhist church was dis- tinctly otherworldly, not interested in progress, and, with some

justification, was considered the major obstacle to the modernization of Mongolian life. Between 1925 and 1939, it was destroyed

as a significant political and social force (see Modern Mongolia,

1911-84, ch. 1; Religion, this ch.).

The structure of traditional Mongolian society consisted of a large

number of equivalent units: herding camps; basic-level territorial units; and Buddhist monasteries, integrated only through their com- mon subordination to political superiors and the shared values of

Tibetan Buddhism and Mongol ethnicity. Most of the population

occupied only a few occupational roles; herders and ordinary monks

accounted for more than 90 percent of the population. Hereditary

aristocrats—8 percent of the population—occupied a larger range

of occupational roles and offices as political leaders and administrators; so did the higher monks, with their more differentiated in- ternal organization. The society was traditional in its preference

for status relations over contractual ones, for ascribed statuses over

achieved ones, for functionally diffuse over functionally specific or- ganization, and in its very low levels of division of labor.

Planned Modernization

Modernization in Mongolia has meant establishing new, specialpurpose organizations, expanding the scope and responsibilities of

the government, generating new occupational roles and hence in- creasing the division of labor, as well as formulating new mechanisms to integrate and to coordinate a society that is much more

differentiated than its predecessor. Mongolia's modernization has,

81
Mongolia: A Country Study

furthermore, taken place at the direction of a political party and

a foreign patron the ideology of which emphasizes rational planning and disparages the use of market mechanisms to integrate the

society. In the 1980s, Mongolia's leaders and mass media continued

to stress the necessity of planning, of meeting goals and targets,

and of carrying on large-scale projects.

The former value of accommodation to, and harmony with, the

natural world has been replaced by a fervent assertion of the dominion of man over nature and a major effort to control and to con- quer the natural environment. Science in the form of veterinary

medicine, artificial insemination, and selective breeding has been

applied to the herds in the effort to reach the increases in sheep,

yaks, horses, and goats that were set in the five-year plans (see Socialist Framework of the Economy, ch. 3). Mongolia's press has

publicized the number of hectares of steppe planted with wheat

and has praised the labor heroes who level mountains of copper

ore or control huge excavators at open-pit coal mines. The application of the most up-to-date science and technology has been ex- pected to result in "the comprehensive development of the

productive forces of socialist society,

' ' which in turn would produce

rapid economic growth and increases in people's prosperity. The

value of control, over both the natural environment and the human

population, was associated closely with the ideology of planning,

and carrying out the dictates of the plan has been made a primary

political virtue for Mongolian citizens. Social change in modern Mongolia has consisted of the enroll- ment of previously self-sufficient herders into bureaucratically struc- tured and economically specialized productive units, such as herding

collectives or state factories and mines. Most Mongolians have be- come wage-earners, subject to labor discipline and to the supervision of a new class of managers and administrators, most of whom

belong to the ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party. In

return for submission to labor discipline and surveillance, workers

have received greater security and a range of welfare benefits from

their enterprise or herding collectives. Benefits include free medical care and education, child allowances, sick leave and annual holi- days, and old-age pensions. The government has made considerable

efforts to reduce the gap between the benefits and the opportunities available to industrial workers and urban administrators and

those provided to the pastoralists.

A modernized state farm and its machine operators were

described in a Mongolian magazine in the 1980s. The drivers

of tractors and combines were graduates of a three-year vocational secondary school, and each had a daily quota of plowing or

82
The Society and Its Environment

harvesting. Those who fulfilled their day's quota received a free lunch, "prepared by professional cooks," and overfulfillment of

the daily quota brought additional remuneration. Like most Mongolian workers, they engaged in "socialist emulation" contests, a Soviet practice under which teams of workers competed to do

a task quickly or to surpass a quota. Each worker was rated as a

first-class machine operator or a second-class machine operator,

and the skill rating, in combination with an increment for length

of service, determined the wage level. The state farm's chief

agronomist, a graduate of an agricultural college, toured the area on his motorcycle to check the quality of each day's plowing. The

state farm's administrative center was described as an urban- style

community with two-story buildings and such amenities as a secondary school, medical facilities staffed with physicians, day-care

centers for children of working parents, shops, and a "palace of

culture."

Modernization has meant the creation of a substantial body of

planners, supervisors, accountants, and clerks. The state has clearly

attempted to control and to monitor the performance of all workers, including herders, who had quotas for weekly and monthly

production of milk, butter, cheese, and wool.

Unifying Structures As the economy has developed, the population has increased,

the society has grown more differentiated, the people have come

to have less in common, and the need to coordinate and to inte- grate their activities has become more pressing. The society for- merly was held together and was coordinated by a set of unifying

structures, of which the most significant were the ruling party, the

educational system, and a set of party-directed organizations in- tended to enroll nearly every Mongolian in their activities. The Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, like other ruling

communist parties, directed the activities of all enterprises and largescale organizations, from herding collectives to the national government (see Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, ch. 4). Collective farms and factories usually were run by the first secretary

of the local party branch, and the party made an effort to recruit

outstanding workers and people with leadership and managerial

potential. Party members belonged to two organizations, their work

unit and the party, and were the intermediaries who linked enterprises and local communities with the national political system.

Party members constituted most of the extensive ranks of administrators who ran the country on a day-to-day basis. They were political generalists, generic managers; those at the higher levels

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Mongolia: A Country Study

usually had been trained in special party schools in the Soviet Union

or in Ulaanbaatar.

In marked contrast with the past, almost all young Mongolians

were enrolled in schools in the 1980s (see Education, this ch.). Eight

years of schooling was claimed to be universal, and most cities and

centers of collectives offered ten-year schools, usually with boarding facilities for the children of herders. Literacy among young people was reportedly nearly universal, and the schools provided explicit

training in nationalism and party ideology. Like schools in most

countries, Mongolian schools also provided the training in punctuality, respect for abstract rules and standards, and participation

in collective tasks needed to prepare young people for employment

in formal, bureaucratic organizations, including the military services

(see Organization since 1968, ch. 5). A set of organizations—trade unions, children's Young Pioneers,

the Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League (modeled on the Soviet

Komsomol, for people between the ages of fifteen and twenty-eight),

the Mongolian Women's Committee, and various sports and hobby

groups—was intended to enroll every member of the population

and to ensure that citizens who were not members of the elite party

nonetheless were exposed to its ideology, example, and leadership.

Mass organizations were controlled by the party (see Mass Organizations, ch. 4). Although the extent to which mass organization

actively enrolled and mobilized the citizenry was unclear, they

claimed huge memberships—94.7 percent of all laborers and office and professional workers in state-owned enterprises belonged to trade unions in 1984; they were obviously intended to unify the

populace and to promote identification with national goals (see

Trade Unions, ch. 3). The responsibilities of the Mongolian

Women's Committee included "the enlistment of women in the

conscious performance of their civic and labor duty," which was

accomplished through such means as annual rallies for female stock- breeders. By cutting across local and regional boundaries, the mass

organizations promoted identification with the nation rather than

the locality and with vocational or avocational rather than regional or ethnic interests. Increasing Social Differentiation

Mongolia's economic development in the 1970s and the 1980s

produced a population increasingly divided along occupational,

educational, and regional lines. There were growing distinctions

between workers and white-collar administrators; between urban

and rural residents; between factory workers and pastoralists; between professionals, such as teachers and engineers, and the

84
Traditionalfur-lined coat and cap

Courtesy Prints and Photographs

Division, Library of Congress

Woman in sheepskin- lined coat Courtesy Prints and Photographs

Division, Library of Congress
Mongolia: A Country Study

politically elite generalist managers; between those with only a primary school education and the graduates of post-secondary in- stitutions in Mongolia or the Soviet Union; and, perhaps, between

residents of the economic core in north-central Mongolia and those

of the larger, but more sparsely populated, peripheral regions. All these distinctions entailed differences in income, life chances, prestige, and power, and they indicated potential strains in the social

and political system. The strains took the form both of increased

competition for the more desirable occupations and of concern

within the government and the party over the way policies and practices favored some segments of the population over others, such

as industrial workers at the expense of pastoralists, or urban universities at the expense of rural primary schools.

The 51 percent urban population reported in the 1979 census

reflected rapid migration to the cities in the 1970s. The influx of

rural people created housing problems, among them long waits for assignment to an apartment, expansion of ger districts on the edges

of built-up areas, and pressure to invest in more housing, roads,

and other urban infrastructure. The 1979 census showed Mongolia's class structure to consist approximately 40 percent of workers,

39 percent of herders in cooperatives, and 21 percent of intelligentsia. The last term was not defined but presumably referred to those

with at least secondary schooling and non-manual occupations.

Mongolia has suffered from a continual shortage of skilled labor

and has had to rely on foreign workers. They come from the Soviet

Union and the member countries of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon—see Glossary) on short-term contracts. At the same time, the ranks of Mongolian clerks, accountants, and

low-level managers grew many fold, and Mongolian leaders occasionally alluded to problems in persuading young people to aim

for careers as skilled workers or engineers rather than as office workers. The result of the government's great efforts to expand education has been a society very conscious of educational credentials;

in some instances, the diploma is more significant than any substantive knowledge or skill it might represent.

The elite consisted of bureaucrats and ranking members of the

Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party. Such people were usually

male graduates of universities or military academies; they possessed a good command of Russian, had experience studying or working

in the Soviet Union, and tended to live in Ulaanbaatar. They held

positions in the nomenklatura (see Glossary), the Russian term denoting, narrowly, the elite administrative positions the ruling party

filled by appointment and, more broadly, the elite "New Class"

that dominated Soviet society. They had urban apartments, scarce

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The Society and Its Environment

consumer goods, opportunities for foreign travel, the use of offi- cial vehicles, and access to first-rate medical care; they probably

sent their children to universities and into professional occupations.

Under the managerial elite were technical specialists, such as engineers, doctors, professors, and financial and planning experts,

who also were university-trained, fluent in Russian, and predominately urban. Below them were the comparatively large categories

of industrial workers, employees of state farms, and administrative and clerical personnel. Such people had an occupational title or certification, and they received a regular wage from the state payroll.

At the bottom, or the edges, of the system were the nomadic

herders, the arads (see Glossary). They had no vocational certifi- cation or formal job titles, and their incomes and livelihood still depended to a large extent on the vagaries of the weather. Although

they were honored publicly as the prototypical Mongolian working class and the repository of traditional values, they were a shrinking segment of the population and one that few urbanites aspired

to join. In spite of government efforts to raise their living stan- dards, their dispersed and nomadic mode of livelihood limited ac- cess to such public services as health care and education. Their

children could rise through the school system to the professional or administrative elite, but at the cost of long separation from their

families in boarding schools. Unlike those of workers in the state sector of the economy, herders' incomes depended on the performance of the cooperatives, and that in turn rested on the weather

and the health of the herds.

Collectivized Farming and Herding

Mongolian agriculturalists, most of whom were actually herders of animals, worked either for state-owned farms or for herding

cooperatives. State farm workers were on the state payroll, just as were those who worked in state factories or for the national rail- road. Influenced by the Soviet Union, state-owned farms represented a more creative adaptation of Soviet models to the Mongolian

environment than did factories or government offices. In practice,

membership was compulsory, and the collectives owned the means

of production in the form of both the livestock herds and the rights

to use pastures and winter campsites. Member families carried on

a modified form of traditional herding by dispersed small herding

camps of several households. Households were permitted to own

a limited number of private livestock—analogous to the private plot

allocated to collective farmers—about 20 percent of the total herd.

Households received much of their income in kind, and they earned

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Mongolia: A Country Study

a share of the collective's profit from the sale of animals and animal

products to state purchasing agencies. Their total income, in kind

and in cash, varied, from year to year and from collective to col- lective, along with the condition of the herds and the weather.

The average herding cooperative had about 300 households. The

cooperative employed some people as administrators, truck drivers,

and the like, but most work consisted of the traditional tasks of

herding and milking animals, and of producing butter, cheese, and

wool products. As in the past, herding was done by herding camps

of two to six households. The herding cooperatives in most cases had the same boundaries as the somon (see Glossary), the thirdlevel administrative units into which Mongolia's eighteen aymags were divided, and the administration of the somon and the herding

cooperative appeared to be in the same hands.

Modernized Nomads

In contrast to the period before the collectivization of herding,

which was carried out in the late 1950s, the work of individual herders in the late 1980s was more closely supervised by administrative authorities. Herders were responsible for a herd of collective

animals that usually included some of their privately held stock as

well, thus providing an incentive for careful management. Herders with a record of losing too many animals or failing to meet

monthly or annual quotas were deprived of custody of the collec- tive animals and were reassigned to other tasks. The moves of the

herds and the herding camps were plotted on a map in the cooperative 's headquarters, and officials of the cooperative—riding on

motorcycles or jeeps, and on a more limited basis, airplanes

scouted for good pasture and then told the herding camps where

to move next. Moves from one campsite to the next usually were made, using the cooperative's jeeps or trucks, and sometimes cross- ing the roadless steppes at night with uncanny accuracy. The co- operatives attempted, with mixed success, to grow hay and other

fodder, which was stored at the winter campsites, some of which

had barns and sheds to shelter animals. Herding camps were as- signed to winter campsites, which often were provided with stocks

of coal and sometimes with portable electric generators to provide

power for lights and even television sets. Herders on the range used

transistor radios to listen to weather reports and storm warnings.

The somon center became a miniature urban outpost, providing

a meeting hall for regular assemblies of the cooperative, political

rallies, plays, concerts, and films; for the administrative offices of

the somon and the cooperative; for a clinic, or small hospital, and

a veterinary clinic; for the motor pool and vehicle repair station;

88
89
Mongolia: A Country Study

for shops, run by the state trading organization; for storage and

processing facilities for food and wool; for a sports ground, and

for a school with boarding facilities. The center kept in touch with

the herding camps through radio telephones and motorcycle couriers, who, bearing messages, mail, and newspapers, usually visited

the camps every three to five days. Like urban residents or state- sector employees, herders from cooperatives were eligible for an- nual vacations, often spent at the holiday camps or spas operated

by aymag governments. The government and the party took care

to recognize the value of the herders' work and devoted resources

to improving their lives without demanding that they settle down

in permanent dwellings. In this regard, Mongolian pastoralists were more fortunate than their counterparts in many countries in Asia

and Africa. There, urban-based governments attempted to force

nomads to settle down and to abandon their migrations for what was thought of as a more modern and civilized way of life, but

that usually proved detrimental to the livelihood of the nomads and

to the national economy. The pastoral background of Mongolia's

leaders and their understanding of the realities of the nomadic way

of life produced policies designed to modernize, but not to destroy, an ancient and productive ecological system.

Work Collectives

For modern Mongolians, the primary social units were based on occupation rather than locality. Employers, such as state-owned

factories or government departments, commonly provided housing, meals in unit cafeterias, day-care facilities for workers' chil- dren, and sports and recreational activities. Trade unions in

enterprises offered group holidays or week-long stays at special resorts or spas. Much emphasis was placed on the mutual ties and

family-like relations among members of the collective. In cities fel- low workers were guests and providers of gifts at weddings, and

older members of work collectives often were described as taking

a paternal or maternal interest in the performance of newly hired

young workers. The process by which workers secured, or were

assigned to, jobs was not clearly spelled out in Mongolian sources, but it evidently combined administrative direction with some degree

of personal choice. The general shortage of labor meant that in- dividuals had no problems finding jobs. However, the jobs they

obtained may not have been those they most wanted. Although

it was possible to change jobs or to be reassigned by the government, such changes were not common, and individuals usually ex- pected to spend many years, if not their entire working lives, in one enterprise and one housing collective.

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The Society and Its Environment

The organization of work units reflected Soviet models, and if there was a distinctively Mongolian character to such units, it was

not captured in official accounts. As in the Soviet Union, there was a strong emphasis on the solidarity of the collective and its priority in the lives of the workers, as well as on the use of such

managerial techniques as the designation of heroes of labor, the use of socialist emulation and socialist competition to spur production, and the promotion of "shock battalions" and "shock days"

to meet or surpass quotas. These techniques were attempts to motivate a work force through the use of non-material incentives and

through manipulation of group pressures. Students of Soviet and

Chinese industrial relations refer to a distinctive pattern of "clientalist bureaucracy" and "neo-traditionalist" forms of patronage

and dependency in the factories of those countries. Both the force

of the Soviet example and inherited traditional Mongolian attitudes,

toward hierarchy and broadly defined relations of subordination

and dependence, made such patterns likely in Mongolia.

Kinship, Family, and Marriage

Kinship

Traditional Mongols traced descent patrilineally, from fathers

to sons, and recognized progressively larger and more inclusive

sets of patrilineal lineages and clans, thought of as all the male

descendants of a common grandfather, great-grandfather, and so on. By the nineteenth century, such descent groups had no politi- cal role, were not coresident, held no common estate, and hence were of little significance in the lives of ordinary Mongolians. The

hereditary aristocrats based their status on membership in aristo- cratic lineages (which claimed descent from Chinggis Khan), but

political office was more important for elite status than lineage membership alone. Lineages and clans have not played a major role in modern Mongolian society, and it is doubtful that many con- temporary people even know their lineage affiliation. Contemporary

Mongols use a single given name with a patronymic, so names pro- vide few clues to common descent or kinship. There is no information on the extent to which Mongolians observe traditional

exogamic restrictions on marriage with various categories of

patrilateral and matrilateral kin.

Family Structure

Mongolians, unlike the settled agriculturalists to the south, have

never valued complex extended families, and in the 1980s most

lived in nuclear families composed of a married couple, their

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Mongolia: A Country Study

children, and perhaps a widowed parent. The high birthrate,

however, meant that large families were common; the 1979 census showed 16 percent of families with 7 to 8 members and 11.8

percent with 9 or more (see table 4, Appendix). Urban families were larger than rural families, perhaps because rural people tended

to marry and to set up new households at younger ages. The aver- age size of rural families also may have reflected the high rates of

migration to the cities. Among traditional herders, each married couple occupied its own

tent, and sons usually received their share of the family herd at the time of their marriage. The usual pattern was for one son, often,

but not necessarily, the youngest, to inherit the headship of the

parental herd and tent, while other sons formed new families with

equivalent shares of the family herd; daughters married out to other

families. Adult sons and brothers often continued their close as- sociation as members of the same herding camp, but they could

leave to join other herding camps whenever they wished. In the

1980s, herders were likely to continue to work closely with patrilineal

kin, and many of the basic level suuri, a subdivision of the negdel

(see Glossary) herding camps, consisted of fathers and sons or groups of adult brothers and their families. Herders no longer in- herited livestock from parents, but they did inherit membership

in the herding cooperative. If cooperative officials granted custody

of collectively owned animals and permission to hold privately

owned stock on a family basis, which was how private plots were

allotted in Soviet collective farms in the 1980s, then it would be

to the advantage of newly married sons to declare themselves new

families.

Family background continued to be an important component

of social status in Mongolia, and social stratification had a certain

implicit hereditary element. The shortage of skilled labor and the

great expansion of white-collar occupations in the 1970s and the

1980s meant that families belonging to the administrative and

professional elite were able to pass their status on to their many

children, who acquired educational qualifications and professional

jobs. At the other end of the social scale, no one but the children

of herders became herders. Some herders' children, perhaps as many as half, moved into skilled trades or administrative positions,

while the rest remained with the flocks. Modern family life differed from that before the 1950s because

the children of most herders were away from their families for most

of year. Between the ages of seven and fifteen, they stayed in boarding schools at the somon center. Most Mongolian women were in

the paid work force, and many (in 1989 there were no complete

92
Kazakh hunters Courtesy Steve Mann

figures) infants and young children were looked after on a daily or weekly basis in day-care centers or in all-day or boarding kindergartens. The efforts to bring women into the formal work force

and to educate the dispersed herders resulted in separation of parents and children on a large scale. There was some historical prece- dent for this in the practice of sending young boys to monasteries

as apprentice lamas, which had previously been the only way to obtain a formal education for them.

Marriage

In the twentieth century, most marriages have been initiated by

the couple themselves rather than by parental arrangement. The

image of courtship presented in contemporary Mongolian stories and pictures is of a young couple riding across the grassland on

their horses while singing in harmony. In form the traditional Mongolian wedding was an agreement between two families, with

elaborate transfers of bridewealth in livestock from the groom's family and a dowry ofjewelry, clothing, and domestic furnishings from

the bride's. The wedding, which was a contractual agreement between families rather than a religious ceremony, was marked by

celebratory feasting that brought together as many of the relatives

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Mongolia: A Country Study

of the bride and the groom as the families could afford to feed. Some version of this custom survived in the countryside in the

1980s, as did the practice of the bride's moving to reside in the

camp of her husband's family, which traditionally provided a new

ger for the bridal couple. Brides usually had their own household

and family rather than joining the household of their husband's

parents as subordinate daughters-in-law, and they made fairly fre- quent return visits to their natal families. Among herders, a traditional place to seek a spouse was from the adjacent herding camp

that exchanged daytime custody of lambs (to prevent the ewes from

nursing the lambs in the pasture). In-laws frequently cooperated

in herding or joined the same herding camp.

In cities, the wait to be assigned an apartment did not seem to delay marriages, perhaps because the couple had the option of moving to a ger on the edge of the city until an apartment became available. Urban weddings sometimes were celebrated in special wedding

palaces. That of Ulaanbaatar, an imposing white structure vaguely

resembling a traditional Mongolian hat in shape, was one of the

capital's architectural highlights. For a modest fee, the couple

received their choice of traditional or modern wedding costumes,

the services of a photographer, the use of a reception hall, a civil ceremony and wedding certificate, and a limousine to carry them

to their new home. Fellow workers and colleagues played a rela- tively large role in urban weddings, as guests and donors of gifts to set up the new household.

Most marriages were between schoolmates or coworkers. Such

a mechanism of mate selection reinforced the tendency, common

in many countries, for people to marry within their own social stra- tum. Herders tended to marry herders, and young professionals

married young professionals. Divorce was possible, but rare; there were 5.6 marriages and 0.3 divorces per 1 ,000 inhabitants in 1980

and 6.3 marriages and 0.3 divorces per 1 ,000 inhabitants in 1985.

Mongolian fiction described disparities between the educational level of spouses or the unwillingness of husbands to accept the demands

of their wives' jobs as sources of marital strain. Position of Women

Traditional Subordination

Leading Western scholars agree that Mongolian women traditionally have had relatively higher social positions and greater auton- omy than women in the Islamic societies of Inner Asia or in China

and Korea. Women herded and milked sheep, and they routinely

managed the household if widowed or if their husbands were absent

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The Society and Its Environment

to perform military service, corvee labor, or caravan work. Mongols valued fertility over virginity and did not share the obsessive concern with female purity found in much of Southwest, South,

and East Asia. Women, however, although not shy, remained

subordinate to men and were restricted to the domestic sphere. It

is characteristic of Mongolian attitudes toward male and female

contributions that the care of sheep—which provided Mongolians

with their basic, daily sustenance—was the responsibility of women,

while the care of horses—which contributed much less to subsis- tence but more to prestige, war, and sport—was the prerogative

of men. Traditional Mongols combined firm notions of female

subordination with a flexible attitude toward female participation

in male-associated tasks, and women ordinarily filled in for men

when no males were available for such activities as milking horses

or even riding them in races. Archery contests, one of the "three

manly sports" (the others are racing and wrestling), always included

a female round.

The 1921 revolution began efforts to bring women into public

life and into the extra-domestic labor force (see Revolutionary

Transformation, 1921-24, ch. 1). The state's constant efforts to promote population growth also have led to a strong emphasis on women's reproductive capacities; bearing large numbers of chil- dren has been considered a civic duty. Possible contradictions

between women's productive role in the economy and their

reproductive role in the population have been glossed over in public

rhetoric. The tension had existed, however, and frequent childbearing, state-mandated maternity leaves, as well as caring for young children probably have affected the sorts ofjobs women hold

and their commitment to their occupational roles (see table 5, Appendix).

Education and Employment

The major change in the position of Mongolian women is their

nearly universal participation in all levels of the educational sys- tem and in the paid work force. In 1985 women made up 63 per- cent of the students in higher educational establishments and 58

percent of the students in specialized secondary schools. In the same

year, they constituted 51 percent of all workers, up from nearly

46 percent in the 1979 census. By 1979 medicine and teaching were

predominately female fields; women were 65 percent of all doctors and 63 percent of those working in education, art, and culture. Women made up 67 percent of the teachers in general schools

and 33 percent of the teachers in higher educational establishments.

They constituted nearly 47 percent of agricultural workers and 46

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Mongolia: A Country Study

percent of those in industry. Women's high level of enrollment in

higher education reflected the female predominance in medicine,

nursing, teaching, and professional child care. This echoed the pat- tern in the Soviet Union, where most physicians were women and

where the social and the economic status of physicians was lower

than it was in the United States or Western Europe.

The most highly skilled Mongolian scientists, engineers, military officers, and administrators had been trained in the Soviet

Union. In 1989 no figures were available on the percentage of

women among these elite professionals. Mongolian accounts of

working women indicated that some women worked in such jobs

as airline pilot, judge, and sculptor, and that women predominated

in the less highly paid food processing, textile, and catering trades. Mongolian women had legal equality, but once in the labor force

they suffered the familiar double burden of housework and child care on top of a day's work for wages. This problem was recognized, and a series of studies begun by the Mongolian Academy

of Sciences in 1978 found that the greatest source of strain on urban

women was excessive hours spent in transit to and from work and

shopping. There were too few buses or routes; retail and service

outlets were not only scarce, but they were located too far from

many residential areas and kept inconvenient hours. The proposed

solutions, all indirect, included state provision of more buses; the

opening of more service outlets, including food shops, restaurants,

and carryouts; public laundries and dressmakers; and the expansion of nurseries, kindergartens, and extended-day elementary

schools. The issues of female overrepresentation in the lower paying occupations and of the representation of women in the higher

professional and administrative ranks in more than token numbers were not addressed (see Party Congress, ch. 4). Social Mobility

High Rates of Mobility

The expansion of the economy and the rapid growth of the urban,

industrial, and service sectors made high rates of social mobility

possible in the 1970s and the 1980s. Population growth, which ac- celerated in the late 1950s and peaked around 1970, was barely

able to keep up with the expansion of positions in new factories,

schools, and local government bodies. In the 1980s, most Mongolians worked in occupations different from those of their parents, who were almost universally herders. These conditions,

however, were not expected to continue. Most of the cohort, born

in the late 1950s and the 1960s, who secured skilled industrial,

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The Society and Its Environment

professional, and administrative jobs in the 1980s, will not retire until the 2020s. The even more numerous cohort born in the 1970s

and the 1980s will find many desirable positions already filled by

those ten to fifteen years older. If the rapid expansion of the econ- omy, which has been fueled by extensive Soviet aid and investment, falters in the 1990s, then the generation born in the 1970s

and the 1980s will not be able to match the mobility rates of their

elders. Channels of Social Mobility

There was a single, well-defined track for social mobility, which

led through the school system and the youth organizations of the

Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party. The keys to upward mobility were good academic performance, including command of

Russian, and political reliability, as evidenced either by membership in the Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League or by recom- mendations of administrators and party members. The party

controlled job assignments and promotions at all but the most basic

levels, and its favor was necessary for significant upward mobility. Advanced study in the Soviet Union or Eastern Europe was

both a reward for good performance and a qualification for fur- ther career advancement. Military service, which until 1988 was

three years for almost all young men, did not in itself confer any

particular advantage on veterans, although it was possible for sol- diers with secondary educations who had performed exceptionally

well to be commissioned as officers (see Organization since 1968,

ch. 5). It was possible for children of herders in the most remote

regions to progress, through examinations and recommendations,

to the Mongolian State University and on to further training in

the Soviet Union or the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). A 1981 account of an eight-year school in a herding cooperative revealed that half of the sixteen-year-olds completing the course

left school to become herders, while the other half went on to two more years of secondary school in the aymag seat, from which they

could go to white-collar jobs or to further vocational or general education.

In the late 1980s, the government was discussing a range of eco- nomic reforms, including increased use of the contract system as well as relaxed controls on privately owned livestock, on the development of cooperatives, and on individual labor. To the extent

that such reforms were implemented, they would open an additional channel for social mobility for those who had not been fa- vored by the monolithic system that had controlled occupational

movement and advancement.

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Mongolia: A Country Study

Cultural Unity and Mongol Identity

Implicit Nationalism

The result of Mongolia's economic development and urbanization was a population that was, on the one hand, increasingly and

unprecedentedly divided by occupation, education, residence, and

membership in well-defined and fairly rigid status groups, but that was, on the other hand, less clearly distinguished from that of other

economically developed and urbanized countries. If being Mongolian meant living in a ger in the midst of a sheep herd and being

good at riding horses, then the Mongolian identity of those who

lived in high-rise apartments, rode buses, and worked at desks or

in factories where knowledge of the Russian language was required was problematic. Mongolian nationalism, clearly a politically sensitive topic, continued to be a strong although implicit force in Mongolia. The Mongol language, the cultural trait most obviously

shared by all Mongolians, continued to be fostered. Much effort was devoted to translating foreign literature and textbooks into

Mongol, and teams of Mongolian scholars carefully replaced Russian loan words with new terms developed from ancient Mongol

roots. The goal appeared to be to ensure that Mongol did not be- come a dialect restricted to shepherds or preschool children and

that the educated elite did not speak mostly Russian or Russianinfluenced Mongol.

Apart from the significant omission of Buddhism and the Buddhist church, much of traditional Mongol culture was studied,

preserved, and transmitted to the younger generation as a source

of national pride. In early 1989, party general secretary Jambyn

Batmonh told a Soviet interviewer that the harmful errors of the

1930s included destruction of the monasteries and with them the

priceless cultural heritage of the Mongolian people. In 1989 the

party called for overcoming indifference to the national cultural

heritage, and efforts were under way to change the negative evaluation of Chinggis, who had been condemned as a bloodthirsty and

aggressive conqueror of, among other places, Russia. Higher secondary schools began teaching the traditional Mongol script, replaced

by Cyrillic in February 1946. In early 1989, the trade union

newspaper Hodolmor (Labor) called for mass production of the tradi- tional Mongol gown, the deel, and suggested that all Mongolian

diplomats wear it. Promotion of Traditional Festivals

Although the Buddhist church was suppressed in the 1930s, much

traditional custom and celebration survived in the 1980s, with either

the encouragement or the acquiescence of the government and the

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Traditional dance is still an important part of

Mongolian culture- Courtesy The Asia Society

party. The Mongolian new year festival—Tsagaan Sar (the White

Month)—is celebrated at the same time as the Chinese lunar new

year, although contemporary Mongolians deny any Chinese ori- gin or influence. In the 1960s, the government designated it as Cattle Breeders' Day and stopped celebrating it as an official holiday.

In 1989, as part of the party's efforts to reaffirm traditional cul- ture, Tsagaan Sar again became a public holiday. The festival re- tained its prerevolutionary character as an occasion when relatives come together to reaffirm their ties, and juniors honor their elders. The Mongolian government sponsored the summer celebrations

of Naadam, the traditional Mongol sports of horse racing, wrestiing,

and archery. Naadam celebrations were held in every somon, in

every aymag seat, and in the great stadium in Ulaanbaatar on National Day, July 1 1 . The celebrations attracted large audiences and

were one of the few occasions for the normally dispersed pastoralists to gather in large crowds, renew old acquaintances, and make new

friends. Wrestlers, archers, and riders dressed in traditional cos- tumes, and a large bowl of ayrag, fermented mare's milk, was poured

over the head of the winning horse in a form of libation practiced on the steppes for more than 1,000 years. Each wrestler was ac- companied by a herald or bard, who chanted verses extolling his

hero in a centuries-old format. There was a hierarchy of contests,

with the winners at one level going on to the next, so that the national Naadam in Ulaanbaatar brought the champions from all over

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Mongolia: A Country Study

the country. The winning wrestler was a national hero, and, while

the contests had no obvious political content, they provided an opportunity for the political elite and the ordinary people, the herders and the urbanites, to reaffirm their common Mongolian identity

and culture.

Religion

Buddhism

Traditional Mongols worshipped heaven (the "clear blue sky")

and their ancestors, and they followed ancient northern Asian practices of shamanism, in which human intermediaries went into trance and spoke to and for some of the numberless infinities of spirits

responsible for human luck or misfortune. In 1578 Altan Khan,

a Mongol military leader with ambitions to unite the Mongols and

to emulate the career of Chinggis, invited the head of the rising

Yellow Sect of Tibetan Buddhism to a summit. They formed an

alliance that gave Altan legitimacy and religious sanction for his

imperial pretensions and that provided the Buddhist sect with protection and patronage. Altan gave the Tibetan leader the title of

Dalai Lama (Ocean Lama), which his successors still hold. Altan

died soon after, but in the next century the Yellow Sect spread

throughout Mongolia, aided in part by the efforts of contending

Mongol aristocrats to win religious sanction and mass support for their ultimately unsuccessful efforts to unite all Mongols in a sin- gle state. Monasteries were built across Mongolia, often sited at the juncture of trade and migration routes or at summer pastures,

where large numbers of herders would congregate for shamanistic

rituals and sacrifices. Buddhist monks carried out a protracted struggle with the indigenous shamans and succeeded, to some extent,

in taking over their functions and fees as healers and diviners, and

in pushing the shamans to the religious and cultural fringes of Mongolian culture.

Tibetan Buddhism, which combines elements of the Mahayana

and the Tantric schools of Buddhism with traditional Tibetan rituals of curing and exorcism, shares the common Buddhist goal of in- dividual release from suffering and the cycles of rebirth. The religion

holds that salvation, in the sense of release from the cycle of re- birth, can be achieved through the intercession of compassionate

buddhas (enlightened ones) who have delayed their own entry to the state of selfless bliss (nirvana) to save others. Such buddhas,

who are many, are in practice treated more as deities than as en- lightened humans and occupy the center of a richly polytheistic

universe of subordinate deities, opposing demons, converted and

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The Society and Its Environment

reformed demons, wandering ghosts, and saintly humans that

reflects the folk religions of the regions into which Buddhism ex- panded. Tantrism contributed esoteric techniques of meditation

and a repertoire of sacred icons, phrases, and gestures that easily

lent themselves to pragmatic (rather than transcendental) and magical interpretation. The religion posits progressive stages of enlightenment and comprehension of the reality underlying the illusions

that hamper the understanding and perceptions of those not trained

in meditation or Buddhist doctrine, with sacred symbols interpreted

in increasingly abstract terms. Thus, a ritual that appears to a com- mon yak herder as a straightforward exorcism of disease demons

will be interpreted by a senior monk as a representation of conflicting tendencies in the mind of a meditating ascetic. In Tibet Buddhism thus became an amalgam, combining colorful popular ceremonies and curing rituals for the masses with the study

of esoteric doctrine for the monastic elite. The Yellow Sect, in contrast to competing sects, stressed monastic discipline and the use

of logic and formal debates as aids to enlightenment. The basic

Buddhist tenet of reincarnation was combined with the Tantric idea

that buddhahood could be achieved within a person's lifetime to produce a category of leaders who were considered to have achieved

buddhahood and to be the reincarnations of previous leaders. These

leaders, referred to as living or incarnate buddhas (see Glossary),

held secular power and supervised a body of ordinary monks, or lamas (from a Tibetan title bla-ma, meaning "the revered one").

The monks were supported by the laity, who thereby gained merit

and who received from the monks instructions in the rudiments

of the faith and monastic services in healing, divination, and

funerals.

Buddhism and the Buddhist monkhood always have played significant political roles in Central and Southeast Asia, and the Buddhist church in Mongolia was no exception. Church and state supported each other, and the doctrine of reincarnation made it possible for the reincarnations of living buddhas to be discovered

conveniently in the families of powerful Mongol nobles.

Tibetan Buddhism is monastic. By the beginning of the twentieth century, Outer Mongolia had 583 monasteries and temple

complexes, which controlled an estimated 20 percent of the country's wealth. Almost all Mongolian cities have grown up on the

sites of monasteries. Yihe Huree (see Glossary), as Ulaanbaatar was then known, was the seat of the preeminent living buddha of

Mongolia (the Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, also known as the Bogdo

Gegen and later as Bogdo Khan), who ranked third in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, after the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama.

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Mongolia: A Country Study

Two monasteries there contained approximately 13,000 and 7,000

monks, and the prerevolutionary Mongol name of the settlement

known to outsiders as Urga, Yihe Huree, means big monastery.

Over the centuries, the monasteries acquired riches and secular

dependents; they gradually increased their wealth and power as those of the Mongol nobility declined. Some nobles donated a portion of their dependent families—people, rather than land, were

the foundation of wealth and power in old Mongolia—to the

monasteries; some herders dedicated themselves and their families to serve the monasteries either from piety or from the desire

to escape the arbitrary exactions of the nobility. In some areas, the monasteries and their living buddhas (of whom there were a

total of 140 in 1924) also were the secular authorities. In the 1920s,

there were about 110,000 monks, including children, who made

up about one-third of the male population, although many of these

lived outside the monasteries and did not observe their vows. About

250,000 people, more than a third of the total population, either

lived in territories administered by monasteries and living buddhas

or were hereditary dependents of the monasteries. With the end

of Chinese rule in 191 1

, the Buddhist church and its clergy provided

the only political structure available, and the autonomous state thus

took the form of a weakly centralized theocracy, headed by the

Jebtsundamba Khutuktu in Yihe Huree.

By the twentieth century, Buddhism had penetrated deeply into

Mongolian culture, and the populace willingly supported the lamas

and the monasteries. Foreign observers had a uniformly negative

opinion of Mongolian monks, condemning them as lazy, ignorant,

corrupt, and debauched, but the Mongolian people did not concur. Ordinary Mongolians apparently combined a cynical and

realistic anticlericalism, sensitive to the faults and the human fal- libility of individual monks or groups of monks, with a deep and

unwavering concern for the transcendent values of the church.

The Suppression of Buddhism

When the revolutionaries—determined to modernize their country and to reform its society—took power, they confronted a massive

ecclesiastical structure that enrolled a larger part of the population, monopolized education and medical services, administered

justice in a large part of the country, and controlled a great deal

of the national wealth. The Buddhist church, moreover, had no

interest in reforming itself or in modernizing the country. The result was a protracted political struggle that absorbed the energies and

attention of the party and its Soviet advisers for nearly twenty years. As late as 1934, the party counted 843 major Buddhist centers,

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The Society and Its Environment

about 3,000 temples of various sizes, and nearly 6,000 associated

buildings, which usually were the only fixed structures in a world

of felt tents. The annual income of the church was 31 million tugriks,

while that of the state was 37.5 million tugriks. A party source claimed that, in 1935, monks constituted 48 percent of the adult

male population. In a campaign marked by shifts of tactics, alter- nating between conciliation and persecution, and armed uprisings

led by monks and abbots, the Buddhist church was removed

progressively from public administration, was subjected to confiscatory taxes, was forbidden to teach children, and was prohibited

from recruiting new monks or replacing living buddhas. The campaign's timing matched the phases ofJosef Stalin's persecution of

the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1938—amid official fears that

the church and monasteries were likely to cooperate with the

Japanese, who were promoting a pan-Mongol puppet state—the

remaining monasteries were dissolved, their property was seized,

and their monks were secularized. The monastic buildings were

taken over to serve as local government offices or schools. Only

then was the ruling party, which since 1921 gradually had built a cadre of politically reliable and secularly educated administrators, able to destroy the church and to mobilize the country's wealth

and population for its program of modernization and social change.

Uses of Buddhism

Since at least the early 1970s, one monastery, the Gandan

Monastery, with a community of 100 monks, was open in Ulaanbaatar. It was the country's sole functioning monastery. A few of

the old monasteries survived as museums, and the Gandan

Monastery served as a living museum and a tourist attraction. Its monks included a few young men who had undergone a five-year

training period, but whose motives and mode of selection were unknown to Western observers. The party apparently thought that

Buddhism no longer posed a challenge to its dominance and that

because Buddhism had played so large a part in the country's his- tory, traditional arts, and culture, total extirpation of knowledge

about the religion and its practices would cut modern Mongols off from much of their past, to the detriment of their national identity. A few aged former monks were employed to translate Tibetanlanguage handbooks on herbs and traditional medicine. Government spokesmen described the monks of the Gandan Monastery

as doing useful work.

Buddhism, furthermore played a role in Mongolia's foreign policy

by linking Mongolia with the communist and the non-communist

states of East and Southeast Asia. Ulaanbaatar was the headquarters

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Mongolia: A Country Study

of the Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace, which has held conferences for Buddhists from such countries as Japan, Vietnam,

Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan; published a journal for international circulation; and maintained contacts with such groups as the Christian Peace Conference, the Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Organization, and the Russian Orthodox Church. It sponsored

the visits of the Dalai Lama to Mongolia in 1979 and 1982. The

organization, headed by the abbot of the Gandan Monastery, ad- vances the foreign policy goals of the Mongolian government, which

are in accord with those of the Soviet Union.

Religious Survivals

Buddhism survives among the elderly, who pray and attend ser- vices at the Gandan Monastery; in the speech of the people, which

is rich in Buddhist expressions and proverbs; and in the common

practice of including statues or images of the Buddha on families'

special shelves with photographs of relatives and other domestic

memorabilia. Mongolian Buddhism, which restricted full participation in the ritual to monks and kept Tibetan as the language

of ritual and sacred texts, was more vulnerable to persecution than

a religion more widely dispersed among the populace would have

been. Studies done among the Buryat Mongols of Siberia by Soviet

ethnographers in the 1960s and the 1970s found that elimination

of the complex and conceptually sophisticated culture of Tibetan

Buddhism had led to a growth of the decentralized and flexible folk practice of shamanism. Similar survival or adaptation of folk religion

in Mongolia would be possible, although Mongolians have published no comparable studies of religion at the local level. Approximately 4 percent of Mongolians, primarily those living in the

southwest, are Muslims, as are many of their kin across the border

in China. Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the 1960 Constitution.

Health and Welfare

Health-Care Systems

Mongolia's government has made great efforts to provide modern

medical care to the inhabitants. In the 1980s, medical care was

free and was provided through a hierarchy of clinics and hospitals. In rural areas, the lowest level of the system was a medical

station, staffed by a physician's assistant, serving people within a

thirty- to forty-kilometer radius. Above this was a somon medical sta- tion, staffed by a physician, serving a forty- to sixty-kilometer radius; an inter-somon hospital, serving a seventy- to eighty-kilometer radius;

104
Buddhist monks at Gandan Monastery

Courtesy Regina Genton

and an aymag general hospital covering a 150- to 200-kilometer

radius. The higher the level in the system, the more numerous the

medical specialties and the more sophisticated the diagnostic equipment available. The lowest levels concentrated on acute care, publichealth work, and screening and referring cases up the hierarchy.

As of 1985, Mongolia had approximately 4,600 physicians, 24.8

per 10,000 people. There were also about 8,500 nurses and 3,800

physician's assistants; many of the nurses and the physician's as- sistants specialized as midwives, although some medical personnel were trained in midwifery only. Medical care was provided by

almost 1,200 clinics staffed by physician's assistants, 290 clinics staffed by physicians, and by 1986, 112 hospitals. The structure of medical specialties reflected both the needs of the young and

rapidly growing population and the concentration of scarce resources on public health, control of epidemic diseases, and the

health of the working population. The most common medical

specialty was pediatrics, which accounted for 21 percent of all physicians in 1985. The next most common were general practitioners, 15 percent; obstetricians, 6 percent; public health specialists,

6 percent; and physicians specializing in the prevention and treat- ment of epidemic diseases, 6 percent. Government statistics listed

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Mongolia: A Country Study

only twenty-seven (0.5 percent) oncologists and no cardiologists;

however, the existence of a large cancer research facility and the

practice of bypass surgery techniques suggest a greater interest in

these areas than the statistics indicate.

In spite of efforts to distribute medical facilities and specialists

evenly, there was a marked concentration of physicians and hospitals

in Ulaanbaatar and other major cities. In 1981 Ulaanbaatar had

49 percent of Mongolia's physicians and an average of 42.9 physicians per 10,000 people. The cities of Darhan and Erdenet had

21.7 and 18.8 physicians, respectively, per 10,000 people; low ratios of 9.5 physicians per 10,000 in Uvs Aymag and 10.2 per 10,000

in Hovsgol Aymag were also reported.

Mongolia cooperated closely with the Soviet Union in medical

research and training. Soviet specialists held seminars in Mongolia and helped to build and to operate such special facilities as an

oncology center and a 600-bed isolation hospital for infectious dis- eases in Ulaanbaatar. Mongolia was an active member of Comecon's Commission on Cooperation in Public Health, and it participated in World Health Organization (WHO) projects on

maternity and child health, environmental protection, and training of medical technicians and mid-level health-care personnel.

By 1981 Mongolia claimed to have eliminated smallpox, typhus,

plague, poliomyelitis, and diphtheria, and to have reduced sharply

the incidence of other infectious diseases. In the past, disease was

spread through the use of contaminated drinking water and from

such sources as lice, which were common among the herders, who

seldom bathed or washed their clothing. Clean drinking water for the herders, who often shared water sources with their animals,

continued to be a problem, but much effort was put into health

education. The Mongolian Red Cross, an organization that cooperated with the Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League, focused on preventive medicine and health education. It sent mobile teams

to factories and herding collectives to teach hygiene and sanitation and to hold special workshops on infant care and the health

needs of the elderly. Although traditional Mongols were averse to bathing, their modern descendants patronized a network of spas. Following the Soviet and East European pattern, Mongolia established sanitoriums where workers and such deserving individuals

as holders of the Order of Maternal Glory went to rest, to take

the waters, and to follow a medically prescribed regimen of swimming, sunbathing, and moderate exercise. The Council of Mongolian Trade Unions operated a network of sanitoriums that used

the country's many hot springs and mountain lakes. The network

annually could accommodate 20 percent of the country's factory

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The Society and Its Environment

and office workers during the brief summer season. So popular were

the spas that aymag authorities established their own sanitoriums

to provide therapeutic holidays for collective herders.

Precautions Against AIDS

At the end of 1988, Mongolia had reported no cases of acquired

immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). In 1987 an AIDS research

center was opened at the Institute of Hygiene and Virology, and

its specialists were trained in laboratory analysis by WHO experts.

About 16,000 people had been checked for the disease by December 1988, but no carriers had been found. All Mongolians who

had been abroad for more than three months were required to be

tested. This was considered necessary because Mongolia sends thousands of young people to study in other countries. Analysis of donor

blood and blood products had begun by mid- 1988, and special

laboratories were being established in large hospitals. Foreign stu- dents coming to Mongolia were required to be tested for AIDS,

either in Mongolia or abroad, and Mongolia accepted the results of tests performed in the United States. Education

The School System

Education in Mongolia traditionally was controlled by the Buddhist monasteries and was limited to monks. Tibetan was the language of instruction, the canonical and liturgical language, and

it was used at the lower levels of education. Higher-level education was available in the major monasteries, and often many years were required to complete formal degrees, which included training in logic and debate. With the exception of medicine, which

involved an extensive pharmacopoeia and training in herbal

medicines, higher education was esoteric and unworldly. Major

monasteries supported four colleges: philosophy, doctrine, and protocol; medicine; mathematics, astrology, and divination; and

demonology and demon suppression. In the early twentieth century, officials and wealthy families hired tutors for their children,

and government offices operated informal apprenticeships that

taught the intricacies of written records, standard forms, and ac- counting. Official Mongolian sources, which tended to depict the

prerevolutionary period as one of total backwardness, probably

underestimated the level of literacy, but it was undoubtedly low.

Secular education began soon after the collapse of Chinese

authority in 1911. A Mongol-language school under Russian

auspices opened in Yihe Huree in 1912; much of the teaching of

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Mongolia: A Country Study

the forty-seven pupils was done by Buryat Mongols from Siberia. In the same year, a military school with Russian instructors opened.

By 1914 a school teaching Russian to Mongolian children was oper- ating in the capital. Its graduates, in a pattern that was to become

common, went to cities in Russia for further education. Perhaps

in response to the challenge of the few secular schools, monasteries in the 1920s were running schools for boys who did not have

to take monastic vows. Such schools used the Mongol language

and the curriculums had a heavily religious content. Education expanded slowly throughout the 1920s. As late as 1934,

when 55 percent of all party members were illiterate, secular state schools enrolled only 2 . 7 percent of all children between the ages

of eight and seventeen, while 13 percent of that age group were

in monastic schools. Suppression of the monasteries in 1938 and

1939 closed the monastic schools, and the state schools expanded

steadily throughout the 1940s and the 1950s. In 1941 the traditional Mongol script, based on the Uighur script, was replaced by

Cyrillic. It took from 1941 to 1946—sources differ on the date—to implement the change completely. Mongolian authorities an- nounced that universal adult literacy had been achieved by 1968.

A Russian-owned printing shop, opened in Yihe Huree in the early

twentieth century, turned out Mongolian translations of Russian

novels and political tracts; in 1915 it printed Mongolia's first newspaper, Niysleliyn Hureeniy Sonon Bichig (News of the Capital

Huree).

In 1981 education consumed 20 percent of the state budget, and

by 1985 27 percent (511,200) of the country's population was enrolled in educational institutions from primary through university

levels. The education system, based on the Soviet model, had eight

years of compulsory education and a ten-year school system, enrolling students between the ages of seven and seventeen. The first four years were primary education; the second four, were secondary. Some students left school after the eighth year, while the others

went on to either two more years of general secondary education

or to specialized vocational schools. Some remote settiements offered

only four-year primary schools, after which students transferred

to a central eight-year school. Many schools in rural areas were

eight-year schools, called incomplete secondary schools. Full ten- year schools, complete secondary schools, were common in cities,

and they represented the goal that all regions hoped to achieve.

In 1988 about 40 percent of the graduates of general schools went on to vocational schools; 20 percent, to higher education; and the

remainder joined the work force. Most rural schools had boarding

facilities to serve the children of dispersed and nomadic herders;

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The Society and Its Environment

11 percent of rural pupils in 1984 were boarders. From the lowest

grades, efforts were made to link schooling with the world of work,

and students routinely put in a few hours a week on useful work

outside the school. Military training, including weapons instruction and outdoor exercises, began in the schools.

For students who had completed eight years of schooling, there were two types of career-oriented schools: vocational schools (sometimes called vocational/technical schools in Mongolian publications)

and specialized secondary schools. The distinction between the two was not clear. Vocational schools appeared to train more highly

skilled workers, such as machinists, heavy-equipment operators,

and construction workers, providing a terminal education to stu- dents who did not excel in the classroom. The specialized secondary schools, which corresponded to the Soviet technicum provided

two-year or three-year courses at the junior college level. They

trained paraprofessionals and technicians, such as primary school

teachers, medical technicians, or bookkeepers. Students with diplomas from specialized secondary schools could apply for admission

to higher education. As more funds and more technically trained

teachers became available, the number of vocational schools in- creased. In 1988 there were 43 vocational schools, which enrolled

30,000 students in 110 fields. Specialized secondary schools offered

two-year or three-year courses, and students received room and

board and a monthly stipend. During their stints of practical work

in factories or other enterprises, they received the normal salary

for their work. The reform of secondary education under way in

the 1988-89 school year called for three-year vocational courses

for students with eight years of general education. Students who

graduated from complete ten-year courses could spend one year

in vocational schools. The ninth-year and tenth-year classes in

general education schools prepared students for college admission

or for generalized white-collar work.

In 1985 Mongolia had more than 900 general education schools,

40 vocational schools, 28 specialized secondary schools, 1 university, and 7 institutes. The general schools enrolled 435,900 stu- dents; vocational schools, 27,700; specialized secondary schools,

23,000; and higher education, 24,600 (see table 6, Appendix).

Women made up 63 percent of all students in higher education,

and girls constituted 58 percent of students in specialized secondary schools. Women were 67 percent of all teachers in general

schools, 50 percent of teachers in specialized secondary schools,

and 33 percent of higher education faculty. In 1985 kindergartens,

serving families in which both parents worked full time, enrolled

20 percent of the children who were three to seven years old.

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Mongolia: A Country Study

Higher Education

Mongolian State University in Ulaanbaatar was founded in 1942

(as Choybalsan University) with three departments: education,

medicine, and veterinary medicine. The faculty was Russian, as was the language of instruction. In 1983 the university's engineering

institute and Russian-language teacher training institute became

separate establishments, called the Polytechnic Institute and the

Institute of Russian Language, respectively. The Polytechnic Institute, with 5,000 students, concentrated on engineering and mining. Mongolian State University, with about 4,000 students, taught

pure sciences and mathematics, social science, economics, and philology. More than 90 percent of the faculty were Mongolian;

teachers also came from the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, France,

and Britain. Much instruction was in Russian, reflecting the lack

of Mongol-language texts in advanced and specialized fields. Besides Mongolian State University there were seven other in- stitutions of higher learning: the Institute of Medicine, the Insti- tute of Agriculture, the Institute of Economics, the State Pedological

Institute, the Polytechnic Institute, the Institute of Russian Language, and the Institute of Physical Culture. In the summer, all students had a work semester, in which they helped with the harvest, formed "shock work" teams for construction projects, or went

to work in the Soviet Union or another Comecon country. In early

1989, the educational authorities announced that third-year and

fourth-year engineering students would be told which enterprise

they would be assigned to after graduation, so that their training

could be focused with practical ends in mind.

Study in the Soviet Union

Mongolia's educational system is supplemented by and crowned

by study in the Soviet Union or Eastern Europe. In 1983 more

than 10,000 Mongolians were studying in the Soviet Union as postgraduates at 10 academies, 191 institutions of higher learning, 101

specialized secondary schools, and 28 vocational schools. Each year

1,500 Mongolians were sent to Soviet vocational schools. Specialists

of all sorts, from civil aviation pilots to urban planners to physicists, were trained in the Soviet Union. Party members at the

mid-level and higher attended higher party schools in the Soviet

Union. As it had since the early twentieth century, Russian served

as the language of modernity and enlightenment, Mongolia's window on the wider world. So important was command of Russian

that, in 1982, the People's Great Hural called for the study of

Russian to begin in kindergarten.

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Mongolian Science

Following the organizational pattern of Soviet science, Mongolia separated research, which was pursued in specialized research

institutes, from the teaching of science in universities. The Mongolian Academy of Sciences, founded in 1961, had fourteen research

institutes in 1982. Scientific work in Mongolia reflected the country's particular geological and climatic conditions, and it involved

a good deal of surveying, mapping, and cataloging of minerals,

soils, plants, and local microclimates. Projects with clear economic

applications were favored. The Institute of Geography and Permafrost compiled maps of permafrost, which covers more than half

the country, and devised methods of construction and mining in

permafrost areas. Geological mapping and prospecting for useful

minerals had a high priority. The country's climate and location

make it a good place for astronomical observatories and for studies

of seismicity and tectonic processes. Mongolian physicists were con- centrating on the development of solar energy and photovoltaic

generation of electricity to serve the dispersed and mobile herders

and to help stem the flow of the population to the cities. The ex- pansion of scientific education and of the number of scientists

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Mongolia: A Country Study

contributed to concern over the environmental consequences of the

single-minded focus on short-term economic growth that had

characterized the period from the 1960s through the late 1980s.

Science, Progress, and Tradition

By the end of the twentieth century, Mongolia's achievements

in economic development and popular education will have produced

deep, and probably irreversible, changes in the structure of soci- ety. After several decades of devotion to increasing the indices of

economic growth and brooking no disagreement with its policies or methods, the ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party,

responding in part to trends toward political reform in the Soviet

Union, was encouraging greater public discussion and criticism

of past practices. Mongolian leaders seemed ready to step back and

to consider the price of progress and to discuss the future course

of the country's development. As indicated by the 1989 moves to reevaluate the prerevolutionary past and its heroes, the reconciliation of progress with tradition and national identity is likely to be a major theme of discussion in the 1990s.

* * *

Mongolia's contemporary society, unlike its history, has not at- tracted much scholarly attention in the West. The best sources avail- able to the English-speaking reader are Mongolia, The People's Republic

of Mongolia, and articles in the Far Eastern Economic Review, all by

Alan J. Sanders; Robert Rupen's Mongols of the Twentieth Century

and How Mongolia Is Really Ruled; George G.S. Murphy's Soviet Mongolia; and Urgunge Onon's Mongolian Heroes of the Twentieth Cenury. History of the Mongolian People's Republic, translated by William

A. Brown and Urgunge Onon, has useful sections on society and

the environment. Articles by Daniel Rosenberg in Mongolian Studies provide relevant material on modern Mongolian society. Owen

Lattimore's Nomads and Commissars is somewhat out of date, but very

readable and useful. A helpful, and more recent, source is Thomas

D. Allen's article in National Geographic. The traditional culture is set out in Sechin Jagchid and Paul Hyer's Mongolia's Culture and

Society, Lattimore's Mongol Journeys, and Herbert H. Vreeland's

Mongol Community and Kinship Structure. The U.S. Joint Publications

Research Service publishes occasional translations of Mongolian

and Russian statistical summaries and yearbooks on Mongolia.

Mongolian broadcasts and newspapers are translated and appear

in the U.S. Foreign Broadcast Information Service Daily Report: East Asia. Readers also are directed to the American Bibliography of

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The Society and Its Environment

Slavic and East European Studies, the Bibliography ofAsian Studies, and

Citation Index for new publications on Mongolian society. (For fur- ther information and complete citations, see Bibliography.)

113

Chapter 3. The Economy
Camels—one of Mongolia's major livestock types
ON THE EVE OF the 1921 revolution, Mongolia had an underdeveloped, stagnant economy based on nomadic animal husandry.

Farming and industry were almost nonexistent; transportation and

communications were primitive; banking, services, and trade were

almost exclusively in the hands of foreigners. Most of the people were either illiterate nomadic herders or monks. Property in the

form of livestock was owned primarily by aristocrats and monasteries; ownership of the remaining sectors of the economy was dominated by foreigners. Mongolia's new rulers thus were faced with

a daunting task in building a modern, socialist economy.

Mongolia's economic development under communist control can be divided into three periods: 1921-39; 1940-60; and 1961 to the

present. During the first period, which the Mongolian government

called the stage of "general democratic transformation," the econ- omy remained primarily agrarian and underdeveloped. After an

abortive attempt to collectivize herders, or arads (see Glossary),

livestock raising remained in private hands. The state began to develop industry based on processing of animal husbandry products

and crop raising on state farms. Transportation, communications,

domestic and foreign trade, and banking and finance were nationalized with Soviet assistance; they were placed under the control

of Mongolian state and cooperative organizations or MongolianSoviet joint-stock companies. Ulaanbaatar became the nation's in- dustrial center. During the second period, called the "construction of the foundations of socialism," agriculture was collectivized, and industry was diversified into mining, timber processing, and consumer

goods production. Central planning of the economy began in 1931

with an abortive five-year plan and with annual plans in 1941;

five-year plans began anew with the First Five-Year Plan

(1948-52). Soviet aid increased, financing the construction of the

trans-Mongolia railroad—the Ulaanbaatar Railroad—and various

industrial projects. China also provided assistance, primarily in

the form of labor for infrastructure projects. Although industrial

development still was concentrated in Ulaanbaatar, economic

decentralization began with the completion of the Ulaanbaatar Railroad and the establishment of food processing plants in aymag (see

Glossary) centers. The third stage, which the government called the "completion

of the construction of the material and technical basis of socialism,"

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Mongolia: A Country Study

saw further industrialization and agricultural growth, aided largely

by Mongolia's joining the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance

(Comecon—see Glossary) in 1962. Soviet and East European financial and technical assistance in the forms of credits, advisers, and

joint ventures enabled Mongolia to modernize and to diversify in- dustry, particularly in mining. New industrial centers were built

in Baga Nuur, Choybalsan, Darhan, and Erdenet, and industrial

output rose significantly. Although animal husbandry was stagnant, crop production increased dramatically with the development

of virgin lands by state farms. Foreign trade with Comecon nations grew substantially. Transportation and communications sys- tems were improved, linking population and industrial centers and

extending to more remote rural areas. In the late 1980s, Mongolia had developed into an agricultural-industrial economy, but the

inefficiencies of a centrally planned and managed economy and

the example of perestroika (see Glossary) in the Soviet Union led

Mongolian leaders to undertake a reform program to develop the

economy further.

Socialist Framework of the Economy

Role of the Government

In the late 1980s. Mongolia had a planned economy based on

socialist ownership of the means of production. According to the

Mongolian Constitution, socialist ownership has two forms: state ownership (of land and natural resources, economic facilities and

infrastructure; and the property of all state organizations, enterprises, and institutions) and cooperative ownership (property of

agricultural associations and other types of cooperatives). Private

ownership was negligible in all sectors of the economy, except

animal husbandry, but economic reforms adopted since 1986 gave

greater leeway for individual and cooperative enterprises (see Economic Reforms; Animal Husbandry, this ch.). The economy was

directed by a single state national economic plan, which, when con- firmed by the legislature, the People's Great Hural, had the force

of law. In accordance w-ith the plan, the state annually drew up

a state budget, which was confirmed and published in the form

of a law (see Budget, this ch.). The Council of Ministers constitutionally was charged with planning the national economy; implementing the national economic plan and the state and local budgets; directing financial and credit policy; exercising a foreign

trade monopoly; establishing and directing the activities of ministries

and other state institutions concerned with economic construction:

defending socialist production; and strengthening socialist ownership.

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"Program for the Year 2000"- May Day parade, 1988, Ulaanbaatar

Courtesy Steve Mann

In December 1987 and January 1988, the top-level state economic

organizations under the Council of Ministers were reorganized. The

State Planning and Economic Committee was formed out of the

former State Planning Commission, the State Labor and Social Welfare Committee, the State Prices and Standards Committee, and

the Central Statistical Board. New economic entities were the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry; the Ministry of Environmental

Protection; the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Supply; the Ministry of Light Industry; and the Ministry of Power, Mining Industry, and Geology. Unaffected by the reorganization were

the Ministry of Social Economy and Services, the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Transport,

the State Construction Committee, and the State Bank of the Mongolian People's Republic. Local government organizations—the ex- ecutive committees of hurals (see Glossary)—implemented economic

plans and budgets, directed economic construction, and supervised

the work of economic and cooperative organizations at their level. Planning

Planning in communist-run Mongolia had an inauspicious start with the Five-Year Plan for 1931-35, which set unrealistically high

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Mongolia: A Country Study

targets for production and called for the collectivization of agricultural production. This plan was abandoned in 1932 in the face of

widespread resistance to collectivization and the failure to meet

production goals. Annual planning was introduced in 1941 in an

effort to deal with wartime shortages. Five-year plans were reintroduced in 1948 with the First Plan. The Second Five-Year Plan

(1953-57) was followed by the Three-Year Plan (1958-60). Regular five-year plans were resumed with the Third Five-Year Plan

(1961-65), and they have continued to be used since then.

In the late 1980s, economic planning in Mongolia included longterm, five-year, and annual plans that operated on multiple levels. Planning originated with the Mongolian People's Revolutionary

Party, which produced the guidelines for economic and social

development for the five-year period corresponding to the party's

congress. Based on these guidelines, the Standing Commission on

Economic-Budget Affairs of the People's Great Hural drafted the

five-year national and annual economic plans, which were approved

by the People's Great Hural and became law. The Council of

Ministers directed and implemented national planning through the

State Planning and Economic Committee and through the Ministry of Finance. Planning for different sectors of the economy was

conducted by relevant ministries and state committees; local plans were drawn up by local governmental organizations.

Mongolia's five-year plans have been coordinated with those of

the Soviet Union since 1961 and with Comecon multilateral five- year plans since 1976. Annual plan coordination with the Soviet

Union, which is made official in signed protocols, began in 1971.

Mongolian planners were trained by Soviet planners and cooperated with them in drafting long-term plans, such as the General

Scheme for the Development and Location of the Mongolian People's Republic Productive Forces up to 1990, produced in the late 1970s; and the Longterm Program for the Development of Economic, Scientific, and Technical Cooperation Between the Mongolian People' Republic and the USSR for the Period up to 2000,

signed in 1985.

National economic plans included general development goals as well as specific targets and quotas for agriculture, capital construction and investment, domestic and foreign trade, industry, labor re- sources and wages, retail sales and services, telecommunications,

and transportation. The plans also focused on such social development goals and targets as improved living standards, population

increase, cultural development, and scientific and technical development.

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The Economy

Budget

The Ministry of Finance prepared annual national budgets and

provided guidance to the formulation of local budgets. The national

budget included the budget of the central government, the budgets of aymag and city governments, and the budget of the national

social insurance fund. The national budget grew with the expansion of the economy: In 1940 revenues were 123.9 million tugriks

(for value of the tugrik—see Glossary) and expenditures, 122.1 million tugriks; in 1985 revenues were 5,743 million tugriks and ex- penditures, 5,692.5 million tugriks. The structure of the national

budget changed between 1940 and 1985. In 1940 some 34.6 per- cent of revenues came from the turnover tax (a value added tax on each transaction), 7.8 percent from deductions from profits, 16.7

percent from taxes on the population, and 40.9 percent from other

kinds of income. In 1985 nearly 63 percent of revenues came from

the turnover tax, 29.9 percent from deductions from profits, 3.5

percent from deductions from the social insurance fund, 0.7 per- cent from taxes on the population, and 3.2 percent from other types

of income. In 1940 some 21.9 percent of expenditures went to develop the national economy; 19.7 percent to social and cultural pro- grams; and 58.4 percent to defense, state administration, reserves, and other expenses. In 1985 about 42.6 percent of expenditures

went to developing the national economy; 38.7 percent to social

and cultural programs; and 18.7 percent to defense, state administration, reserves, and other expenses.

The proposed 1989 budget had revenues and expenditures of

6.97 billion tugriks. Proposed expenditures for 1989 included 1.8

billion tugriks for developing agriculture, 2.1 billion for industry,

and 1.6 billion for capital investment. Of the 2.76 billion tugriks

proposed for social and cultural development, 1.16 billion was to go for education; 597.5 million for health, physical culture, and

sports; 259.7 million for science, culture, and art; and 747.4 million for the social insurance fund. Subsidies to maintain stable retail prices totaled 213 million tugriks. Local budgets, through which

70 percent of social and cultural expenditures were funneled, to- taled 3.46 billion tugriks.

Structure of the Economy

Socialist development transformed Mongolia from a predominantly agrarian, nomadic economy in 1921 into a developing,

agricultural-industrial economy in the late 1980s. In 1985 a reported

18.3 percent of produced national income was derived from agriculture, 32.4 percent from industry, 4.9 percent from construction,

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Mongolia: A Country Study

11.2 percent from transportation and communications, 31.6 per- cent from domestic trade and services, and 1.6 percent from other

sectors. Sixty percent of disposable national income went to con- sumption, and 40 percent went to accumulation. Fixed assets to- taled about 38.9 billion tugriks, of which 66.5 percent were

productive fixed assets, including livestock, and 33.5 percent were

nonproductive. Industry and construction accounted for 38.1 per- cent of the productive fixed assets; agriculture, 16 percent; trans- portation and communications, 9 percent; and domestic trade and

services, 3.4 percent. Investment totaled 4.624 billion tugriks, 97.9

percent of which went to the state sector, and 2.1 percent, to the

cooperative sector. During the Seventh Five-Year Plan (1981-85),

68.9 percent of investments went into the productive sectors of the

economy, and 31.1 percent, into nonproductive sectors. Industry

and construction received 44.7 percent of investment during this period; agriculture, 13.9 percent; transportation and communications, 9.0 percent; and domestic trade and services, 1.3 percent.

The Eighth Five-Year Plan (1986-90) called for increasing produced

national income by 26 to 29 percent and for raising investment

by 24 to 26 percent, of which 70 percent was to go to developing

material production.

In the late 1980s, Mongolia was divided into three economic

regions. The western region (Bayan-Olgiy, Hovd, Uvs, Dzavhan,

and Govi-Altay aymags), with 21 percent of the nation's population, was predominandy agricultural (see fig. 1). The western region

had 32 percent of Mongolia's livestock and produced about 30 per- cent of its wool and meat. Local industry was engaged in processing of animal husbandry products, timber, minerals, and building

materials. Transportation was predominantly by motor vehicles.

The central economic region (Arhangay, Bayanhongor, Bulgan,

Darhan, Dornogovi, Dundgovi, Hovsgol, Omnogovi, Ovorhangay,

Selenge, Tov, and Ulaanbaatar aymags) was the dominant producer.

The region had 70 percent of Mongolia's population (including

the cities of Baga Nuur, Darhan, Erdenet, and Ulaanbaatar); 55

percent of its territory; 75 percent of its arable land; 90 percent

of surveyed coal deposits; and 100 percent of copper, molybdenum,

iron ore, and phosphate deposits. This region accounted for 80 per- cent of gross industrial production, 90 percent of light industrial

production, and 80 percent of food industry production, 75 per- cent of coal production, and 100 percent of copper-molybdenum,

iron ore, and phosphate mining. It also accounted for 60 percent

of gross agricultural production, 60 percent of milk production,

50 percent of meat production, and 80 percent of grain, potato,

and vegetable production.

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The Economy

The eastern economic region (Dornod, Hentiy, and Suhbaatar

aymags) had 9 percent of Mongolia's population, 20 percent of the

arable land, and 15 percent of the livestock. The region contributed

15 percent of gross meat production and 13 percent of wool production. Grain production on large state farms hewed out of virgin

lands contributed 90 percent of the region's agricultural output.

The major industrial center was Choybalsan, which produced 50

percent of regional gross industrial output.

Economic Reforms

In the late 1980s, dissatisfaction with the economic stagnation

of the last years of the former regime of Yumjaagiyn Tsedenbal

and the influence of the Soviet perestroika led Mongolia to launch

its own program of economic reforms. This program had five goals:

acceleration of development; application of science and technology to production; reform of management and planning; greater

independence of enterprises; and a balance of individual, collective, and societal interests. Acceleration of development in general was to result from the attainment of the other four goals.

Scientific research was being redirected to better serve economic

development, with electronics, automation, biotechnology, and the

creation of materials becoming the priority areas of research and

cooperation with Comecon countries.

Reform of management and planning began in 1986 with the

first of several rounds of reorganization of governmental bodies

dealing with the economy. These changes rationalized and streamlined state economic organizations; reduced the number of administrative positions by 3,000; and saved 20 million tugriks between

1986 and 1988. The role of the central planning bodies was to be

reduced by limiting the duties of the State Planning and Economic

Committee to overseeing general capital-investment policy. The

indicators specified in the five-year and the annual national eco- nomic plans also were to be decreased. State committees and ministries, rather than the State Planning and Economic Committee,

were to decide upon machinery and equipment purchases. Decentralization of economic management also was to extend to aymag

and city administrations and enterprises. These bodies were given

greater autonomy in construction and production, and they also were held financially responsible for profits and losses. Efforts to devolve economic decision making to the enterprise

level began in 1986, when more than 100 enterprises began ex- perimenting with financial autonomy (before then, enterprises oper- ating with a deficit had been subsidized by the state). Enterprises were accountable for their own losses, and they were responsible

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Mongolia: A Country Study

for fulfilling sales contracts and export orders. The draft law on

state enterprises, presented to the People's Great Hural in December 1988, was to extend greater independence in economic matters to all state enterprises and to lead to an economy that combined

planning and market mechanisms.

Under provisions of the draft law, state enterprises were to be

authorized to make their own annual and five-year plans and to negotiate with state and local authorities to pay taxes based on longterm quotas. State enterprises also were to sell output exceeding

state orders and unused assets; to establish their own, or to cooperate

with existing, scientific organizations to solve scientific and technical problems; to be financially responsible for losses, and to pay

back bank loans; to set prices independently; to establish wage rates based on enterprise profitability; to purchase materials and goods

from individuals, collectives, state distribution organizations, and

wholesale trade enterprises; to establish direct ties with foreign eco- nomic organizations; to manage their own foreign currency; and

to conduct foreign trade.

The draft law stipulated that enterprises were to be divided into

two categories. National enterprises were to be the responsibility

of ministries, state committees, and departments; local enterprises were to be supervised by executive committees of aymag and city

administrations or members of local hurals. State and local bodies were not to interfere in the day-to-day decision making of enterprises, but they were responsible for ensuring that enterprises

obeyed the law and that they did not suppress the interests of soci- ety. Enterprises were allowed to form three kinds of associations:

production associations, scientific production associations, and

enterprise associations to coordinate economic affairs. Finally, the

draft law said that the state was the owner of state enterprises and

that the labor collective was the lawful manager of a state enterprise. The labor collective was to elect a labor collective council,

which was to ensure that the enterprise director (who acted on behalf of the collective and the state) met the interests of the collective in managing the enterprise. It was unclear how the relationship

between the enterprise director and the labor collective would work

out in practice.

Balancing the interests of society, the collective, and the individual

entailed providing scope for individual and collective initiative to increase production and efficiency. Enlarging the scope for individual initiative had three aspects: linking wages to enterprise profitability, permitting output exceeding state plans to be sold for profit,

and providing employment opportunities outside the state and the

cooperative sectors. In 1988 wage scales dependent on enterprise

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The Economy

revenues were introduced to the light and food industries and to the domestic trade sector, resulting in a reduction in materials uti- lized by those sectors. Beginning in late 1986, state farms and negdels

(agricultural stations—see Glossary) were eligible for state payments

for output exceeding the annual average growth rate for the previ- ous five-year plan. Individual agricultural cooperative members

and workers were allowed increasing numbers of privately held

livestock. The draft law also stipulated that enterprises could sell production exceeding plan targets for their own profit. In 1987 the

government began encouraging the formation of voluntary labor

associations, auxiliary farms, and sideline production attached to enterprises, schools, and so forth to increase production of foodstuffs and consumer goods, to engage in primary processing of

agricultural goods, and to provide services. The authorities per- mitted the formation of individual and family-based cooperatives;

by 1988 there were 480 such cooperatives. Contracting among state farms and both agricultural cooperatives and families was permitted

and was increasing in the late 1980s (see Agriculture and Industry,

this ch.).

Natural Resources

Mongolia's natural resources include forests, fish, and a variety of minerals. In the late 1980s, Mongolia had 15 million hectares of forests covering 9.6 percent of the nation. Major forested areas were approximately 73 percent Siberian larch, 11 percent

cedar, and 6.5 percent pine. Timber stocks were estimated to be

1 .3 billion cubic meters. Mongolia's northern rivers and lakes con- tained more than 50 native species of fish; however, this resource

barely was exploited because fish is not popular among Mongolians.

The country's richest resources are minerals—coal, copper,

fluorite, gold, iron ore, lead, molybdenum, oil, phosphates, tin,

uranium, and wolfram (see fig. 9). Coal deposits in the mid-1980s were located at Aduun Chuluu (reserves of 37 million tons), Baga

Nuur (reserves of 1 billion tons), Nalayh (reserves of 73 million

tons), Sharin Gol (reserves of 69 billion tons), and Tavan Tolgoy

(reserves of 9.5 billion tons). Copper and molybdenum were found

at Erdenetiyn-ovoo and at Tsagaan Subarga in Dornogovi Aymag.

Fluorite deposits were located at Burentsogt in Suhbaatar Aymag,

at Berh and Bor Ondor in Hentiy Aymag, and at Har-Ayrag in

Dornogovi Aymag. Northern Mongolia, particularly Tov and

Selenge aymags, had widespread gold deposits. These sites included

Tavan Tolgoy, Erhet, and Bugant; the Yoroo Gol and the Bayan

Gol; and Narantolgoy. Other gold deposits were found at Noyon

Uul in Hentiy Aymag and at Altan Uul in Omnogovi Aymag. Iron

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Mongolia: A Country Study
The Economy

ore occurred at Bayan Gol, at Bayan Uul in Hovsgol Aymag, at Bayasgalant in Dundgovi Aymag, and at Yoroo in Selenge Aymag.

Lead deposits were found at Jargalthaan in Hentiy Aymag and

at Bordzongiyn Govi in Omnogovi Aymag. A major limestone

deposit was discovered at Hotol in Bulgan Aymag. Mongolia ex- ploited oil deposits at Dzuunbayan and Tsagaan Els in Dornogovi

Aymag, and at Tamsagbulag in Dornod Aymag in the 1950s and

the 1960s. Reports on the exploitation of oil deposits ceased after 1968. Phosphates were found at Urandosh in Hovsgol Aymag.

Prospecting teams have discovered extensive veins of potash mica

running through 350 kilometers of the Altai Mountains. Tin was

located at Nomgon in Omnogovi Aymag and at Yeguudzer in

Suhbaatar Aymag. Wolfram deposits were exploited at Burentsogt,

Chonogol, Ihhayrhan, Salaa, and Hanhohiy in Tov and Suhbaatar

aymags. Uranium has been discovered in Mongolia, but there were no reports of deposits that were being tapped in the 1980s.

Mongolia has cooperated extensively with Comecon countries

in surveying the country's natural resources. Joint geological

prospecting teams have located more than 500 mineral deposits

in Mongolia. The Erdenetiyn-ovoo copper-molybdenum deposit,

for example, was discovered with Soviet and Czechoslovak as- sistance. The Soviet Union has been the most active of the Comecon nations in joint exploration of Mongolia's mineral resources. The Joint Mongolian-Soviet Geological Expedition has discovered

previously unknown minerals, has published monographs and

metallogenic maps; and has focused its surveying efforts on searching for nonferrous, rare, and precious metals, fluorite, phosphates,

building materials, and coal. Geological prospecting is thus con- ducted to assist Mongolian economic development by extending

mining industries and by exploiting new mineral deposits.

Agriculture

In the late 1980s, agriculture was a small but critical sector of

the Mongolian economy. In 1985 agriculture accounted for only

18.3 percent of national income and 33.8 percent of the labor

force (see table 7, Appendix). Nevertheless, agriculture remained

economically important because much of Mongolia's industry

processed agricultural products—foodstuffs, timber, and animal

products, such as skins and hides—for domestic consumption and

for export. In 1986 agriculture supplied nearly 60 percent of Mongolia's exports (see Industry; Foreign Economic Relations and

Comecon, this ch.).

Mongolian agriculture developed slowly. An abortive attempt

to collectivize all arads occurred in the early 1930s; efforts to

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Mongolia: A Country Study

encourage voluntary cooperatives and arad producers' associations

followed. In the 1930s, the government also began developing state farms, and by 1940 there were ten state farms and ninety-one

agricultural cooperatives. In 1937 the Soviet Union provided ten hay-making machine stations to prepare fodder for livestock. In

1940 agriculture represented 61 percent of national income, and

it employed approximately 90 percent of the labor force. In the 1950s, agriculture began to adopt its present structure and modern techniques, based in part on material and technical

assistance from the Soviet Union and East European countries.

In the 1950s, the hay-making machine stations were reorganized

as livestock machine stations. In 1955 negdels replaced the arad

producers' associations. By 1959 the state had accomplished the

collectivization of agriculture. In ten years, agricultural cooperatives had more than doubled, from 139 in 1950 to 354 by 1960.

Ownership of livestock and sown areas changed dramatically as a result of collectivization. In 1950, according to Mongolian government statistics, state farms and other state organizations owned

approximately 0.9 percent of livestock and 37.8 percent of sown

areas; negdels had about 0.5 percent of livestock and no sown lands;

and private owners some held 98.3 percent of livestock and 62.2

percent of sown areas. In 1960 state farms and other state organizations owned 2.7 percent of livestock; negdels, 73.8 percent; and

individual negdel members, 23.5 percent. The state sector owned

77.5 percent of sown lands, and the cooperative sector the re- mainder.

By 1960 agriculture's share of national income had fallen to 22.9

percent, but agriculture still employed 60.8 percent of the work force. After 1960 the number of state farms increased, state fodder supply

farms were established, the number of negdels decreased through consolidation, and interagricultural cooperative associations were or- ganized to facilitate negdel specialization and cooperation. Mongolia

also began receiving large-scale agricultural assistance from the Soviet

Union and other East European countries after Mongolia's 1962

entry into Comecon. The Soviet Union, for example, assisted in establishing and equipping several new state farms, and Hungary

helped with irrigation. In 1967 the Third Congress of Agricultural

Association Members founded the Union of Agricultural Associations to supervise negdels and to represent their interests to the government and to other cooperative and social organizations. The union

elected a central council, the chairman of which was, ex officio, the

minister of agriculture; it also adopted a Model Charter to govern

members' rights and obligations. In 1969 the state handed over the

livestock machine stations to the negdels.

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The Economy

Negdels, which concentrated on livestock production, were or- ganized into brigad (brigades) and then into suuri (bases), composed

of several households. Each suuri had its own equipment and production tasks. Negdels adopted the Soviet system of herding, in which

arad households lived in permanent settlements rather than travel- ing with their herds, as in the pastoral tradition (see Pastoral

Nomadism, ch. 2). In 1985 the average negdelhad 61,500 head of

livestock, 438,500 hectares of land—of which 1,200 hectares was

plowable land, 43 tractors, 2 grain harvesters, and 18 motor vehicles; it harvested 500 tons of grain. Individual negdel members were

permitted to own livestock. In mountain steppe pasture areas, ten head of livestock per person, up to fifty head per household, were

allowed. In desert regions, fifteen head per person, up to seventyfive head per household, were permitted. Private plots also were

allowed for negdel farmers.

State farms, compared with negdels, had more capital invested, were more highly mechanized, and generally were located in the

most productive regions, or close to major mining and industrial

complexes. State farms engaged primarily in crop production. In

1985 there were 52 state farms, 17 fodder supply farms, and 255

negdels. In 1985 the average state farm employed 500 workers; owned

26,200 head of livestock, 178,600 hectares of land—of which 15,400

hectares was plowable land, 265 tractors, 36 grain harvesters, and

40 motor vehicles; it harvested 12,100 tons of grain. In the late 1980s, several changes in governmental organization

occurred to facilitate agricultural development. In October 1986,

the Ministry of Agriculture absorbed the Ministry of Water Economy, which had controlled irrigation. In December 1987, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Forestry and Woodworking, and

the Ministry of Food and Light Industries were abolished and two

new ministries—the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry,

and the Ministry of Environmental Protection—were established.

Among the functions of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food In- dustry were the further coordination of agriculture and of industrial food processing to boost the food supply, and the development on state farms of agro-industrial complexes, which had processing

plants for foodstuffs. The Sharin Gol state farm, for example, grew

fruits and vegetables, which then were processed in the state farm's

factories to produce dried fruit, fruit juices, fruit and vegetable

preserves, and pickled vegetables. The Ministry of Environmental Protection incorporated the Forestry and Hunting Economy Section of the former Ministry of Forestry and Woodworking and the

State Land and Water Utilization and Protection Service of the

former Ministry of Agriculture (see fig. 10; Forestry, this ch.).

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Mongolia: A Country Study
The Economy

Crop Production

Since its inception, the Mongolian People's Republic has devoted

considerable resources to developing crop production in what was

a predominantly nomadic, pastoral economy. Mongols traditionally disdained the raising of crops, which was conducted for the

most part by Chinese farmers. Early efforts to force arads to be- come farmers failed, and the government turned to the creation

of state farms to promote crop production. By 1941 when the state had established ten state farms, Mongolia had 26,600 hectares of sown land. State farms, however, accounted for only 29.6 percent

of the planted areas. After World War II, Mongolia intensified efforts to expand crop

production by establishing more state farms, by reclaiming virgin

lands for crop raising, by mechanizing farm operations, and by

developing irrigation systems for farmlands. When Mongolia began

to report statistics on arable land in 1960, there were 532,000 hect- ares of arable land, and sown crops covered 265,000 hectares of

the 477,000 hectares of plow land. Mongolia's 25 state farms ac- counted for 77.5 percent of sown areas, and cooperatives, for 22.5

percent. In 1985 when 52 state farms and 17 fodder supply farms

existed, there were about 1.2 million hectares of arable land, and sown crops covered 789,600 hectares of the approximately 1 million hectares of plow land. The state sector accounted for 80.6 percent of sown areas, and cooperatives, for 19.4 percent. Development

of virgin lands by state farms was responsible for most of the ex- pansion of arable land and sown areas. Land reclamation started

in the late 1950s and the early 1960s, when 530,000 hectares were

developed, and it continued throughout each five-year plan. During the Seventh Plan, 250,000 hectares were assimilated, and the

Eighth Plan called for an additional 120,000 to 130,000 hectares

to be reclaimed.

Mechanization of farm operations commenced on a large scale in the 1950s with Soviet assistance. The Soviet Union provided

most agricultural machines, as well as advice and expertise in

mechanization. State farms were more highly mechanized than

cooperatives. For example, in 1985, 100 percent of potato planting and 84 percent of potato harvesting were mechanized on state farms, compared with 85 percent and 35 percent, respectively, in

negdels. Beginning in the 1960s, state farms also pioneered the development of irrigation systems for crops. By 1985 Mongolia had

85,200 hectares of available irrigated land, of which 81,600 hect- ares actually were irrigated.

Crop production initially concentrated on raising cereals; in 1941

cereals covered 95.1 percent of sown areas, while 3.4 percent was

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Mongolia: A Country Study

devoted to potatoes and 1.5 percent to vegetables. Cultivation of

fodder crops began in the 1950s. In 1985 cereals covered 80.6 per- cent of sown areas, fodder crops 17.7 percent, potatoes 1.3 percent, and vegetables 0.4 percent. Mongolia's staple crops were

wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, vegetables, hay, and silage crops. Since 1960 agricultural performance—as measured by gross out- put, per capita output, and crop yields—was uneven. Although sown acreage expanded dramatically between 1960 and 1980, out- put and crop yields remained stagnant and, in some cases, fell be- cause of natural disasters and poor management. In addition to the staple crops mentioned, Mongolia also produced small quantities of oil-yielding crops, such as sunflower and rape, and fruits and vegetables, such as sea buckthorn, apples, European black

currants, watermelons, muskmelons, onions, and garlic. Small

amounts of alfalfa, soybean, millet, and peas also were grown to provide protein fodder.

The Eighth Plan called for increasing the average annual gross harvest of cereals to between 780,000 and 800,000 tons; potatoes

to between 150,000 and 160,000 tons; vegetables to between 50,000

and 80,000 tons; silage crops to between 280,000 and 300,000 tons; and annual and perennial fodder crops to between 330,000 and

360,000 tons. Emphasis was placed on raising crop production and

quality by increasing mechanization; improving and expanding

acreage; raising crop yields; expanding irrigation; selecting cereal

varieties better adapted to natural climatic conditions and better

locations for cereal cultivation; applying greater volumes of organic

and mineral fertilizers; building more storage facilities; reducing

losses because of pests, weeds, and plant diseases; and preventing

soil erosion. Emphasis also was put on improving management of

crop production on state farms and negdels as well as of procurement, transport, processing, and storage of agricultural products.

Animal Husbandry

From prerevolutionary times until well into the 1970s, animal

husbandry was the mainstay of the Mongolian economy. In the

traditional economy, livestock provided foodstuffs and clothing;

after the 1921 revolution, livestock supplied foodstuffs and raw

materials for industries and for export. Mongolia had 9.6 million

head of livestock in 1918 and 13.8 million head in 1924; arad ownership was estimated to be 50 to 80 percent of all livestock, and monastic and aristocratic ownership to be 50 to 20 percent. Policies

designed to force collectivization in the early 1930s met with arad

resistance, including the slaughter of their own animals. Reversal

of these policies led to a growth in livestock numbers, which peaked

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The Economy

in 1941 at 27.5 million head. World War II brought new commitments to provide food and raw materials for the Soviet war effort (see Economic Gradualism and National Defense, 1932-45, ch. 1). With the levy of taxes in kind, livestock numbers fell to about 20

million in 1945, and they have hovered between 20 million and

24 million head since then. Collectivization and advances in veterinary science have failed to boost livestock production significantly

since the late 1940s. In 1940 animal husbandry produced 99.6 per- cent of gross agricultural output. The share of animal husbandry

in gross agricultural output declined after World War II, to 71.8

percent in 1960, 81.6 percent in 1970, 79.5 percent in 1980, and

70 percent in 1985. The rise in crop production since 1940 has ac- counted for animal husbandry's decline in gross agricultural output.

Nevertheless, in the late 1980s, animal husbandry continued to be an important component of the national economy, supplying

foodstuffs and raw materials for domestic consumption, for process- ing by industry, and for export. In 1985 there were 22,485,500

head of livestock, of which 58.9 percent were sheep; 19.1 percent,

goats; 10.7 percent, cattle; 8.8 percent, horses; and 2.5 percent,

camels. In addition, pigs, poultry, and bees were raised. In 1985

there were 56,100 pigs and 271,300 head of poultry; no figures were available on apiculture. Livestock products included meat and

fat from camels, catde, chickens, horses, goats, pigs, and sheep;

eggs; honey; milk; wool from camels, cattle, goats, and sheep; and

hides and skins from camels, cattle, goats, horses, and sheep. In

1986 exports of livestock products included 15,500 tons of wool,

121,000 large hides, 1,256,000 small hides, and 44,100 tons of meat

and meat products.

In the late 1980s, differences existed in ownership and productivity of livestock among state farms, agricultural cooperatives, and

individual cooperative members. For example, in 1985 agricultural

cooperatives owned 70.1 percent of the "five animals" —camels,

cattle, goats, horses, and sheep; state farms, 6 percent, other state organizations, 1.7 percent; and individual cooperative members,

22.2 percent. State farms raised 81.4 percent of all poultry; other

state organizations, 3.3 percent; cooperatives, 12.9 percent; and

individual cooperative members, 2.4 percent. State farms accounted

for 19.1 percent of pig raising; other state organizations, for 34.2

percent; agricultural cooperatives, for 12.5 percent; and individual cooperative members, for 34.2 percent. Survival rates of young

livestock were higher in the cooperatives than on state farms;

however, state farms produced higher yields of milk and wool. Fodder for livestock in the agricultural cooperatives was supplemented

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Mongolia: A Country Study

by production on state fodder supply farms and on state farms,

which had higher output and yields.

Despite its economic importance, in the late 1980s animal husbandry faced many problems: labor shortages, stagnant production and yields, inclement weather, poor management, diseases,

and the necessity to use breeding stock to meet high export quotas.

The Eighth Plan attempted to address some of these problems. To

alleviate labor shortages, the plan called for higher income, increased

mechanization, and improved working and cultural conditions in

rural areas to retain animal husbandry workers, particularly those

with technical training. Measures to raise productivity included

increased mechanization; improved breeding techniques to boost

meat, milk, and wool yields and to cut losses from barrenness and

miscarriages; and strengthened veterinary services to reduce ill- ness. Additional livestock facilities were to be built to provide shelter from harsh winter weather and to fatten livestock. More efficient use of fodder was sought through expanding production; improving varieties; and decreasing losses in procurement, shipping,

processing, and storage. Pastureland was to be improved by ex- panding irrigation and by combating pests.

Overcoming poor management was more difficult. Local party,

state, and cooperative organizations were admonished to manage

animal husbandry more efficiendy, and cooperative members were

requested to care for collectively owned livestock as if it were their own. In addition, more concrete measures to improve the management and the productivity of animal husbandry were adopted in

the late 1980s. The individual livestock holdings of workers, employees, and citizens were increased to eight head per household

in major towns, sixteen head in smaller towns, and twenty-five head

in rural areas; households were allowed to dispose of surplus produce

through the cooperative trade network and through the state procurement system. Auxiliary farms run by factories, offices, and

schools were established to raise additional pigs, poultry, and rabbits, as well as to grow some vegetables. Family contracts concluded on a voluntary basis with cooperatives or with state farms were

reported by the government to increase high-quality output, to lower

production expenses, and to enhance production efficiency.

Forestry

Mongolia's vast forests (15 million hectares) are exploited for timber, hunting, and fur-bearing animals. In 1984 a Mongolian

source stated that the forestry sector accounted for about one-sixth

of gross national product (GNP—see Glossary). Until December

1987, exploitation of these resources was supervised by the Forestry

134
Cattle on way to pasture

Courtesy Regina Genton

Shearing sheep, Hovd Aymag

Courtesy Steve Mann

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Mongolia: A Country Study

and Hunting Economy Section of the Ministry of Forestry and

Woodworking. In that month this section was integrated into the

new Ministry of Environmental Protection (see State Organizations, ch. 4). The woodworking component of the former ministry presumably became part of the new Ministry of Light Industry.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection's assumption of control of forest resources reflected the government's concern over environmental degradation resulting from indiscriminate deforestation. Forestry enterprises reafforested only 5,000 hectares of the

20,000 hectares felled annually. In addition, fires engulfed 1 million hectares of forest between 1980 and 1986. Mongolia's shrinking forests lowered water levels in many tributaries of the Selenge

and Orhon rivers, hurting soil conservation and creating water

shortages in Ulaanbaatar.

Timber enterprises and their downstream industries made a siz- able contribution to the Mongolian economy, accounting for 10

percent of gross industrial output in 1985. Approximately 2.5 million cubic meters of timber were cut annually. Fuel wood accounted

for about 55 percent of the timber cut, and the remainder was

processed by the woodworking industry. In 1986 Mongolia produced 627,000 cubic meters of sawn timber, of which 121,000 cubic

meters was exported. Lumber also was exported; lumber exports

declined dramatically from 104,000 cubic meters in 1984 to 85,700

cubic meters in 1985 and to 39,000 cubic meters in 1986.

Mongolia's forests and steppes abounded with animals that were hunted for their fur, meat, and other products in the late 1980s.

Fur-bearing animals included marmots, muskrats, squirrels, foxes,

korsak (steppe foxes), and wolves, which were hunted, and such

animals as deer, sable, and ermine, which were raised on state animal farms. Animal pelts were exported in large numbers. In

1985 Mongolia exported more than 1 million small hides, which

included some of the 763,400 marmot pelts, 23,800 squirrel skins,

3,700 wolf skins, and other furs. Marmot also was hunted for its fat, which was processed industrially. Mongolian gazelles were

hunted for their meat, and red deer, for their antler velvet. Organized hunting of wild sheep was a foreign tourist attraction.

Fishing

Mongolia's lakes and rivers teem with freshwater fish. Mongolia has developed a small-scale fishing industry, to export canned

fish. Little information was available on the types and the quantities of fish processed for export, but in 1986, the total fish catch was 400 metric tons in live weight.

136
The Economy

Industry

In 1924 Mongolian industry was limited to the Nalayh coal mine, an electric power plant in Ulaanbaatar, and various handicrafts.

Gross industrial output (measured in constant 1967 prices), was

300,000 tugriks. Industry developed very slowly in the first two

decades of the Mongolian People's Republic, primarily because

Mongolia's benefactor, the Soviet Union, provided few resources

to invest in industrialization. With Soviet advice, however, Mongolia adopted an industrial strategy that was based on the exploitation of natural resources and agriculture and it has followed this strategy since. The first steps to develop industry began in the 1930s.

In 1933 the Union of Artisans was organized. In 1934 the Choybalsan industrial combine, the flagship of Mongolian industry,

began operating in Ulaanbaatar. The combine, a joint MongolianSoviet company transferred to Mongolian control in 1935, had its own power plant, cloth factories, tanneries, and wool-scouring mill

that produced blankets, felt, footwear, leather coats, and soap. Coal

production at Nalayh rose in the 1930s, and in 1938 the narrow- gauge railroad connecting the mine with the capital's powergenerating station was completed. In 1940 industry accounted for 8.5 percent, and construction for 0.8 percent, of national income.

Gross industrial output rose to 124.7 million tugriks.

Industry began to develop substantially after World War II, when

Soviet aid increased and Soviet- style central planning was in- troduced, and, in the 1950s, when Chinese assistance started. Most

industrialization occurred in Ulaanbaatar; smaller food combines

and livestock-product processing plants were scattered throughout

the country. In the 1950s, major projects completed with Soviet

assistance included the modernization of the Choybalsan industrial combine; the expansion of production at the Nalayh coal mine;

the opening of oil wells in Buyant-Uhaa (Sayn Shand); and the

construction of four felt-rolling mills, a water supply plant, and

leather-processing factories. Chinese aid was given primarily in the

form of construction projects; Chinese laborers built roads, bridges,

housing, and a hydroelectric power plant. By 1960 industry and

construction accounted for 14.6 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively, of national income. Gross industrial output (in constant 1967

prices) was 676.8 million tugriks.

Industrialization took a big step forward after 1960. Large-scale

investment by the Soviet Union and other East European countries took place with Mongolia's entry into Comecon in 1962. This

assistance enabled Mongolia to diversify industry geographically

and sectorally. Major industrial centers were built at Darhan and

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Mongolia: A Country Study

Choybalsan in the 1960s and at Erdenet and Baga Nuur in the

1970s and the 1980s. After 1970 the scope of industry expanded

beyond processing of agricultural products; exploitation of minerals developed on a large scale, and the energy and the construction industries, which supported such development, also grew. In

1970 industry and construction accounted for 22.6 percent and 5.8

percent of national income, respectively; in 1985 they accounted

for 32.4 and 4.9 percent of national income, respectively. Gross

industrial output (in constant 1967 prices) was 1,733.2 million

tugriks in 1970 and 6,244.4 million tugriks in 1985.

In the late 1980s, industry was concentrated in several urban

centers. Baga Nuur was a coal-mining and energy production

center. Bor Ondor produced fluorite. Choybalsan had a coal mine,

a meat-packing plant, a foodstuffs combine, and a wool-scouring

mill. Darhan was close to the Sharin Gol coal mine and produced

construction materials, foodstuffs, and light industrial products.

Erdenet, home of the copper and molybdenum processing combine, also manufactured carpets and processed timber. Hotol was

the location of major limestone deposits and a cement production

center. Ulaanbaatar, the oldest industrial center, specialized in coal

and energy production, food processing, livestock-product processing, and textiles (see fig. 11).

Changes in government organizations responsible for industry

reflected the regime's efforts to spur industrial development. In

1968 the Ministry of Industry, originally established in 1938, was

abolished; the Ministry of Food Industry was transformed into the

Ministry of Food and Light Industries. That same year, the Ministry of Geology became the Ministry of Fuel, Power, and Geology.

In 1972 the Ministry of Food and Light Industries established

industrial producers' associations modeled on Soviet producers'

associations. The industrial producers' associations grouped ministry enterprises according to their specialization in clothing, flour

and fodder, footwear, hides and skins, and wool. In 1976 the Ministry of Fuel, Power, and Geology was divided into the Ministry of

Fuel and Power Industry and the Ministry of Geology and Mining. In 1986 the Ministry of Construction and Construction

Materials Industry and the State Committee for Construction,

Architecture, and Technical Control were dissolved, and the State Construction Committee was established. In December 1987, the

Ministry of Forestry and Woodworking, the Ministry of Geology

and Mining, the Ministry of Fuel and Power Industry, and the

Ministry of Food and Light Industries were replaced by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, the Ministry of Light In- dustry, and the Ministry of Power, Mining Industry, and Geology.

138
The Economy

Government organizations also concerned with industry in the late 1980s were the State Construction Committee and the Ministry

of Social Economy and Services, formed in 1972 to supervise handicraft production and the artels, or handicraft producers' associations.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection also was formed in

1987 out of the Forestry and Hunting Economy Section of the

Ministry of Forestry and Woodworking, the State Land and Water

Utilization and Protection Service of the Ministry of Agriculture,

and the Main Hydrometeorological Administration of the Council of Ministers; it dealt with industrial pollution. Environmental

degradation of the Hovsgol Nuur-Selenge Moron-Lake Baykal

ecosystem was a concern of both Mongolian and Soviet authorities. To limit ecological damage, the Ministry of Environmental

Protection took steps to close the Hatgal wool-scouring mill on

Hovsgol Nuur, to end shipping of gas and oil in the summer, and

to cease carbon-monoxide-producing motor transportation across the ice during the winter. Plans to open the Urandosh strip mine

on the banks of Hovsgol Nuur also were postponed. Other measures to alleviate environmental pollution included closing thermal power stations in Ulaanbaatar and moving industrial facilities outside the city in order to reduce air pollution. Strip mining in

Mongolia—particularly at the Baga Nuur, Erdenet, and Sharin

Gol mines—had created large slag heaps of concern to environmentalists. Other sources of ecological degradation were the dumping of industrial, agricultural, and household waste into small rivers

and lakes. Light Industry

In the late 1980s, Mongolian light industry included woodworking, textiles, clothing, leather and footwear, printing, and food in- dustries, which, primarily, processed agricultural products, and

handicrafts. In 1985 light industry accounted for 74.2 percent of

gross industrial output. Woodworking enterprises included woodworking plants and combines, paper plants, prefabricated housing factories, match factories, furniture factories, and handicraft

enterprises engaged in the production of ger (see Glossary) frames,

carts, and barrels. The food industry's meat-packing plants, dairies,

distilleries, and flour mills produced canned meat, sausages, lard, soap, milk, butter, beverages, and confectionery products. The textile and clothing industries processed wool and produced woolen

cloth, blankets, carpets, knitwear, cashmere sweaters, and school

uniforms. The leather and the footwear industries processed hides

and skins from sheep, goats, cattle, horses, and camels and produced

various leather products, including shoes and coats. The Eighth

139
Mongolia: A Country Study
The Economy

Plan called for increasing production of various light industries by

1 7 to 46 percent and for improving labor productivity in these in- dustries by 15 to 33 percent.

Mining

Until the late 1960s, mining in Mongolia consisted primarily

of coal extraction. In the 1970s, however, joint exploitation of mineral resources by the Soviet Union and other Comecon nations com- menced on a large scale. Comecon and joint Mongolian-Soviet

geological teams surveyed the country's natural resources and dis- covered valuable mineral deposits, such as copper, molybdenum,

wolfram, fluorite, gold, and tin. Several joint stock companies, such

as Mongolsovtsvetmet, Mongolchekhoslovakmetall, and Mongol- bolgarmetall, were formed to develop and to exploit these deposits.

By the late 1980s, mining was an important sector of the economy,

and accounted for 42.6 percent of exports in 1985. Little information was available on mining output, however.

In 1985 Mongolia mined 6.5 million tons of relatively low-grade

varieties of coal, of which only 225,200 tons, or 3 percent, was ex- ported. Exploited lignite deposits were located at Aduun Chuluu,

near Choybalsan; Baga Nuur; Nalayh, near Ulaanbaatar; and

Sharin Gol, near Darhan. The Aduun Chuluu coal mine's annual

output was 300,000 tons. The Baga Nuur strip mine, developed

in the 1980s, produced 2 million tons annually by 1985. The Nalayh

coal mine, the country's oldest, produced 800,000 tons annually

in the 1980s. The Sharin Gol strip mine, developed in the 1960s,

had an annual output of 1.1 million tons in the 1980s. The large

Tavan Tolgoy deposit of coking coal remained unexploited because

of its remoteness from transportation and industrial centers. The

Eighth Plan called for raising coal production to 9 million tons,

labor productivity 22 to 24 percent, and the capacity of the Baga

Nuur mine.

The copper and molybdenum deposit at Erdenetiyn-ovoo was

discovered by Mongolian and Czechoslovak geologists in the

mid-1960s and was developed with massive Soviet assistance in the

1970s. Erdenet's development required the construction of a branch

railroad line from Salhit, near Darhan to Erdenet; a highway from

Darhan to Erdenet; a water pipeline from the Selenge Moron; an

electric line from the Soviet Union; and factories, housing, and

other facilities. A Mongolian-Soviet construction force numbering 14,000 built the Joint Mongolian-Soviet Erdenet Mining and

Concentrating Combine, which included a mine, a concentrating

plant, a material and technical supply base, a mechanical repair

plant, and a high-capacity thermal and electric power plant. The

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Mongolia: A Country Study

first stage of the Erdenet combine went into operation in 1978, with

a planned output of 50,000 tons for 1979. With the completion of

the fourth stage in 1981, planned annual production capacity was

16 million tons of concentrate. From 1979 to 1982, Erdenet 's out- put of concentrates amounted to 250,000 tons of copper and 3,400

tons of molybdenum, with concentrates containing 33 percent copper and 50 percent molybdenum. In 1983 the Erdenet combine was completed. During the Eighth Plan, annual capacity was to reach 20 million tons. No information was available on actual output

or exports.

Other nonferrous metals exploited by Mongolsovtsvetmet and

other joint ventures were fluorite, wolfram, tin, and gold. The Berh,

Bor Ondor, Burentsogt, and Har-Ayrag fluorite deposits had an

annual output of 786,700 tons; fluorite was exported to the Soviet

Union, but no figures were available. The Eighth Plan called for expanding fluorite production capacity by an unspecified amount.

No figures were available on output or on exports of wolfram, tin,

and gold. In the late 1980s, plans to open the Urandosh phosphate

strip mine near Hatgal were delayed by concerns for environmental pollution in Hovsgol Nuur. Exploitation of the Burenhaan phosphate deposit still was planned. Further development of Mongolia's

other mineral resources was also planned, and the Eighth Plan called for continued cooperation with Comecon countries in geological

prospecting and mining.

Energy

In the late 1980s, energy in Mongolia was provided primarily

by coal-burning thermal and electric power stations. Other energy

sources were hydroelectric power, wood, and imported gas and

diesel fuel. Mongolia produced its own oil in the 1950s and the

1960s, but reports on oil exploitation ended in 1968. Increased electric power generation, made possible by the expansion of coal mining since the 1960s, powered the rapid development of industry

after Mongolia's entry into Comecon. In 1960 when coal production was 618,800 tons, 106.4 million kilowatt-hours of electricity were generated. In 1985 coal production increased to 6.5 million

tons, and electricity generation rose to 2.8 billion kilowatt-hours.

Per capita electricity generation increased from 111.7 kilowatt-hours

in 1960 to 1,487.3 kilowatt-hours in 1985. In 1985 electric power

and thermal energy generation and the fuel industry accounted for 11.3 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively, of gross industrial

output. In the late 1980s, despite the growth in power generation, Mongolia suffered from energy shortages. Electricity shortfalls interrupted

142
The Economy

the power supply for industries and households in urban areas, and

many rural areas lacked electricity. The Eighth Plan called for in- creasing energy generation, extending rural electrification, and improving the efficiency of the energy industry by economizing on

unit fuel consumption and by raising labor productivity. Specifically, the plan called for raising the generation of electric power

to between 3 . 2 billion and 3 . 4 billion kilowatt-hours and thermal

energy to 7.4 million to 7.6 million giga-calories by 1990. Capital

investment in the energy industry was to amount to 2.7 billion to 2.9 billion tugriks. Extension of the centralized power supply and

rural electrification were to occur by expanding facilities in Ulaanbaatar, by constructing power plants in Baga Nuur and Erdenet,

and by building power lines to connect the cities of Arvayheer,

Buyant-Uhaa, and Tsetserleg, and more than thirty somons (see

Glossary). More remote areas were to install diesel-powered and

coal-powered energy generating installations to meet their re- quirements.

Construction

In 1985 the construction sector generated 4.9 percent of national

income, and the construction materials industry produced 6.7 per- cent of gross industrial output. Mongolian statistics indicated that

approximately 28,200 workers were involved in construction projects

and that 8,500 workers were employed in the manufacture of construction materials in 1985. Mongolian statistics, however, were misleading because they did not include the role of military and foreign

labor in the construction sector. The Soviet Union and, to a lesser extent, East European countries and China, played a key role in constructing Mongolia's infrastructure. The Erdenet combine, for example, was built by a 14,000-strong joint Mongolian-Soviet work

force that included military construction troops and workers of the

Soviet construction company, Medmolibdenstroy. Other Soviet construction companies working in Mongolia included the joint-stock

company, Sovmongolpromstroy, which built industrial facilities, and

Mongolenergostroy, which constructed electric lines and power sta- tions. In the mid-1980s, Mongolian construction teams undertook

40 percent of construction work; Soviet and other Comecon countries undertook the rest. China provided laborers to help build up

Mongolia's transportation and industrial infrastructure in the 1950s,

but such aid ceased with the Sino-Soviet rift in the 1960s (see Socialist Construction Under Tsedenbal, 1952-84, ch. 1). In addition,

in the 1980s Mongolian military construction troops were involved

in building many industrial, agricultural, and other facilities (see

Economic Role, ch. 5).

143
Mongolia: A Country Study

In the late 1980s, the construction sector was plagued by substandard work, delays in completing projects and in installing equipment, and shortages of labor and building materials. To alleviate

these problems, the Eighth Plan called for increasing total construction and installation work by 26 to 29 percent, for raising the work

performed by Mongolian construction teams by 42 to 44 percent,

and for increasing labor productivity by 20 to 22 percent. Manufacture of construction materials was to increase by 160 to 170 percent, and labor productivity in the construction materials industry,

by 36 to 38 percent. Measures to increase construction efficiency were recommended, including channeling capital investments into

priority projects; reducing construction times and the amount of

incomplete construction; improving coordination among planning,

construction, and supply organizations and their clients; creating

specialized enterprises for rural construction work; and improving working and social conditions for construction workers in order

to reduce labor shortages.

Services

Banking and Insurance

Before 1924 Mongolia lacked its own banks and currency. Mongolians bartered, using such commodities as livestock, tea, and salt for exchange, or such foreign currencies as the United States dollar, the Russian ruble, the British pound, and the Chinese Mexican dollar (or, Yanchan, then a standard currency in coastal China)

in commerce. Chinese and Russian banks offered credit, as did

monasteries and private moneylenders. The government began to transform this chaotic monetary situation with a series of reforms,

starting with the establishment of Mongolbank, or the Mongolian

Trade-Industrial Bank, in June 1924. Mongolbank was founded

as a Mongolian-Soviet joint-stock company. In February 1925, the

tugrik was made the official national currency, and it was slowly

introduced into circulation over the next three years. In April 1928,

all other currencies were withdrawn from circulation. In 1929 the

government drove private moneylenders out of business by establishing a monopoly on foreign trade and then outlawing private

lending.

The establishment of a stable financial and monetary system,

with a centralized bank controlling the national currency flow, per- mitted the government to introduce a First Plan in 1931. In 1933

additional banking reforms strengthened the position of Mongolbank in the economy. All state and cooperative enterprises were

required to keep their accounts with the bank, and cash transactions

144
The Sukhe Bator thermal electric power station, Ulaanbaatar

Courtesy Institute of Party History, Ulaanbaatar

were limited effectively to the household sector of the economy.

Thus Mongolbank, which was firmly under government control, was able to monitor and to supervise the business transactions

of all enterprises. In April 1954, the Soviet Union handed over

its shares in Mongolbank, which was renamed the State Bank of

the Mongolian People's Republic. In 1960 the bank's lending activities were restricted to state, cooperative, and private enterprises for which investment funds were approved by the national

budget.

In the late 1980s, the State Bank granted short-term credits to cooperatives and state enterprises and long-term credits to the econ- omy's industrial sector. Government borrowing from the bank was

limited, although the limits were not always followed. The State Bank worked closely with the Ministry of Finance, and it was

governed by a central board. In 1984 the State Bank had more

than 400 offices and branches throughout the country. The State Bank, as the central bank, conducted currency transactions with

foreign countries and had agent relations with about seventy for- eign banks. Insurance was offered by the State Directorate for Insurance, or Mongoldaatgal, which was under the control of the

Ministry of Finance.

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Mongolia: A Country Study

Domestic Trade and Other Services

In pre- 1921 Mongolia, domestic trade and services were primitive. Few commodities were exchanged; those that were primarily were by barter. Traders were almost entirely foreigners—Chinese

and Russian—except for Mongolians who conducted trade and

provided services at Mongolia's monasteries. After the 1921 revolution, the government began seizing control of the internal trade

system and transforming it into a socialist distribution network with

Soviet assistance. In 1921 the Mongolian Central Cooperative was

established; in the late 1920s, such Soviet trade organizations as the Stormong Company and the Sherst Company began to dis- place all other foreign traders in the Mongolian economy. In 1929

the Mongolian Central Cooperative was expanded, and Chinese

traders were expelled from the country. In 1932 the Mongolian

Central Cooperative was reorganized as the Union of Consumer

Cooperatives. The Mongolian and the Soviet governments also founded a joint-stock wholesale trading company, Mongsovbuner,

which took over the Mongolian Central Cooperative's wholesale

operations. In 1934 the Soviet Union handed over its share of

Mongsovbuner to the Mongolian government, which transformed

Mongsovbuner into the Mongolian State Trading Office. The ex- propriation of monastic property in the late 1920s and the early

1930s effectively ended the monasteries' participation in trade.

Forced collectivization of arads, however, failed miserably and set back government attempts to socialize the internal trade system.

Nevertheless, about 90 percent of retail trade was carried out by

state and cooperative trade organizations by 1940.

During World War II, state procurement from individual households was instituted by means of taxes in kind and obligatory

delivery of goods. The wartime taxation measures provided the

foundation of Mongolia's procurement and distribution system

as the economy was collectivized in the 1950s. During the ThreeYear Plan (1958-60), the Union of Consumer Cooperatives was

abolished, and its components were consolidated with state trading organizations under the newly formed Ministry of Trade and

Procurement. By 1983 the state trade network accounted for 95

percent of retail trade turnover; cooperative agricultural trade

represented the remainder. In the late 1980s, this ministry still ran Mongolia's internal trade and state procurement systems.

Retail Trade and Consumption

In 1985 retail trade turnover was 4, 138.4 million tugriks, of which

3,948.4 million tugriks occurred in state outlets. Retail trade in

Mongolia rose slowly from negligible levels—the equivalents of

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The Economy

60,000 tugriks in 1921 and 8.7 million tugriks in 1924—to 184.8

million tugriks in 1940. Beginning in the 1950s, retail trade grew

dramatically as large-scale Chinese and Soviet assistance permitted Mongolia to purchase imported consumer goods not produced

domestically. By 1960 the total reached 975.8 million tugriks, and

after Mongolia's 1962 entry into Comecon, retail trade increased

to 1,914.6 million tugriks in 1970. Total retail trade in 1980 and

1985 was, respectively, 3,348.3 million and 4,138.4 million tugriks.

In 1985 foodstuffs accounted for 49.9 percent and non-food commodities, for 50.1 percent of retail trade in state trading organizations. Ulaanbaatar accounted for 41 .6 percent of retail trade in state trade organizations.

In 1984 Mongolia's state retail trade and public catering enterprises included 1,382 shops, 2,498 stalls and agents, and 543 restaur- ants and canteens. In the 1980s, the government began introducing

self-service stores, with a limited variety of products, into the state

retail network. The self-service stores eliminated the practice of

triple queuing—lining up to select, then to pay for, and finally to receive products purchased. State retail outlets, including mobile

shops in rural areas, offered equipment for arad households, such

as batteries, cooking pots, and paraffin lamps, as well as specialorder departments for goods not stocked. A wider range of goods was available in urban areas, particularly in Ulaanbaatar.

The capital's main department store in the late 1980s was Ulsyn

Ih Delguur. In addition, there was a specialty shop restricted to members of the Mongolian nomenklatura (see Glossary). Two dutyfree shops (in Ulaanbaatar' s main hotels) sold foreign luxury goods

and high-quality domestic products to foreigners exchanging hard

currencies and to Mongolians possessing hard-currency vouchers.

A Sunday market for spare parts and odds and ends was located

in the northern suburbs of Ulaanbaatar. Prices in this market, unlike

those in the state retail system, were negotiated freely.

All other prices were controlled strictly by the government, and

great efforts were made to ensure stable prices for consumer goods.

Before January 1988, prices were determined by the State Committee for Prices and Standards, the functions of which were absorbed by the new State Planning and Economic Committee. Retail

prices were said to have declined by 0.5 percent from 1970 to 1980.

In the late 1980s, however, it was unclear how economic reforms

would affect retail price levels. Although the draft state enterprise

law stipulated that enterprises would set their own prices for products, the role of the State Planning and Economic Committee

in setting price guidelines was uncertain. There were indications

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Mongolia: A Country Study

that the government thought that some inflation would be unavoidable . In the late 1980s, the Mongolian government was working to raise the standard of living by increasing per capita food consumption and by offering a greater number and variety of consumer

goods for purchase. In the Eighth Plan, the supply of foodstuffs was to rise by 23 percent. Efforts were to be made to increase

agricultural production; to raise the efficiency of foodstuff procurement, shipment, storage, and sale; and to eliminate spoilage and

losses. Changes in the average annual per capita consumption of

foodstuffs revealed a changing diet. Consumption of such traditional foods as meat and dairy products declined, while consumption of such foods as vegetables, bread, and sugar increased. In

1985 the government launched a fifteen-year Target Program for the Development of Agriculture and the Improvement of Food Supplies. Per capita meat consumption was to drop to 88 kilograms.

Other per capita consumption targets were cereals, 13 to 15 kilo- grams; dairy products, 120 to 130 kilograms; eggs, 35 to 50 kilo- grams; flour and flour products, 110 to 115 kilograms; fruits and

berries, 11 to 13 kilograms; potatoes, 47 to 53 kilograms; sugar

and sugar products, 24 to 26 kilograms; and vegetables 29 to 31

kilograms. The Eighth Plan also aimed to increase the commodity

turnover of public catering establishments by 19 to 21 percent. More

restaurants and cafeterias were to open, and tastier meals in greater

variety were to be offered.

Statistics on retail sales of consumer goods were sketchy, but they

revealed increasing availability of goods since the 1970s. In 1984

the minister of trade and procurement stated that, between 1970

and 1983, the sale of motorcycles per 1,000 people increased 140

percent; of refrigerators, 900 percent; of television sets, 140 percent; of vacuum cleaners, 280 percent; and of washing machines,

310 percent. A British journalist, Alan J. K. Sanders, calculated

that between 1975 and 1982, 1 family in 345 purchased a car, 2 families in 3 acquired radios, and each family bought 2 watches

or clocks. From 1975 to 1983, roughly one family in seven bought

a motorcycle; one in nine, a bicycle, and one in twenty-eight, a camera. During the 1975-83 period, one urban family in three

acquired a refrigerator or washing machine; one in three, a televi- sion set; and one in seven, a vacuum cleaner. The Eighth Plan

targeted the sale of consumer goods to rise by 21 to 24 percent.

The plan stipulated an increase in sales of "cultural-everyday durables and also garments and knitwear, carpets, and other types of

industrial commodities." The plan's goals for increased retail sales

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The Economy

were part of the government's efforts to increase the quantity and

the quality of consumer goods.

Mongolian sources revealed little about other services. In 1985

Mongolia had 465 hotels, 760 public baths, 295 beauty and barber

shops, 125 photography shops, 130 dry cleaners, and 392 shoerepair shops. The Eighth Plan called for increasing consumer

services by 27 to 29 percent, including an expansion of 55 to 57

percent in rural areas. Labor Force

Composition

In 1921 nomadic herders and monks dominated Mongolia's work

force. Foreigners—Russians and Chinese—comprised the vast majority of the work force for all other occupations, namely agriculture, trade, handicrafts, and services. Mongolia faced the task of

transforming the labor force into one capable of filling the variety

of occupations required by a modern socialist economy. At first, the new government encountered numerous problems in building

its work force, including illiteracy, the lack of qualified personnel,

labor shortages, and attitudes inconsistent with systematized work

and regular hours. As a result of these problems and the economy's

initially slow development, the labor force remained primarily agrar- ian until the mid-1960s.

The composition of Mongolia's labor force changed slowly in

the 1920s and the 1930s. In 1924 party leader Horloyn Choybalsan remarked that Mongolia had no more than 1 50 industrial workers. By 1932 the country had 2,335 "workers and employees"

(employees were defined as nonproduction state employees, such

as administrators and professionals), of which 302 were industrial

workers. By 1936 industrial workers had increased to 2,400, and

they had surpassed 10,000 in 1939. There were 33,100 workers

and employees in 1940; nevertheless, 90 percent of the work force was engaged in agrarian pursuits—primarily, in herding. The dis- tribution of the worker and employee work force in 1940 was 41.4

percent in industry, 29.3 percent in nonproduction occupations,

3.0 percent in agriculture, 4.2 percent in trade and communications, and 2.2 percent in trade. Large-scale transformation of the

work force accompanied the major effort to industrialize and to

collectivize agriculture after World War II. By 1960 agricultural

and forestry workers represented 60.8 percent of the labor force; industrial and nonagricultural material production workers, 26.2

percent; and employees engaged in nonmaterial production labor,

13 percent. In 1985 agricultural and forestry workers dropped to

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Mongolia: A Country Study

33.8 percent of the work force, while industrial and nonagricultural production workers rose to 39.8 percent, and nonproduction

workers, to 26.2 percent.

Furthermore, large numbers of women entered all sectors of the

economy as it developed. Women and children traditionally took

part in herding activities; as the economy expanded, so did women's

participation. Between 1960 and 1985, women's representation in

the "worker and employee" work force rose from 30.8 percent to 51.3 percent. According to the 1979 census, women comprised 45.6

percent of the work force. Sixty-nine percent of all employed

women, or 42.5 percent of the work force, were engaged in material

production. Thirty-one percent of all employed women were engaged in nonmaterial production; these women comprised 54.6

percent of all workers in nonmaterial production (see table 5, Appendix) . Foreign labor played a major role in the development of Mongolia's economy. Because of labor shortages, Chinese and Soviet

workers initially constituted a large proportion of the industrial and

construction force. In 1927 about 26 percent of industrial workers were Mongolian, and in 1934 about 50 percent were foreign. In

1940 Mongolians made up 87.7 percent of all workers and employees; 6.6 percent were Chinese; and 5.7 percent were Soviets.

In the 1950s, China sent approximately 10,000 laborers to Mongolia to engage in such construction projects as road and bridge

building. In 1961 the number of Chinese workers peaked at 13,150;

then, it declined, in the wake of the Sino-Soviet split. Soviet citizens had a major role in the Mongolian economy as advisers and employees of joint Mongolian-Soviet enterprises, particularly after 1960. Smaller numbers of East European experts also came to Mongolia after its 1962 entry into Comecon. At the beginning of the

1980s, about 32,000 Soviets and 15,000 East Europeans were working in Mongolia.

Labor Force Policy and Planning

The Mongolian regime sets and implements labor force policy

and planning. In the late 1980s, policy on the work force followed

the General Plan for Development and Distribution of the Mongolian People's Republic's Productive Forces for the Period up to the Year 2,000 and the Program for Optimal and Rational Use

of the Mongolian People's Republic Labor Resources. Manpower

was managed by the State Committee on Labor and Wages until

January 1988, when the committee was dissolved and its functions were absorbed by the new State Planning and Economic Committee (see Major State Organizations, ch. 4). The major objectives

150
The Economy

of state manpower policy were: planned filling of all jobs with workers possessing the appropriate occupational qualifications in order

to satisfy manpower requirements for the smooth functioning of

the economy; full employment, balancing the number of workers

with jobs available; increased labor productivity in all economic

sectors; and manpower management based on principles of free

will and material interest and on observance of the constitutional

right to work and to free choice of occupation. The government

planned labor resources and allocated labor by drawing up a national manpower balance sheet for one-year and five-year periods.

This balance sheet, which aggregated territorial and administrative manpower balance sheets, took into account total population,

total labor resources, distribution of labor resources, and estimates

of additional manpower and training requirements; it also estimated

the number of young people starting work or study courses. Analysis of the national manpower balance sheet enabled the state to plan

for the training and the allocation of skilled manpower.

Special emphasis was placed on domestic vocational and technical training and on training opportunities abroad. In 1985 Mongolia had 40 vocational training schools with an enrollment of 27,700

(see Education, ch. 2). Many Mongolians studied and took training courses of varying duration in the Soviet Union and other

Comecon countries; in 1988 there were approximately 10,000 such

students in the Soviet Union. The Eighth Plan called for the training

of 52,000 specialists with higher and secondary technical specialist

education and for no fewer than 60,000 skilled workers. As a result of such training, Mongolia's literate work force possessed increasingly sophisticated technical skills. The state allocated manpower in two principal ways. First, local committees considered individual wishes, place of residence, and

family situation, then provided work warrants to graduating stu- dents from all levels who were not pursuing further education. These

work warrants compelled the management of organizations requesting workers to give the graduating students work in the appropriate occupation, as well as to provide additional training, housing,

and other benefits. Second, state labor organizations recruited workers to fill positions. Workers could choose occupations, and they

signed contracts committing them to work for either an indefinite

period or for a fixed period of up to three years. State recruitment

of labor was important because of labor shortages in certain sec- tors of the economy. With increased urbanization and the emphasis on specialized technical training, agricultural laborers were

scarce, as were workers in capital construction. Imbalances in the

labor force, combined with the composition of the population (the

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Mongolia: A Country Study

World Bank projected in 1987 that by 1990 some 72 percent of

the population would be younger than fifteen) have led at least one Western analyst to suggest that sectoral unemployment among

Mongolia's well-educated youth would be a problem in the 1990s.

Working Conditions and Income

The Labor Law of the Mongolian People's Republic, enacted

in 1973, set forth the framework governing working conditions,

wages and benefits, and trade union activity for workers and employees. The labor of members of agricultural cooperatives was

regulated by individual negdel charters; they were based on the

Model Charter of the Union of Agricultural Associations, last amended in 1979, and on other legislation. The Labor Law and

agricultural legislation emulated Soviet law.

Workers and employees had an eight-hour workday (six hours on Saturdays and on the eve of holidays), eight public holidays,

and fifteen days' paid vacation. In 1989 some service collectives were experimenting with a five-day workweek to determine whether

the country should change from a six-day to a five-day workweek.

Those engaged in arduous labor worked seven-hour days. Overtime was restricted, with some exceptions for emergencies. Minors

(ages sixteen to eighteen; some fifteen-year-olds could obtain per- mission to work) worked a seven-hour day, and they received thirty

days' paid vacation; arduous labor for minors was prohibited. The

Labor Law contained sanctions for those who violated labor dis- cipline and incentives for outstanding work performances. Workers, employees, and negdel members received compulsory state social insurance, paid for by their employers or negdels. State social in- surance provided benefits for temporary incapacity to work because

of illness, pregnancy and birth; benefits for birth of a child and

for burial; and pensions for old age, disability, and loss of a breadwinner. In addition, state social insurance funds maintained a sys- tem of rest homes, sanitoriums, resorts for workers and employees

and their families, pioneer camps, and so forth. The retirement

age for the entire work force was sixty years for men with twentyfive years' experience and fifty-five years for women with twenty

years' experience. Employers provided funds, full pay, reduced

work days, and leaves of absence in order to raise the professional

and technical qualifications of workers and employees through study

and training courses. Because of the high percentage of women of childbearing age

in the labor force, the Labor Law contained provisions to protect

pregnant women and women with children younger than one year. Refusal to hire women, reduction of their earnings, or dismissal

152
I 1 III I J

Bus transportation in Ulaanbaatar

Courtesy Allen R. Kassof

because of pregnancy or the existence of children were all illegal.

With medical commission concurrence, pregnant and nursing

mothers were eligible for a shortened workday and for transfer to lighter work; they were not eligible for night work, overtime, or

business trips. Women received forty-five days' pregnancy leave

and fifty-six days' birth leave; women who did not fully use their

pregnancy leave could combine the remainder with birth leave.

Mothers also could combine pre-partum and postpartum leave with

annual leave. In addition, they could receive an additional six months of unpaid leave and retain their jobs. Nursing mothers were

granted paid breaks of up to two hours per day to nurse infants

younger than six months and one hour to nurse infants from six to twelve months. Workplaces with large numbers of female employees were required to provide facilities for nurseries, for kindergartens, for nursing mothers and infants, and for personal hygiene

(see Position of Women, ch. 2). National income in Mongolia in the 1980s was supposed to be

distributed according to socialist principles contained in Article 1

of the Constitution (see Constitutional Framework, ch. 4). First,

the state deducted from the social fund for "the expansion of socialist production, the creation of reserves, the development of public

153
Mongolia: A Country Study

health and education, the maintenance of the aged and the dis- abled, and the satisfaction of the collective requirements of members of society." Second, the remainder of national income was

distributed in accordance with the quality and quantity of labor,

based on the socialist principle "from each according to his ability, to each according to his labor.

'

' Information on real wages and

income, however, was scarce. Western sources estimated that 1985

per capita income was US$880 based on gross domestic product

(GPD—see Glossary) and US$1,000 based on GNP. Mongolian

sources referred to raising wages and income in percentage terms,

but they rarely listed actual numbers. The Economic and Social

Development Guidelines for 1986-90 stated that during the Seventh

Plan real income per capita rose by 12 percent, and they called

for a 20-percent to 23-percent increase in monetary income during the Eighth Plan. Real income during the latter plan was to grow

in part through wage increases and in part through such measures

as reduction of electricity tariffs and a 30-percent increase in the

minimum pension for negdel members.

Government statistics provided only limited information on salaries. For example, statistics on the growth rate of monthly aver- age salaries for workers and employees indicated that salaries rose 44.2 percent between 1960 and 1985. Salaries of production workers rose 54 percent, and those of nonproduction employees rose 22.9 percent. No figures were available on the actual level of salaries. Average annual wages for negdel members rose from 474 tugriks

in 1960 to 2,400 tugriks at the end of the 1970s.

Trade Unions

Mongolia's trade union movement initially had a difficult start, but then it settled down to peaceful growth as a useful tool of the

regime. In 1917 Mongolia's first two trade unions, which had mostly Russian and few Mongolian members, were established but trade

unionists were murdered in 1920 by troops of the White Russian

baron, Roman Nicolaus von Ungern-Sternberg (see Period of Autonomy, 1911-21, ch. 1). Reestablished in 1921 with 300 members, the unions were reorganized in 1925 into Mongolian, Chinese,

and Russian chapters. In August 1927, 115 delegates, representing 4,056 union members, held the First Congress of Mongolian

Trade Unions, establishing the Mongolian trade union movement

in the form it still maintained in the late 1980s. In 1927, as in the

late 1980s, the organization and functions of Mongolia's trade

unions were patterned on those of the Soviet Union (see Planned

Modernization, ch. 2; and Mass Organizations, ch. 4).

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The Economy

In the late 1980s, the highest-level trade union organization was

the Mongolian Trade Unions Congress, which was convened every

five years; the thirteenth congress was held in 1987. In the interim,

trade union affairs were run by the Central Council of Mongolian

Trade Unions. The chairman of the Central Council was a member of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and of the Presidium of the People's Great Hural (see

Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, ch. 4; Government Structure, ch. 4). Mongolian trade unions, through the Central Council, possessed the right of legislative initiative in the People's Great

Hural. Below the Central Council were four branch union organizations—each run by its own central committee—for agricultural

workers; for construction and industrial workers; for workers and

employees in transport, for communications, trade, and services;

and for employees in culture and education. Each aymag, as well

as Ulaanbaatar, Darhan, and Erdenet, had its own trade union

council, as did the Ulaanbaatar Railroad. Below the provincial level there were 3,000 primary trade union committees and more than

7,000 trade union groups. The Central Council published the

newspaper Hodolmor (Labor) three times a week and the magazine

Mongolyn Uyldberchniy Eblel (Mongolian Trade Unions) six times

a year. In 1982 there were 425,000 trade union members. In 1984

about 94.7 percent of all office and professional workers and laborers

in the national economy were trade unionists, and members of the

working class accounted for 55.8 percent of trade union membership.

Mongolian trade unions did not engage in collective bargaining

to represent worker interests to management as was done in

capitalist countries. Instead, Mongolia's trade unions had a variety of functions. Politically, trade unions received party and state guidance and served regime goals by . . [contributing] to winning over the masses in order to succeed in the implementation

of the social and economic policy of the party." The Mongolian

trade unions were active in the international arena; the Central

Council of Mongolian Trade Unions joined the World Federation

of Trade Unions in 1949, and Mongolia joined the International

Labour Organization in 1968. The Central Council maintained

contacts with more than sixty foreign trade union organizations,

and it sent delegations to all World Federation of Trade Unions

congresses and other international trade union conferences. Mongolian delegations to conferences sponsored by the Soviet Union

and other socialist countries frequently issued communiques or

statements supporting Soviet, and criticizing United States, policies.

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Mongolia: A Country Study

The most important functions of Mongolian trade unions were, according to the 1973 Labor Law, "[to] represent the interests of

workers and employees in the realm of production, labor, life, and

culture, participate in working out and realizing state plans for the

development of the national economy, decide questions of the dis- tribution and use of material and financial resources, involve workers and employees in production management, organize the

socialist competition and mass technical creativity, and promote

the strengthening of production and labor discipline." Together,

or by agreement with enterprises, institutions, and organizations

and their superior agencies, trade unions influenced labor conditions and earnings, the application of labor legislation, and the use

of social consumption funds. Specifically, this meant trade unions

supervised the observance of labor legislation and rules for labor

protection, controlled housing and domestic services for workers

and employees, and managed state social insurance as well as trade

union sanatoriums, dispensaries, rest homes, and cultural and sports

institutions. In practice, the major function of trade unions was

the administration of state social insurance and of worker health

and recreation facilities. Despite the broad rights granted to the trade union movement,

not all trade union bodies carried out their stipulated functions.

In a May 1987 address to the Thirteenth Congress of Mongolian

Trade Unions, party general secretary Jambyn Batmonh criticized some trade union councils for being "on the leash of the enterprises' administrations," that is, emphasizing the fulfillment of plans

while neglecting labor productivity and substandard working and

living conditions. Batmonh also called on enterprises and their

supervisory government bodies to observe labor laws strictly and

not to oppose the legitimate demands of trade union groups.

Foreign Economic Relations and Comecon

In the late 1980s, Mongolia's foreign economic relations were

primarily with Comecon members and other socialist countries.

Mongolian policies related to Comecon were set by the Comecon

Commission of the Council of Ministers. The principal official mechanisms for bilateral foreign economic relations were the vari- ous joint intergovernmental commissions on economic, scientific,

and technical cooperation, which were established by treaty in the

1960s, the 1970s, and the 1980s between Mongolia and the Soviet

Union as well as other socialist nations. Intergovernmental

commissions—such as the Mongolian-Soviet Intergovernmental

Commission for Economic, Scientific, and Technical Cooperation—met annually or semiannually to coordinate planning and

156
The Economy

to arrange bilateral annual, five-year, and longer-term trade and

cooperation agreements signed on the deputy premier level. The

Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Supply primarily, but

not exclusively, was handling Mongolia's day-to-day economic

interaction with foreign countries and with Comecon in the late 1980s.

Close economic ties between Mongolia and the Soviet Union

have existed for a long time. For example, in 1984 MongolianSoviet links included direct ties among 20 Mongolian and 30 Soviet

ministries and departments handling economic affairs as well as among 55 Mongolian and Soviet ministries and departments and

about 100 Mongolian and Soviet scientific research organizations

handling scientific and technical cooperation.

In December 1987, the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations

and Supply was formed from the Ministry of Foreign Trade, the

State Committee for Foreign Economic Relations, and the State Committee for Materials and Technical Supplies. Because much

of Mongolia's machinery and equipment, fuel, and consumer goods were imported, the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and

Supply—rather than the Ministry of Trade and Procurement (which ran Mongolia's domestic trade system)—had specialized organizations that combined export-import and domestic distribution functions. These organizations included Abtoneft Import and Supply

Cooperative, which handled imports of motor vehicles, fuels, and

lubricants; the Agricultural Technical Equipment Import and Supply Cooperative; Kompleksimport and Supply Cooperative, which

imported sets of equipment for the mining industry, power sta- tions, and production lines for the food and light industries; the

Materialimpeks and Supply Cooperative, which imported construction materials and equipment; and the Technikimport and Supply Cooperative, which handled imports of industrial machinery

and equipment, raw materials, chemicals, and dyestuffs.

Other organizations involved in foreign trade included Mongolimpex, which handled imports and exports of goods in convertible currencies; Mongolnom, which exported Mongolian

publications; and Mongolilgeemj , which handled foreign parcel

post, the sale and purchase of consumer goods, establishment of

business contacts with foreign companies, and intermediary ser- vice on foreign trade and commodity exchange. The Ministry of

Social Economy and Services ran Horshoololimpex, which exported

handicrafts. Mongolia also had a Chamber of Commerce, the functions of which included establishing contacts between Mongolian

and foreign trade and industrial organizations as well as organizing

157
Mongolia: A Country Study

and participating in international trade exhibitions in Mongolia

and abroad.

Participation in Comecon

Entry into Comecon was a great boon to Mongolia's economic

development, enabling it to secure increased amounts of foreign

investment, assistance, and technical cooperation; to expand for- eign trade markets; to raise product quality to international stan- dards; and to coordinate economic planning better in order to direct

the specialization and development the of the economy under '' socialist economic integration." Mongolia coordinated its five-year

plans with Comecon' s five-year multilateral cooperation plans as a participant in Comecon's Cooperation in the Sphere of Planning

Activity Committee as well as its Science and Technology Cooperation Committee. These committees also drew up multilateral longterm, special cooperation programs in the areas of transportation,

food, energy, and consumer goods, which included development

projects in Mongolia, such as the thermal electric power plant in

Baga Nuur. Mongolia also participated in Comecon commissions

for agriculture, coal industry, electric power, food industry, geology, light industry, nonferrous metallurgy, and transportation, and

it cooperated in Comecon efforts in construction, currency-finance,

foreign trade, health care, standardization, statistics, telecommunications, and postal communications.

Mongolia also received assistance from Comecon on a multilateral basis. Comecon financed the activities of the Comecon Inter- national Geological Expedition and the construction of a number

of scientific, communications, and cultural facilities in Mongolia.

As a member of Comecon's International Bank for Economic

Cooperation and the International Investment Bank, Mongolia was

eligible for, and took advantage of, loans at preferential rates. Mongolia also benefited from "incentive prices" for basic imported commodities; such commodities as fuel were imported at lower prices

than those charged to Comecon's more developed East European

countries (see Foreign Assistance, Investment, and Joint Ventures,

this ch.).

Foreign Assistance, Investment, and Joint Ventures

Foreign assistance and investment in Mongolia were in the form

of credits, gratis assistance, turnkey projects, and joint ventures. Most foreign investment and assistance came from the Soviet

Union, but precise information was lacking or was hard to quantify. Foreign observers have estimated Soviet assistance (in constant 1967 United States dollars) to Mongolia from 1955 to 1983

158
The Economy

to total US$7 billion in aid agreements, of which US$5.5 billion was disbursed, US$1.9 billion was repaid, nearly US$400 million

represented interest payments, and US$1.5 billion of loans still were

outstanding. Estimates included a credit agreement of US$225 million for the period 1947-56, and irregular, minor assistance agreements of US$61 million in 1957, US$25 million in 1964, US$17

million in 1969, and US$19 million in 1974. Major assistance agree- ments coincided with Mongolia's five-year plans: US$500 million

in 1961 for the Third Plan, US$550 million in 1965 for the Fourth

Plan, US$633 million in 1970 for the Fifth Plan, US$1.6 billion

in 1976 for the Sixth Five-Year Plan (1976-80), and US$3.4 bil- lion in 1980 for the Seventh Plan. Another Western source esti- mated that 11 percent of the Mongolian GNP during the 1976-79

period came from the Soviet Union. Assistance from capitalist countries was negligible; Japan granted Mongolia a 5-billion yen loan

to finance the building of a cashmere plant which began operating

in 1981.

A Soviet source detailing Soviet credit and gratis assistance to Mongolia noted that 17 percent of the Mongolian budget from 1924

to 1940 came from Soviet loans, which accounted for 90 percent

of Mongolia's foreign credit. Soviet credits to Mongolia totaled

450 million rubles from 1961 to 1965, 470 million rubles from 1966

to 1970, 550 million rubles from 1971 to 1975, and about 1.1 bil- lion rubles from 1976 to 1980. Most of these loans were granted

at a concessionary rate of 2 percent annually; deferments of repayments, during which time interest was not charged, were obtainable if necessary. Soviet credits represented a large proportion of

Mongolian capital investments: 32.2 percent from 1958 to 1960,

47 percent from 1961 to 1965, and 59 percent from 1976 to 1979.

Credit assistance went to reimburse Soviet and Mongolian organizations involved in construction, installation, and technical as- sistance in agriculture, industry, construction, transportation,

communications, housing, and cultural projects as well as to finance

Mongolia's trade with the Soviet Union. Soviet gratis assistance

to Mongolia was listed as 77.5 million rubles from 1921 to 1940,

as 50 million rubles from 1966 to 1975, and as 40 million rubles

from 1976 to 1980.

Turnkey projects, financed by loans from the Soviet Union and

other Comecon nations, were a major form of assistance in the

1980s. The Soviet Union was the leader in providing Mongolia

with turnkey projects; it constructed or modernized 90 economic

facilities from 1961 to 1965, 52 from 1966 to 1970, 150 from 1971

to 1975, and 240 from 1976 to 1980. From 1971 to 1975, turnkey

projects represented 44.9 percent of Soviet credits to Mongolia.

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Mongolia: A Country Study

By 1981 facilities built by the Soviet Union contributed more than

half of Mongolia's total industrial output: 90 percent of thermal

and electric power generation; 80 percent of coal production; 70

percent of confectionery and bakery products; and 100 percent of

woolen cloth, felt, formula food, copper and molybdenum concentrate, and fluorite output.

Examples of turnkey projects constructed after the 1960s included a woodworking combine, a glue factory, and two distilleries built

by Poland; a clothing mill and flour mill built by Hungary; a tan- nery and a cement works built by Czechoslovakia; a furniture and

a cardboard combine built by Romania; a meat combine built by

the German Democratic Republic (East Germany); a sheepskin

coat factory and the Sharin Gol state farm's fruit and vegetable

processing factories built by Bulgaria; and a house-building combine and spinning mill built by the Soviet Union. Turnkey projects

often were part of larger joint Soviet-Mongolian development

projects, such as those at Baga Nuur, Choybalsan, Darhan, and

Erdenet (see table 8, Appendix).

Since 1924 joint-stock companies and joint ventures between

Mongolia and the Soviet Union as well as other socialist countries

have been a major means of securing foreign investment, of training Mongolian personnel, and of developing the Mongolian econ- omy. Although many joint- stock companies eventually were handed

over to sole Mongolian ownership by the Soviets, joint ventures

in operation in the late 1980s also enabled the Soviet Union to penetrate, and to exercise control over, important sectors of the Mongolian economy, especially in the early days of the republic.

Mongolbank, Mongoltrans (Mongolian Transportation), Stor- mong, the Ulaanbaatar Railroad, and the Erdenet Mining and

Concetrating Combine are examples of joint ventures of strategic

economic value to the Soviet Union. All partners in a joint venture typically have equal or nearly equal shares; part of the profits are allocated to development, reserve, and special funds; the balance

is shared equally by the partners. Directors ofjoint enterprises with

the Soviet Union typically are Soviets, and their first deputy directors are Mongolians. Beginning in the 1970s, many East Europe- an countries formed joint ventures with Mongolia.

Mongolia provided a very modest amount of foreign aid. During World War II, Mongolia gave the Soviet Union 35,000 horses,

2.5 million tugriks, and 300 kilograms in gold, and it financed an armored column of 53 tanks and the Mongolian Herdsman air- craft squadron. According to a Soviet source, Ulaanbaatar also supplied the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)

and Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) with

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The Economy

financial assistance during their "wars of liberation." In the 1980s,

recipients of Mongolian aid included Afghanistan, which received

two fully equipped ger; Cambodia, which received 77 tons of unspecified aid; Laos, which received a sheep-breeding station and

a 200-bed hospital; and Vietnam, which received canned foodstuffs,

school equipment, and 100 million meters of cloth. In 1988 the

Soviet Union accepted 1.9 million tugriks and 300,000 tons of

canned meat from Mongolia for the Armenian earthquake relief fund.

Exports and Imports

Although Mongolia's foreign trade has risen consistently since

1940, it has registered chronic deficits. In 1940 foreign trade

amounted to 144.2 million tugriks, of which 54.9 million repre- sented exports and 89.3 million represented imports. In 1960 for- eign trade jumped to 676.7 million tugriks (289.6 million in exports

and 387.1 million in imports), but it increased more slowly in the

next decade. It reached 820.5 million tugriks in 1970, of which

337.6 million represented exports, and 482.9 million, imports. External trade more than tripled between 1970 and 1980, rising to 2.8 billion tugriks—1.2 billion tugriks in exports and 1.6 billion

tugriks in imports. In 1985 foreign trade totaled 5.3 billion tugriks,

with exports valued at 2 billion tugriks and imports at 3.3 billion

tugriks.

In the 1980s Mongolia exported primarily fuel, minerals, metals,

and raw materials, including foodstuffs, and it imported machinery

and equipment, fuels, and consumer goods. Agricultural products

initially made up most of the exports, but they decreased in importance as exports of minerals expanded after 1970. Exports of

processed foodstuffs and such consumer goods as woolen blankets

and leather clothing increased after 1970, while exports of unprocessed foodstuffs and animal products declined. Since 1970 imports of machinery and fuels have risen, and those of consumer

goods have fallen (see table 9, Appendix). Principal export commodities included cement, lumber and sawn timber, wool, large

and small hides, grain, meat, and clothing. Although mineral ex- ports were substantial, no figures were available on export volume.

Principal import commodities included machine tools, diesel generators, electric motors, transformers, construction equipment, motor

vehicles, gasoline and diesel fuel, iron and steel, fertilizers, cement,

foodstuffs, textiles, and consumer goods (see table 10, Appendix).

The Eighth Plan called for increasing foreign trade volume by 20

to 25 percent, for improving the quality and the selection of export

161
Mongolia: A Country Study

products, and for raising the proportion of mining and light in- dustrial products in exports.

Trading Partners

Since 1930 Mongolia's predominant trading partners have been

communist countries. Between 1930 and 1952, the Soviet Union

was Mongolia's sole trading partner. Trade with China began in

1953 and reached its zenith in 1960, when it accounted for 18 per- cent of all foreign trade. Trade with other communist countries

also began in the 1950s and intensified in the 1960s after Mongolia's entry into Comecon. In 1966 trade with the Soviet Union fell to 60 percent, but it has steadily risen since then, attaining 80 per- cent in the late 1980s. In 1986 communist countries received 96.7 percent of Mongolian

exports: Comecon countries absorbed 94.2 percent; other communist nations, such as China and North Korea, imported 2.5 percent. Capitalist countries, such as Japan and Britain, imported 3.3

percent of all Mongolian exports. Communist nations provided

Mongolia with 98.3 percent of its imports; Comecon countries supplied 96.7 percent, and other communist states, 1.6 percent.

Western countries provided 1.7 percent of Mongolian imports.

Efforts to expand trade with Western countries were hampered by

lack of hard currency.

In 1986 foreign trade with the Soviet Union, including credits,

totaled 1.5 billion rubles, of which exports amounted to 400 million rubles and imports to 1.1 billion rubles. The Soviet Union

provided Mongolia with machines and equipment for agriculture,

light, food, mining, and construction materials industries; oil products, rolled ferrous metals; instruments; and consumer goods.

In return Mongolia supplied minerals, processed foodstuffs, and

such consumer goods as cashmere and camel hair products.

In 1989 little information was available on the value of Mongolian trade with other countries, but types of commodities ex- changed were known. Hungary exported equipment and spare parts or light industry and food processing plants, telecommunications

and laboratory equipment, medicine, textiles, and cosmetics; it imported animal hides, furs, leather products, and processed meats.

Czechoslovakia supplied diesel generators; equipment for leather,

footwear, and clothing industries; equipment for cement plants;

medical equipment; chemicals; buses; medicines; and consumer

goods. It received copper, tin, and tungsten concentrates; fluorite; and wool, leather, and furs from Mongolia. East Germany provided

machinery and equipment for the light and the food industries,

electrical and scientific equipment, and chemicals in exchange for

162
The Economy

mining products, leather and fur clothing, carpets, and wool. China

exported textiles, machinery, fruit, and light industrial products and

imported timber, wool, sheepskin, cashmere, and fur. MongolianChinese trade amounted to US$33 million in 1988. In 1985

Mongolian-Yugoslav trade totaled US$8.2 million; Yugoslavia ex- ported US$5.4 million and Mongolia exported US$2.8 million

worth of unspecified goods. In 1988 trade between Mongolia and

Japan totaled US$30 million, half of Mongolia's trade with Western

and non-communist countries. Mongolia sent industrial raw materials, semimanufactured goods, and ready-made apparel of cash- mere and camel wool in exchange for electronic and technical

equipment, including color television sets and small power generators. Tourism

In the late 1980s, tourism played a minor role in Mongolia's

foreign economic relations. About 10,000 foreign visitors came from

communist, North American, and West European countries annually. Mongolia has natural, historical, and cultural sites of in- terest to foreign tourists, such as the Nemegt Valley's "dinosaur

graveyard," the ancient city of Karakorum, and the medieval

Erdene-Dzuu monastery. Hunting expeditions also are a tourist

attraction. The Foreign Tourist Office, Juulchin, which was part

of the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Supply in 1989,

handled all foreign tourists. Transportation

Prior to 1921, Mongolia had a primitive transportation system

consisting primarily of horse relay stations along ancient caravan

routes. Arad households supported this relay system by paying a

horse-relay duty. Draft animals carried passengers and cargo. There were no hard surface roads, railroads, or air transportation. Efforts to introduce a modern transportation system began in 1925,

when the government established a state transportation committee with twelve trucks. Soviet aid to Mongolia's transportation sector was inaugurated the same year, with agreements for road repair

and bridge building, water transportation by the Soviet Selenge

State Shipping Line on the Selenge and the Orhon rivers, and es- tablishment of Mongolian air transport linking Ulaanbaatar and

Troitskosavsk in the Soviet Union. Construction of hard surface

roads also began in the late 1920s. In 1929 the Fifth National Great

Hural nationalized the transportation network and established the

joint motor transport monopoly, Mongoltrans, with the Soviet

Union. The Soviet share of Mongoltrans devolved to Mongolia

163
Mongolia: A Country Study

in 1936. Railroad construction started in the late 1930s. A 43 -kilo- meter, narrow-gauge (1 .435 meters) railroad linking Ulaanbaatar

and the Nalayh coal mine opened in 1938; the next year the Soviets

built a 236-kilometer broad-gauge (1.524 meters) line connecting

Choybalsan with Borzya, Soviet Union, on the Trans-Siberian Railway. The first asphalt road, linking Ulaanbaatar and Suhbaatar, was built in 1940. Development of the transportation system reached

a plateau in the early 1940s, when the outbreak of World War II effectively interrupted Soviet assistance. Despite the modernization of this sector, draft animals remained the predominant form

of transportation; in the mid- 1940s animals carried 70 percent of

the freight, and motor transport the rest. Rapid development of the transportation sector resumed in the

late 1940s and the 1950s. In 1947 Soviet-aided railroad construction was resumed with the building of the north-south trans- Mongolia line. The first segment of this line, connecting Ulan Ude,

Soviet Union, with Ulaanbaatar, became operational in 1950. The

second segment, linking the capital and the Chinese border, was

completed in 1955. The opening of the trans-Mongolia line significantly altered transportation patterns in Mongolia: the railroads

assumed the bulk of freight transportation, freed large numbers

of motor vehicles and draft animals for use in other parts of the

country, and permitted the abolition of the horse-relay duty in 1950.

Because this line cut across the economic center of the country,

the economic benefits of its opening were considerable. In the late 1950s, China rendered Mongolia considerable assistance in road

construction.

Since the 1960s, modernization of the transportation system has

been incremental compared with advances in previous decades. Efforts have focused on extending hard- surface roadways, on constructing railroad spurs to industrial facilities, on improving rolling

stock, on upgrading facilities, and on increasing the capacity and

the productivity of all forms of transportation (see fig. 12).

Roads

In the late 1980s, Mongolia had 6,700 kilometers of roads, of

which 900 kilometers were paved. Most paved roads were in cities. Principal routes included the north-south highway connecting

Ulaanbaatar with Erenhot at the Chinese border and Kyakhta at the Soviet border, and the east-west highway linking Ulaanbaatar

with Choybalsan in the east and Olgiy in the west. Roads also linked

Choybalsan with Chita, Soviet Union, and Hailar, China. A highway from Biysk, Soviet Union, reached Olgiy, and one from

Irkutsk, Soviet Union, reached Turt on Hovsgol Nuur. In 1985

164
The Economy

roads carried 35.9 million tons of freight and 1,934.3 million ton- kilomerers, accounting for 24.8 percent of all freight turnover. Roads transported 168.4 million passengers and 688.3 million

passenger-kilometers, or 48.7 percent of all passenger turnover. Bus service existed in major cities and towns, and in Ulaanbaatar

it was being supplemented by construction of a trolley bus line. Motor transport services were based in depots located in most

provincial centers. No figures were available on the number and

the types of motor vehicles in service; however, visitors reported

that Soviet jeeps provided the major form of transportation in rural areas and that motorcycles were becoming increasingly popular.

Automobiles and trucks also were important modes of transportation. It was not known to what extent draft animals supplemented

motorized transport in carrying freight and passengers on Mongolian roads.

Railroads

All trains were powered by diesel locomotives, the last steam

locomotive having been consigned to a museum in the 1970s.

Freight cars were of Soviet manufacture, and passenger cars were

imported from East Germany. More than 90 percent of all rail- road freight was loaded and unloaded by mechanized means.

In the late 1980s, Mongolia had 1,750 kilometers of 1.524-meter,

broad-gauge track. Major lines included the Ulaanbaatar Railroad,

which connected Ulaanbaatar with Suhbaatar and Naushki, Soviet

Union, in the north, and with Dzamyi Uud, Mongolia, and Erenhot, China, in the south. The eastern line connected Choybalsan

with Ereentsav, Mongolia, and Borzya, Soviet Union. Another line linked the Trans-Siberian Railway with Beijing. Branch lines ran from Darhan to the Sharin Gol coalfield; from Salhit, near Darhan,

to Erdenet; from Bagahangay to the Baga Nuur coal mine; and

from Har-Ayrag to the Bor Ondor fluorite mines. Mongolia's rail- road company, Ulaanbaatar Railroad, was a joint- stock venture

with the Soviet Union; both countries had equal shares in the company. The director was Soviet; the deputy director and the chairman of the board were Mongolian. In 1985 Ulaanbaatar Railroad

carried 14.8 million tons of freight and 5,822.8 million ton- kilometers of freight turnover, accounting for 75 percent of all freight turnover. In 1985 the railroad transported 2.1 million passengers

and accounted for 432.2 million passenger-kilometers, or 30.6 per- cent of all passenger turnover. Railroads also accounted for 97 to 98 percent of all import-export transportation. Each year Mongolia signed a multilateral railroad transportation protocol governing

165
Mongolia: A Country Study
A billboard advertising Mongolian Airlines Courtesy Allen H. Kassof

import-export freight transport with the Soviet Union, China, and

North Korea.

Inland Waterways

Mongolia has 397 kilometers of navigable waterways, principally on Hovsgol Nuur and on the Selenge Moron, which are passable

only five months of the year. These water routes were used to trans- port cargo—grain, agricultural machinery, industrial equipment,

lumber, consumer goods, and fuel—to and from the Soviet Union.

On Hovsgol Nuur, a fleet of freighters, barges, and tugs connected

Turt, which had a road link to the Soviet Union, with Hatgal on

the south shore. Mongolia's shipping fleet was built with the

assistance of Soviet shipbuilders. In 1985 water transport carried

40,000 tons of cargo and 4.8 million ton-kilometers, or 0.1 per- cent of all freight turnover. Inland waterways did not carry pas- senger traffic. Civil Aviation

In the late 1980s, Mongolia had 38,300 kilometers of air routes

serviced by Mongolian Airlines (MIAT). MIAT was run by the

Civil Air Transport Administration under the Council of Ministers.

167
Mongolia: A Country Study

The directorate was headed by a military officer, and MIAT pilots

had military rank. MIAT aircraft were used for crop dusting,

for forest and steppe fire patrols, and for air ambulance services,

in addition to carrying passengers, freight, and mail. Mongolia

had eighty airfields, of which thirty were usable, and ten with

permanent-surface runways. MIAT's air fleet included 22 major

aircraft—19 An-24s and 3 II- 14s—and an assortment of smaller

aircraft, particularly An-2 biplanes for local service. MIAT offered

international service from Ulaanbaatar to Irkutsk and Beijing. Aeroflot also connected Ulaanbaatar with Moscow, Washington, and

New York. Regular air service between Ulaanbaatar and Moscow,

on the Soviet airline Aeroflot, had begun in 1945. Mongolia coor- dinated international air operations with other Comecon countries

under an agreement signed in 1966. The Civil Air Transport

Administration also cooperated with the Soviet Ministry of Aviation. Domestic routes offered service to all towns, cities, and aymag

centers. In 1985 civil aviation carried 11.6 million tons and 6.4

million ton-kilometers, or 0.1 percent of freight turnover. Air

transport carried 600,000 passengers and 293. 1 million passengerkilometers, or 20.7 percent of passenger turnover. Efforts to modernize the civil aviation system during the Eighth Plan included

building a new air terminal and reconstructing the runway at the

Ulaanbaatar airport, providing modern air traffic control equipment to airfields, and improving air safety.

Telecommunications

In 1921 Mongolia nationalized postal and telecommunications

services—then Russian-owned, Chinese-owned, and Danishowned—and placed them under the Postal and Telegraph Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. With Soviet assistance,

Mongolia extended telephone and telegraph lines between 1923 and

1930, inaugurated motorized intercity mail delivery in 1925, and

began radiobroadcasting in 1934 and television broadcasting in

1967. Since the 1920s, Soviet aid—including technical assistance,

investment, and training—enabled Mongolia to create national

postal and telecommunications networks as well as to establish in- ternational communications links. In the 1980s, the Ministry of

Communications, which ran the postal and the telecommunications

systems, emphasized expanding and upgrading the telecommunications services and facilities to create a unified communications

system. This system included telephone, telegraph, telex, radio, and

television; it still relied on cooperation and assistance from the Soviet

Union and other Comecon countries.

168
The Economy

In 1985 Mongolia's telephone, telegraph, and telex system in- cluded 420 postal, telephone, and telegraph offices; 28,000 kilo- meters of telephone and telegraph lines; and 49,300 telephones.

The Ministry of Communications was working to introduce a unified digital data-transmission system, to upgrade the telephone sys- tem to an automatic-switching network, to increase the length of

multiplex telephone channels, and to establish a land-based mobile telephone network using earth satellite facilities. Radio-relay

lines provided intercity and international, direct-dialing telephone

links. Telex lines connected Ulaanbaatar with Irkutsk and Moscow.

* * *

English-language sources on the Mongolian economy are few; a substantial literature exists in Russian, but little in that language,

or in Mongol, has been translated into English. In English the best source on Mongolian economic affairs published since 1970 is chapter 4, "The Economic System," in Mongolia: Politics, Economics,

and Society by Alan J.K. Sanders. Articles by Sanders in the Far

Eastern Economic Review [Hong Kong], in scholarly journals, and

in other reference publications often deal with economic topics.

Judith Nordby's "The Mongolian People's Republic in the 1980s:

Continuity and Change" treats economic policies and problems.

Michael Kaser's "The Industrial Revolution in Mongolia" deals

with Mongolian industrialization, as does Alois Holub's "Mongolia: Modernizing the Industrial Structure." "Manpower Policy and Planning in the Mongolian People's Republic," by M.

Lkhamsuren, examines labor resources. William E. Butler's The

Mongolian Legal System: Contemporary Legislation and Documentation in- cludes Mongolian legal documents and commentary touching upon

economics. Asian Survey and the Far Eastern Economic Review's

Asia Yearbook contain annual surveys of developments in Mongolia, including economic developments. Other sources for Mongolian

economic affairs are the Foreign Broadcast Information Service

Daily Report: East Asia; the Joint Publications Research Service Mongolia Report, Mongolia [Ulaanbaatar]; and the Russian-EnglishFrench edition of National Economy oftheMPRfor 65 Years, 1921-1986.

(For further information and complete citations, see Bibliography).

169

Chapter 4. Government and Politics
The flag of the Mongolian People's Republic;

it symbolically proclaims wisdom, liberty, peace, and justice.
THE MONGOLIAN PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC was undergoing

a major transition in the development of its government and political institutions in the late 1980s. Beginning in 1984, the country had embarked on a program to restructure its political and

economic system in ways that engaged the entire population and

made it responsible and accountable for the country's modernization. Much of the inspiration for this program came from the Soviet

Union's examples of glasnost (see Glossary) and perestroika (see

Glossary).

Nevertheless, in developing its policies, Mongolia's senior leadership displayed a realistic awareness not only of the severe challenges,

but also of the opportunities, afforded by Mongolia's unique political, social, economic, and geophysical conditions. There were

efforts by mid- 1989 to revive key elements of the Mongolian cul- tural heritage. This effort apparently was inspired by the recognized need to instill vitality in a polity long stifled by the wholesale

imposition of Soviet models. Openings to the West, including the

1987 establishment of diplomatic relations with the United States,

increased Mongolia's options within the international diplomatic

community and provided additional developmental models. Finally,

by mid- 1989, the gradual normalizing of Sino-Soviet relations had

helped significantly to reduce the tensions inherent in Mongolia's

strategic location, enveloped between these giant countries, which

facilitated a resurgence of Mongolian national identity and allowed

a small measure of Mongolian political independence.

Government Structure

Form of Government

Mongolia in 1989 was a communist state modeled on Soviet political and government institutions. The government was a oneparty system, presided over by the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party. The party exercised political supervision and control over a pyramidal structure of representative governmental

bodies known as hurals—assemblies of people's deputies (see Glossary; fig. 13).

The highly centralized governmental structure was divided into

three major parts: the executive branch, presided over by the

Council of Ministers; the legislative branch, represented at the national level by the unicameral People's Great Hural (the national

173
Mongolia: A Country Study

PERMANENT

COMMITTEES

PEOPLE'S GREAT HURAL

PEOPLE'S CONTROL

COMMITTEE

COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

STATE COMMITTEES FOR:

i

CONSTRUCTION

PARTY CONTROL

PEOPLE'S CONTROL

PLANNING AND ECONOMY

SPACE RESEARCH

AND UTILAZATION STATE INFORMATION, RADIO AND TELEVISION PHYSICAL CULTURE AND SPORTS

QUALITY, STANDARDS

AND METROLOGY J SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY

AND HIGHER EDUCATION

SOMON ASSEMBLIES OF PEOPLE'S DEPUTIES EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATIONS

MINISTRIES FOR:

i

AYMAG/ AUTONOMOUS MUNICIPALITY ASSEMBLIES OF PEOPLE'S DEPUTIES EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATIONS

AGRICULTURE AND FOOD INDUSTRY COMMUNICATIONS

CULTURE

DEFENSE ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTION

FINANCE

FOREIGN AFFAIRS FOREIGN ECONONIC

RELATIONS AND SUPPLY POWER, MINING, INDUSTRY AND GEOLOGY

IRRIGATION

LIGHT INDUSTRY

PEOPLE'S EDUCATION

PUBLIC SECURITY

SOCIAL ECONONY

AND SERVICES TRADE AND PROCUREMENT

TRANSPORTATION

Figure 13. Organization of the Government, 1989

174
Government and Politics

assembly); and the judicial branch, with a Supreme Court presiding over a system of law administered by courts and by an Office

of the Procurator of the Republic. The duties and responsibilities

of each of these major bodies were identified in the Constitution

promulgated in 1960.

Beneath the national level were key administrative subdivisions

consisting of eighteen aymags, or provinces, and of the three autonomous cities (hots) of Ulaanbaatar, Darhan, and Erdenet (see fig. 1). On the next lower administrative level were counties, or somons

(see Glossary), and town centers. At this basic level, government

and economic activity were connected closely, so that the leadership of the somon and those of the livestock and agricultural cooperatives operating within the somon often were identical (see Structure

of the Economy, ch. 3). The party related to the apex of the governmental system through

its authoritative Political Bureau of the party Central Committee.

In 1989 this nine-person body contained the presiding leadership

of the country, and it was headed by party general secretary Jambyn

Batmonh. Batmonh had dual power status in that he also was head

of state as chairman of the Presidium of the People's Great Hural.

Batmonh was promoted to these top-level positions in 1984 after his predecessor, Yumjaagiyn Tsedenbal, who had been in power

since 1952, was replaced by the Central Committee, reportedly for health reasons (see Socialist Construction under Tsedenbal, 1952-

84, ch. 1). Below the national level, each aymag and somon had its own party

organization that conveyed the policies and programs decided by

the Political Bureau and directed the work of its counterpart as- sembly of people's deputies, its agricultural cooperatives, and the

local government executive committee in implementing party pro- grams on its level. The concentration of power at the top of the

political system and within party channels had, throughout history,

helped to create a complacent party and government bureaucracy,

a development that hampered the leadership's plans to modernize

the country and to stimulate economic development in the late 1980s.

Constitutional Framework

The Constitution was adopted on July 6, 1960, by the People's

Great Hural. It was the third constitution promulgated since the

revolution of 1921. The first constitution was passed by the First

National Great Hural on November 26, 1924. It abolished the sys- tem of monarchial theocracy, described the legislative consolidation of state power, provided a basic statement of socioeconomic

175
Mongolia: A Country Study

and political rights and freedoms for the people, and espoused a

national program that would bypass the capitalist stage of development in the course of promoting fundamental social trans- formations in order to bring about socialism in Mongolia (see

Revolutionary Transformation, 1921-24, ch. 1). The second constitution, adopted on June 30, 1940, took the

Soviet constitution of 1936 as the model. As Mongolian premier

Horloyn Choybalsan reported to the Eighth National Great Hural

in 1940: "We are guided in our activity by the experience of the

great country of socialism, the experience of the Soviet Union. Consequently, only the constitution of the Soviet Union may be a model

for us in drafting our new constitution." In subsequent revisions

to the 1940 Mongolian constitution in 1944, 1949, 1952, and 1959,

disparities between the Mongolian and Soviet constitutions were

reduced even further.

Under the 1940 constitution, elections were restricted—"enemies of the regime" could not vote—and indirect; lower bodies

elected higher levels. Constitutional amendments introduced after 1944 changed this system, however, by restoring political rights,

including the right of suffrage throughout the society; by institut- ing a unitary hierarchy of directly elected representative bodies;

by reorganizing electoral districts; by replacing voting by the show

of hands at open meetings with voting by secret ballot; and by

abolishing the National Little Hural—the Standing Body of the

National Great Hural—transferring its functions to the National

Great Hural, which was renamed People's Great Hural in 1951.

The regime's justification for making these changes was that Mongolia had already realized many sociopolitical achievements in its advance toward socialism. Therefore, it became historically correct to introduce reforms that had been adopted in the more advanced society of the Soviet Union.

The Constitution adopted in 1960 includes a lengthy preamble

that acclaims the successes of the revolution and notes the importance of the "fraternal socialist assistance of the Soviet Union"

to growth and development in Mongolia. The preamble clarifies the dominant role of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party

as the "guiding and directing force in society," using as its guide

the "all-conquering Marxist-Leninist theory." A renewed com- mitment is made to completing the construction of a socialist soci- ety and culture, and eventually, to building a communist society.

Enunciated foreign policy goals describe a diplomacy based on the

principles of peaceful coexistence and proletarian internationalism.

The points outlined in the preamble are explained more fully

in the main body of the Constitution. Compared with its 1940

176
Government and Politics

predecessor, the 1960 Constitution is more succinct. The 1940 document had been divided into twelve chapters. The 1960 Constitution clusters most of the same content into four general sections:

socioeconomic structure, state structure, basic rights and duties of

citizens, and miscellaneous provisions. Within these categories, the

articles are compressed into ten chapters, compared with twelve

chapters in the 1940 constitution.

In the first general section, the socialist system, rooted in the

socialist ownership of national wealth and the means of production, is presented as the economic basis of society. Areas protected

under law include private ownership of one's income and savings,

housing, subsidiary husbandry, personal and household articles, as well as the right to an inheritance. These legal guarantees,

however, are subject to the qualification that "it shall be prohibited

to use the right of personal ownership to the detriment of state and

social interests."

The second and longest general section defines the state structure, following that laid down in the 1940 constitution, as amended

in 1959. It details the nature, composition, and duties of all state organs of power, including the executive, the legislative, and the

judicial at both the national and local levels. In the third general section, the fundamental rights and duties

of citizens are grouped together, a departure from the previous constitutions. The rights promised in this basic law and the actual ex- perience of Mongolians in daily life, however, are often at variance.

Among the basic rights guaranteed are equality irrespective of sex,

racial or national affiliations, faith, social origin, and status. These

were overlooked in practice, to the extent that male Khalkha (see

Glossary) Mongols occupied most of the elite government positions,

and religious practice has been an impediment to career advancement in an atheistic Marxist-Leninist society. In addition, citizens are guaranteed freedom of speech, press, assembly, meeting,

demonstration, and processions, but with the restriction that the

activities must be practiced "in accordance with the interests of

the working people and with a view to developing and strengthening the state system of the Mongolian People's Republic."

A list of duties begins with the exhortation that "every citizen

of the Mongolian People's Republic shall be obliged to: show dedication to the cause of building socialism; maintain the priority of

the interests of society and the state vis-a-vis private interests; safeguard the concept of communal socialist property; and fulfill all civic duties, and demand the same of other citizens." Other

duties involve supporting international friendship and worker

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Mongolia: A Country Study

solidarity "under the leadership of the Soviet Union," and teaching

and practicing good social values.

The Constitution can be amended by the People's Great Hural

with a majority of not less than two-thirds of the delegate votes, a system that has produced frequent revision. Perhaps the most

novel feature of the Constitution is contained in its concluding

article, unique among socialist constitutions. Article 94 allows the

gradual repeal of the constitutional provisions: "The Constitution . . . will be repealed when the need for the existence of the

state, which is the principal instrument for building socialism and

communism, disappears, when it will be replaced by a communist

association of working people."

The official seal of Mongolia also has been revised and reflects aspirations of becoming an industrialized society. Furthermore, the

Constitution says that the state arms of Mongolia "shall reflect the essence of the state and the idea of friendship of peoples and shall show the national and economic peculiarities of the country."

Accordingly, the official seal now consists of a circle framed by

sheaves of wheat, fastened together by a machine cog-wheel, replacing animal heads that denoted a pastoral country. In the center

is a figure of a "working man on horseback galloping upward

toward the sun—communism," in place of a herdsman holding

a lariat and galloping toward the rising sun. Major State Organizations

As is true of any communist-run state, the party's influence and

voice were authoritative and all high government officials belonged

to the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (see Mongolian

People's Revolutionary Party, this ch.). Nevertheless, in order to establish the mechanisms of government for pursuing the party pro- gram, the Constitution provides authority to key state executive,

legislative, and judicial bodies, and defines their respective character, composition, and powers.

Legislative

The unicameral People's Great Hural is described in the Constitution as "the highest agency of state power in the Mongolian

People's Republic." It is assigned exclusive legislative power for the country by Article 19. The Eleventh People's Great Hural,

elected in July 1986, had 370 deputies as determined by a constitutional amendment in 1981 (see table 11, Appendix). Of the

370 elected deputies, nearly 89 percent were party members or candidate members; 28 percent, industrial workers; 28 percent,

agrarian cooperative members; and 44 percent, intellectuals and

178
Main government building, Ulaanbaatar,

with Sukhe Bator Mausoleum in front

Courtesy Regina Genton

bureaucrats. Also, 25 percent of the deputies were women, and

67 percent were elected for the first time. Finally, deputies were

afforded special protection in that they may not be arrested or brought to trial without the consent of the Hural or its Presidium.

Deputies served four-year terms, and they were elected from districts divided equally according to population. The slate of candidates presented, however, required party review and approval well

in advance of the election. Candidates were proposed by trade

unions, farm organizations, youth and party organizations, and

other social organizations. Before election day, usually in June,

the names of candidates for these constituencies were published

in the press. Registered electors could vote for one registered candidate by placing an unmarked ballot bearing the candidate's name

in the ballot box. To vote against a candidate, an elector had to

strike the candidate's name from the ballot.

It was estimated that 33 percent of the deputies—representing

the party and state leadership—were reelected after each term. Not

surprisingly, a high proportion of the elected deputies were party

members or candidate members. There also was a noticeable trend

reflecting the gradual urbanization of the country, as shown in the

179
Mongolia: A Country Study

1979 Mongolian census figures. Press coverage of results usually

reported 99.98 percent turnout, in favor of the official candidates.

The People's Great Hural, which convenes once a year, elects

its officers, including a chairman (speaker) and four deputy chair- men. It selects standing commissions (budget, legislative proposals,

nationality affairs, and foreign affairs), and it elects the Presidium.

Constitutional powers accorded to the People's Great Hural in- clude amendment of the constitution; adoption of laws; formation

of the Council of Ministers; and confirmation of ministers, the national economic plan, and the budget. In 1989 the deputy chairmen were the president of the Presidium, an army officer, a woman,

and, to show recognition of minorities, a Kazakh (see Glossary).

Ten permanent committees assisted in specialized areas of

government work: industry; environmental protection; construction; youth affairs; budgets and planning; transportation and communications; labor resources; agriculture; trade and services; and

health, education, culture and scientific affairs. Also, the People's

Great Hural was given powers to establish "the basic principles

and measures in the domain of internal and foreign policy" and

to decide "questions of peace and defense of the socialist motherland." In practice, however, authority in the fields of foreign and

domestic affairs was exercised regularly by the chairman of the

Presidium and the minister of foreign affairs. By a constitutional

amendment in November 1980, the People's Great Hural is charged

with forming the state's People's Control Committee that heads

a system of agencies ' 'which shall incorporate state and social control

of the working people at enterprises, institutions, organizations,

and agricultural associations."

Although legislative power is concentrated in the People's Great

Hural, the right of legislative initiative is accorded to several bodies. They include the Presidium, the Council of Ministers, deputies

and standing commissions of the People's Great Hural, the Supreme

Court, and the Office of the Procurator of the Republic (see Legal

System, ch. 5). In addition, legislation can be introduced by youths

and workers through the Central Committee of the Mongolian

Revolutionary Youth League and the Central Council of Mongolian

Trade Unions.

The Presidium of the People's Great Hural was the "highest

agency of state power" presiding in the interval between legislative

sessions. In 1989 the chairman of the Presidium, Batmonh, was

the de facto president of Mongolia. Other Presidium officers in- cluded a deputy chairman, a secretary, and five members representing trade unions (two persons for this category), youth, women,

and a key party department (either the cadres administration or

180
Government and Politics

foreign relations department). The principal powers of the Presidium include formation, abolition, and reorganization of ministries;

appointment of ministers and ambassadors; ratification or denunciation of treaties and agreements with other states; and award of

military and other tides and ranks. The Presidium also participates

in the regular powers accorded to the People's Great Hural.

Executive

The Council of Ministers is the "highest executive and administrative agency of state administration." Under Article 42 of the

Constitution, this body is composed of a chairman—or premier,

a first deputy chairman, five other deputy chairmen, ministers,

chairmen of the state committees, the chairman of the State Bank

of the Mongolian People's Republic, the president of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, and the head of the Central Statisti- cal Board. In the 1980s, the deputy chairmen regularly included

the chairmen of the State Planning Commission; the State Committee for Construction, Architecture, and Technical Control; and

the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon—see Glossary) Affairs. In 1986 the Council of Ministers was composed of

thirty-three members.

Members of the Council of Ministers also were party members

or candidate members. In 1989 Dumaagiyn Sodnom, a full member of the party Political Bureau, was chairman of the Council of

Ministers, making him de facto premier. The principal responsibilities of the Council of Ministers in the late 1980s were to coor- dinate and to direct the work of the ministries; to supervise national

economic planning and to implement the national plan; to exercise general direction over foreign relations and defense matters;

to take measures for the defense of state interests and the concept

of socialist ownership; to ensure public order; and to direct and

to guide the work of aymag and somon executive administrations.

A general ministerial reorganization was carried out in 1987 and

1988 during which 3,000 administrative positions were abolished

reportedly, a significant saving of funds. In December 1987, the

Mongolian press announced the dissolution of six ministries and

two state committees and the subsequent formation of five new

ministries. These efforts to streamline the government structure and to make it more efficient continued into January 1988, when

six state committees and special offices were dissolved and two new

state committees were formed. In general this reorganization re- sulted in the performance of certain functions by separate ministries or in the subsuming of several committees under the mission

of one. For example, the responsibilities for agriculture and the

181
Mongolia: A Country Study

food industry, previously handled by two separate ministries, were combined in the new Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry.

The newly established Ministry of Environmental Protection in- dicated Mongolia's recent and growing concern over one of its most

intractable problems: the protection and renewal of the national

environment.

There was no formally constituted permanent civil service to staff government positions. Party organizations were paramount in the

selection and assignment of civil servants. The party decided which

person was suited to what kind of work on the basis of individual

loyalty, honesty, political consciousness, knowledge of relevant

tasks, and organizational abilities. Judicial

The Supreme Court is described in the Constitution as "the

highest judicial authority" that directs "all. . . judicial agencies

and also establishes supervision over their judicial activity." It is elected for a four-year term by the People's Great Hural, and it presides over the lower structure made up of eighteen aymag courts and local somon courts. Members of the local court structure were

elected locally, and the judges for these courts served three-year

terms. Elected in May 1986, the chairman of the Supreme Court,

Lubsandorjiyn Renchin, had a first deputy and two other deputies,

including the chairmen of the criminal affairs and the military af- fairs collegia.

The Procurator of the Republic exercises "supreme supervision over the precise observance of laws by all ministries and other central agencies of administrations, institutions and organizations." The

procurator was appointed by the People's Great Hural for a term

of four years. The law and the legal system were described officially as being

solidly grounded in the ideology of Marxism-Leninism. The purpose was to ensure that the socioeconomic order produced and

shaped a distinctive political, economic, and legal superstructure.

Within this context, the principal function of law was to regulate

the economy and to contribute to the building of socialism. As of

1989, there still was a limited role for custom in the area of socialist law, but only those considered compatible with prevailing

legal norms persisted. There also was a new emphasis on equal

rights for women. For the most part, the law functioned as a body

of prescriptive regulations that guided social relationships and

interpreted the duties of citizens in ways that the party found to be in the best interests of society and development. In general, regulations and codes controlled more areas of life than ever before.

182
Government and Politics Two separate legal codes form the basis of Mongolian law—the

Civil Code and the Criminal Code. The Civil Code, which went

into effect in April 1963, was modeled closely on the code adopted

by the Soviet Union in 1963. This code regulates personal rela- tions more carefully than had been the case before its enactment.

It extends certain rights, including protecting the honor and the

dignity of citizens. The code enlarges the discussion of obligations

to include contracts of delivery and carriage—matters essential to

efficient business operations. There also are law codes that apply

to the family and to the workplace.

Formal training in law was given under the Faculty of Social

Sciences of the Mongolian State University. Beginning in 1980,

100 full-time students per year were enrolled at this institution.

Although the Constitution contains no channel of appeal, the law

does provide for appeals of all verdicts except those of the Supreme

Court.

Local Administration

In Mongolia's organizational pyramid, government beneath the

national level was carried out by assemblies of people's deputies

operating in the eighteen aymags and the three provincial-level

autonomous cities (hots), sometimes called "republic cities." In the

late 1980s, each aymag continued to be divided into about thirty somons; towns and population centers within a somon were apportioned into "districts and districts-in-cities." Each of these administrative divisions had its corresponding governing assembly of

people's deputies. Some continuity between the Mongolian People's Republic and the traditional Mongolian political culture was

provided in preserving the terms aymag, which was a fifteenthcentury word for a tribal unit, and somon, which was the traditional

basic-level administrative unit (see Pastoral Nomadism, ch. 2). Aymags were established on the basis of geographic boundaries, eth- nic groupings, economic conditions, population density, and con- venience of administrative control. Somons were the basic units of

administration within aymags, and they were where the greatest

interaction between government and the people took place.

Deputies to the local assemblies are elected for three-year terms,

according to the Constitution. In June 1987, a total of 15,967

deputies were elected to local assemblies, by the usual 99.98 per- cent of the vote cast. Regular sessions of aymag and autonomous

municipal assemblies convened at least twice a year. Sessions of somon and district assemblies were convoked at least three times a year. Each local assembly elected presidiums to administer the

government between sessions of the assemblies. Presidiums were

183
Mongolia: A Country Study

composed of a chairman, a deputy chairman, a secretary, and members who included party functionaries and local luminaries residing in the administrative centers. Within their respective jurisdictions, the assemblies and their

presidiums were responsible for directing "economic and culturalpolitical construction," for supervising the economic and cooperative organizations, for confirming and implementing the economic

plan and local budgets, for ensuring the observance of laws, and

for making certain that all citizens were fully involved in the work

of the state. Superior assemblies of people's deputies were empowered to "change or repeal" decisions of lower assemblies and

their presidiums.

Procurators and courts also functioned at the local levels. Local

procurators were appointed by the state procurator for three-year

terms, and they were subordinate "only to the superior procurator" in the system. Courts were elected by deputies of the cor- responding assemblies of people's deputies, also for three-year terms; precinct-level courts were formed by direct elections and

by secret ballot for three-year terms. Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party

Mongolia's communist party was established on March 1, 1921,

with 164 members in a country that previously had no political

parties. At that time, it was called the Mongolian People's Party

(see Revolutionary Transformation, 1921-24, ch. 1). In August

1924 at the Third Party Congress, the party assumed its current nomenclature, the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party. It was

the only political party, modeled closely after the organizational

structure and party program of the Communist Party of the Soviet

Union. It has followed the Soviet example during most of its exis- tence, and it continued to do so in mid- 1989.

The authoritative Party Program, the fourth in Mongolian his- tory, which was adopted in 1966, states that party organizations

serve as "the directing and guiding force of society and the state,"

and at the national level are decisive in setting policy, developing

programs, and making key personnel appointments. Below the national level, party organizations and personnel ensure the implementation of the Party Program, maintain political discipline, and

supervise appointment to all party and non-party organizations.

Following the pattern of ongoing developments in the Soviet

Union, high-level substantive discussions of party organizational

reform measures were being held in 1989. One measure under consideration would have government bodies play an enhanced role as consultative bodies in the party's policy-making process. New

184
Government and Politics

senior government bodies that eventually could disperse some of

the party's closely held power were being discussed. Consideration also was being given to the devolution of some decision-making

powers from upper party levels to the primary party organizations.

Nevertheless, in the late 1980s, top-level party organizations still continued to hold exceptional authority, dominating the governmental, economic, and military life of the country (see fig. 14).

Membership

As of April 1988, party membership was reported at 89,588, an

average of 1 in 1 1 of the adult population. According to the Rules

of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, "anyone of the

working people, acknowledging the Party Program and Rules,

actively participating in their implementation, working in a party

organization, and implementing all party resolutions, may be a member of the party.

' ' Membership was open to males and females

at least eighteen years old, although those between eighteen and

twenty years could earn party membership only through acquiring a good record as a Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League

member.

A candidate for party membership must be sponsored by a party

member who has held a full membership for three years. After sponsorship, a candidate's acceptance into the party was discussed by

a general meeting of the appropriate party cell and was considered

resolved if at least two-thirds of those attending approved. Conversely, expulsion from the party was decided by a vote of at least two-thirds of party members present, but it was effective only after confirmation by the appropriate party committee at the next-highest

level. Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party membership in- creased by 16 percent during the period 1981 to 1986.

Party Congress

The party congress, convened regularly every five years, is theoretically the most authoritative body in the Mongolian party sys- tem (see table 12, Appendix). The Nineteenth Party Congress of

the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, convened in May

1986, was attended by 851 delegates—for 79 percent of whom it was their first party congress. An overview of the composition of

the delegates revealed that 66 percent also were deputies to the People's Great Hural or to assemblies of people's deputies. Thirtythree percent were workers in industry, construction and communications; 17 percent were collectivized herdsmen; and 50 percent were white-collar workers, including members of the military and

185
Mongolia: A Country Study

MONGOLIAN PEOPLE'S REVOLUTIONARY PARTY (M PRP) CONGRESS ~3

CONTROL

COMMISSION

MPRP CENTRAL COMMITTEE

POLITICAL BUREAU

SECRETARIAT

AYMAG/AUTONOMOUS

MUNICIPALITY MPRP CONFERENCE

AYMAG/AUTONOMOUS

MUNICIPALITY MPRP COMMMITTEE

PARTY BUREAU

SOMON MPRP CONFERENCE

SOMON MPRP COMMITTEE

PARTY BUREAU

PRIMARY CELLS PARTY COMMITTEE

i : PARTY SECTIONS

1

1

CENTRAL AUDITING COMMISSION

DEPARTMENTS OF THE CENTRAL COMMISSION

m CADRES AFFAIRS

GENERAL

IDEOLOGICAL

MILITARY AND

SECURITY AFFAIRS ORGANIZATION

FOREIGN RELATIONS

PLANNING

AND BUDGET

INDUSTRY — AGRICULTURE

CONSTRUCTION

TRANSPORTATION

AND COMMUNICATIONS

EDUCATION,

SCIENCE AND HEALTH

Figure 14. Organization of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party,

1989

the intelligentsia. Seventy-nine percent were of the majority

Khalkha nationality (see Mongols and Kazakhs, ch. 2). These statistics showed predominantly urban and educated

delegates, and they indicated the professionalization of the Mongolian leadership, much like what had occurred in the Soviet Union

by the 1960s. In 1986 women accounted for 21 percent of the total number of delegates, which suggested a substantial representation

within the leadership until this figure was balanced against the 30

percent of total party membership that women held in 1986.

The party congress also elects the Central Auditing Commission,

186
Government and Politics

which examines and verifies state expenditures. The Nineteenth

Party Congress elected a Central Auditing Commission of twentythree members, smaller than the previous commission of thirty- one, elected in 1981 . Eighty-three percent of the commission's members were newly elected. The Nineteenth Congress also stated its commitment to the exist- ing Party Program, which in essence is dedicated to completing

the "construction of socialism" in Mongolia. The Party Program

contains the concepts and goals to be realized through the five-year

plans and implemented by the government bureaucracy. As stated

in the program, the party's role is to instill total commitment among

citizens toward this goal: "The party will devote unflagging atten- tion to organizing resolute struggle against views and morals as well as survivals of the past alien to socialism in the minds and

lives of people." Extolling the values of patriotism and "proletarian internationalism," the program dictates that Mongolia "will

educate the working people in the limitless love and devotion to their homeland, the Soviet Union and other countries in the socialist community. ..."

Because the party congress of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party meets in regular session only every five years, it cannot

serve as the governing party organization. Rather, one of its key

functions is to elect the Central Committee, the body that sets the

tone and establishes the overall leadership for the country.

Central Committee

The Central Committee elected by the Nineteenth Congress in

1986 included eighty-five members and sixty-five candidate members. It was a smaller body than the Central Committee elected

at the Eighteenth Party Congress in 1981 , which had an additional

six members and six candidate members. Fifty-seven members were

reelected to the Nineteenth Central Committee, eleven were promoted from candidate membership, and seventeen were newly

appointed. No full members were demoted to candidate membership, but twenty-four retired, died, or had been removed. Candidate members filled the places of former Central Committee

members. The number of members on the Nineteenth Central

Committee was smaller than that of its predecessor, but the number of new members increased by 20 percent and of new candidate members, by 77 percent. Thus, the composition of the new

Central Committee suggested trends toward reducing the size of

the senior party leadership, toward adding new members, and

toward initiating the newcomers through service first as candidate

members.

187
Mongolia: A Country Study

In 1989 the Central Committee had twelve departments re- sponsible for managing specialized functions including a general

department for overseeing and coordinating party affairs. The

departments supervised cadres affairs; ideological matters; party

organization; military and security affairs; foreign relations; planning and budget; industry; agriculture; construction; transportation and communications; and education, science, and health.

Another key body, the Party Control Commission, is subordinate

to the Central Committee and is responsible for maintaining in- ternal party discipline and for dealing with incidents that challenge

party authority. There also were a Higher Party School and an

Institute of Social Studies (formerly the Party History Institute),

both of which had the status of a Central Committee department.

Political Bureau and Secretariat

The Political Bureau is elected by the Central Committee to con- duct the party's business between plenary sessions of the Central

Committee and to provide the top leadership for the party and the

country. As the senior policy-making body, it establishes specific

goals; and it regularly evaluates the progress of national programs.

The Secretariat also functions between plenary sessions, and it is the administrative center of the party apparatus. It is elected by

the Central Committee to oversee implementation of the Party Pro- gram and party resolutions and to select leading cadres. This last function gives the Secretariat nomenklatura (see Glossary), the

authority to make appointments to the key positions in both the

party and the government bureaucracies.

The ruling hierarchy was stable during the 1980s. In May 1986,

the Political Bureau included seven members and three candidate

members. The Secretariat was composed of six secretaries. Batmonh

was reelected general secretary of the Central Committee. These

elections produced few changes; four leaders were retained as both

Political Bureau members and secretaries of the Central Committee. Three leaders were retained as members of only the Political

Bureau, and three were elected candidate Political Bureau members. Two new secretaries were elected to the Central Committee.

This leadership group, averaging fifty-nine years of age, was

changed somewhat at the third plenary session—or fully constituted

meeting—of the Central Committee in June 1987, when one Political Bureau member retired and was replaced by a candidate

member. By 1989 the Political Bureau had been reduced to nine

members after the death of one candidate member. Two Political

Bureau members mentioned as likely successors to Batmonh were

Bat-Ochiryn Altangerel, a former Ulaanbaatar first secretary, and

188
Government and Politics

Tserendeshiyn Namsray, a member of the party Secretariat and

chairman of the Mongolian-Soviet Friendship Society.

Some party leaders held concurrent key government positions.

For example, Batmonh was chairman of the Presidium of the People's Great Hural, and Sodnom was chairman of the Council of

Ministers, or premier. All Political Bureau members and candidate members also were deputies to the People's Great Hural. The

known substantive responsibilities of the top party leadership

covered several specialties: party disciplinary affairs, law and administration, foreign affairs, building and construction, and in- dustry.

Regional and Local Party Organizations

A general understanding of the size of the party structure below

the national level was provided by reports in January 1981 that

recorded "twenty-seven provincial, town and equivalent-level party

committees, seven urban district party committees, 256 basic-level

committees, and 2,600 party cells." In March 1989, Batmonh noted

that there were 3,199 primary party organizations, or cells. Party

first secretaries of aymags and those of the three autonomous cities,

usually were represented on the Central Committee. In addition

to their key party organizational responsibilities, these regional leaders had the important duty to implement the party's economic policies and programs within the areas under their supervision. In fact,

active participation in the current party programs emphasizing eco- nomic development was regarded as essential to the regional leaders' success; this probably explained their participation on the

Central Committee. Two other key posts, probably equal in rank

to aymag first secretaries, were held by leading party representatives in the state Railroad Administration and the army's Political

Directorate.

Aymag-level and somon-level party organizations are formed by

election of the conferences of representatives within the respective

jurisdictions. These committees control the executive and the legislative institutions of government as well as economic enterprises.

Meeting in plenary sessions at least twice a year, the committees'

regular daily business is conducted by an elected bureau of seven

to nine members. Bureau meetings are held once or twice every

fourteen days to hear reports and recommendations, to discuss

implementation of higher-level decisions, to coordinate and to as- sign cadres' work, to approve acceptance of candidate members,

to assign cadres to non-party organs in territorial units, to provide

leadership to party cells and to evaluate their achievements and

189
Mongolia: A Country Study

shortcomings, and to maintain party discipline within various subordinate organizations.

The party cell is considered the primary party organization. Every

party member has to belong to a cell. These bodies exist in industrial enterprises; agricultural cooperatives; state farms; and educational, cultural, and other establishments. Cells are formed from

not fewer than eight party members or candidates for membership. The cell's responsibilities include recruitment of party members, training and ideological development of the membership, and

party discipline. When there are fewer than eight members to be

organized, a party section is formed; it has responsibilities similar, insofar as possible, to those of the party cell. Mass Organizations

Youth Organizations

The Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League, founded on August 25, 1921, is the party's most important auxiliary. The Party

Program describes the organization as the party's

4 'militant assis- tant and reliable reserve." In 1986 the league had 235,000 members between fifteen and twenty-eight years of age and was a

significant element in reinforcing the party ranks and in contributing

to social and economic development. A good record as a youth

league member was a prerequisite to selection for party membership. Seminars, lectures, and technical schools were run under

league sponsorship to raise the ideological, educational, and cul- tural standards of Mongolian youths. The league also played an

active role in preparing youths for service in the armed forces

by instilling patriotism and by encouraging participation in re- serve training programs to maintain a high level of physical fit- ness. The league structure resembles that of the party, with a Central

Committee, a Political Bureau composed of members and candidate members, and a Secretariat. Tserendorjiyn Narangerel, who

was sixty-eight in 1989, was elected first secretary of the Mongolian

Revolutionary Youth League in 1984. In 1986 he was elected to the party Central Committee and became a deputy in the People's

Great Hural. Narangerel 's predecessor until 1983 was Lodongiyn

Tudeb, who became editor-in-chief of the Mongolian People's

Revolutionary Party newspaper, Unen (Truth). In addition to Narangerel, the top league leadership in 1989 included a second

secretary and four secretaries. Below the national level, the league

included committees led by first secretaries in various-level units

that had structures comparable to that of the party. The league

190
Provisional national government headquarters, Ulaanbaatar, July 1921

Courtesy Institute of Party History, Ulaanbaatar

belonged to the World Federation of Democratic Youth and the

International Union of Students.

The Sukhe Bator Mongolian Pioneers Organization, named after the revolutionary hero, Damdiny Sukhe Bator, and founded in May

1925, was supervised by the Mongolian Revolutionary Youth

League. With a membership, in the late 1980s, of 360,000, it served

children ages ten to fifteen. In 1989 its head—and chairman of the

Central Council—was concurrently a secretary of the Mongolian

Revolutionary Youth League Central Committee. Like the youth

league, the Pioneers Organization is meant to involve the children

in active work and service in fulfilling party goals. It sponsored

rallies focused on labor themes; provided medals for good progress

in work and study; and encouraged the ideological, moral, and

educational development of children. The organization also hosted

sports competitions, art reviews, and festivals. In the summer, the

organization operated camps to enhance the physical training and

the education of youths.

Mongolian-Soviet Friendship Society

Although party- sponsored mass organizations existed for women, laborers, the elderly, and creative artists, the largest mass

191
Mongolia: A Country Study

organization in the late 1980s was the Mongolian-Soviet Friendship Society, established in 1924. With 580,000 members in 1984,

the society was chaired by Political Bureau member Namsray, and

it included most of the country's prominent leaders. As the name

implied, its mission was to strengthen friendly ties and cooperation with the Soviet Union. The society furthered this goal by sponsoring films, exhibits, and lectures and by conducting an annual

friendship month celebration preceding the anniversary of the

Bolshevik Revolution on November 7. Another body, the Federation of Mongolian Peace and Friendship Organizations, acted as an umbrella association, serving other international friendship societies. Women's Organizations

The Mongolian Women's Committee was established in 1924.

This body operated through women's councils established in in- dustrial centers, businesses, and schools in cities, towns, and ay- mags. Lubsanchultemiyn Pagmadulam chaired the group in 1989.

The federation had approximately 5,000 women's councils that

sponsored rallies, educational activities, and work-related training,

and it monitored national health care and maternal issues for those

sixteen years and older. It supported raising the level of culture

among youth and enhancing the quality of their upbringing by instilling moral values. In 1946 the organization affiliated with the

International Democratic Federation of Women.

Labor Organizations

The Mongolian Trade Unions originated in 1927. In 1989 it in- cluded 600,000 members, grouped into four categories of trade

unions: industry and construction; agricultural workers; transportation, communications, trade, and services; and culture and en- lightenment. Trade union organizations ran production and

training conferences, and they participated in collective agreements

between the managements of enterprises and trade union committees. They also articulated issues of concern to the work force, su- pervised social insurance programs, and oversaw the observance

of labor legislation. These and other powers were vested in law,

particularly in the National Labor Law (see Labor Force, ch. 3). Schools run by labor organizations focused on improving the qualifications and vocational education of factory and office workers.

The highest body in the organizational structure of the labor

unions was the Congress of the Mongolian Trade Unions, which

elected a central council and an auditing commission. In 1989 the

Central Council of the Mongolian Trade Unions was chaired by

192
Government and Politics

Bat-Ochiryn Lubsantseren, also a member of the party Central

Committee and the Presidium of the People's Great Hural. A

presidium—composed of the chairman of the Central Council of

the Mongolian Trade Unions, a deputy, and two secretaries

and a four-person secretariat provided the leadership for the subordinate trade union councils and committees. About 3,000 committees operated at the primary factory level. The composition of the

trade unions in the late 1980s was 50 percent industrial workers,

30 percent office and professional workers, and 20 percent agricultural workers. In a population that was 58 percent working class,

and in a work force that was 95 percent unionized by 1984, trade

unions played an important role. How well they performed was

another question. At a party Central Committee plenary session

in December 1988, the Central Council of the Mongolian Trade

Unions was criticized for not adequately protecting workers' interests. The Mongolian Trade Unions was affiliated with the Sovietsponsored World Federation of Trade Unions.

Other Mass Organizations

Like most other professional groups in Mongolian society, journalists were organized into a mass organization. By 1989 the Union

of Mongolian Journalists had 800 members, more than half of them

formally trained as journalists. Ninety-seven percent of the membership had received higher education. In 1989 the press in Mongolia was undergoing major changes, and the effect of these changes on this body still was unclear (see The Media, this ch.).

There also were "creative unions" to organize writers, artists,

and composers. Their main purpose was to ensure that artistic content supported the party's social and political policies. The top leaders of these mass organizations usually served on the party Central

Committee. In 1984 the Writers' Union included a sixty-one member committee with seven presiding author-secretaries.

A newer mass organization, established in 1988, was the Culture Fund of the Mongolian People's Republic. Its purpose was

to protect monuments and key examples of Mongol history, liter- ature, and architecture as well as to recover cultural treasures that

have been taken out of the country. It was funded by voluntary

contributions.

The attempt to organize segments of the country's population

extended to elderly citizens. The Union of Mongolian Senior

Citizens was established on March 25, 1988, with 120,000 members. Its purposes were to make the elderly more productive and

involved in the country's development as well as to study and to improve the health of the aging. The organization had a chairman,

193
Mongolia: A Country Study

a deputy chairman, a 150-member executive Committee, a 15- member presidium, and a 7 -member central auditing committee.

An important subcommittee of this mass organization, reflecting

the World War II legacy of military service, was the Committee

of War Veterans.

The Political Process

Since 1924 the Mongolian political system and apparatus, patterned after those in the Soviet Union, has followed the organizational principle of democratic centralism. As applied in the Soviet

Union, this principle concentrates decision-making authority and

the power to take policy initiatives at senior party levels. Throughout

the party system, the decisions of higher-level bodies are binding on subordinate-level party organizations. The democratic feature

of this Leninist principle prescribes that members of party organizations at all levels are elected by conferences of delegates and are accountable to their respective electorates. Policy issues are to be

discussed freely within the party organizations, but once final decisions (expressed in programs) are adopted, strict party discipline

then dictates that policies be implemented exactiy, without any fur- ther expressions of disagreement.

Democratic Centralism

Under the guidance of early party leaders Horloyn Choybalsan

and Yumjaagiyn Tsedenbal, the principle of democratic centralism was weighted heavily toward its centralizing features, just as

it was being applied in the Soviet Union under Josef Stalin. Purges,

reprisals, and political violence in Mongolia mirrored the arbitrary

behavior of Stalin. Choybalsan directed his attacks against politi- cal foes, rivals, and religious institutions. After Choybalsan's death

in 1952 and Tsedenbal' s emergence as the top party and government leader, Mongolian politics again followed the Soviet example. Starting in 1956, Tsedenbal initiated an extensive anti- Stalinist,

anti-Choybalsan campaign, accusing the party leader of having con- ducted a "cult of personality" like Stalin.

In 1989, in the latest mirroring of Soviet politics, observers con- cluded that the democratic aspects of democratic centralism were

beginning to play an enhanced role in Mongolian politics. Highly

personalized and centralized politics were giving way to increased

involvement by more democratic or representative sectors. Party

general secretary Batmonh, speaking before the important fifth plenary session of the Central Committee held December 21-22, 1988,

emphasized the need for "renewal" of the Mongolian sociopolitical system by "democratizing the party's inner life." Just before

194
Posters of Gorbachev, Batmonh, Lenin, and Sukhe Bator, May Day parade, 1988, Ulaanbaatar

Courtesy Steve Mann

the plenary session, in November 1988, Batmonh pointed to the

poor performance of the Mongolian economy even under the policies of ''renewal," or Soviet-style restructuring. He gave as rea- sons for this condition a lack of vitality in the Mongolian political

system, which, he said, could be remedied only by a more open

and free social and political system.

At the December 1988 plenary session, which focused on reform

of the political system, Batmonh spoke at length on the Mongolian

equivalent of glasnost and perestroika and, for the first time, identified by name his predecessor, Tsedenbal, with the social, economic,

and political problems that plagued Mongolia. In addition, Bat- monh linked Tsedenbal 's shortcomings with the "serious damage"

that the personality cult of Choybalsan had caused and charged

that "democracy was restricted and the administrative-command

method of management took the upper hand."

Probably with a view to containing the political impact of these

provocative statements, Batmonh urged the leadership to recognize these mistakes in leadership in a positive and instructive way.

He also laid out the new political course by emphasizing that "a

key point to the transformation and renewal" was recognition of

the importance of the various levels of assemblies of people's

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Mongolia: A Country Study

deputies. He said the assemblies' deputies embodied the institu- tional expression of self-government now regarded as essential to the efficient and effective functioning of the political system. In

addition to stressing the importance of these representative bodies,

Batmonh exhorted several key mass organizations, particularly the

trade unions and the Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League, to play a more active role in "perfecting organizational renewal" by

becoming more vocal about issues and more involved in reform

programs. Accordingly, democratic reform was to be carried out

at all levels—in central and local government bodies, as well as

in party, state, and mass organizations. The assemblies of people's

deputies and all mass organizations were to be made responsible

for "perfecting" the government system by engaging in free dialogue and in criticism and debate of reform issues and programs.

This speech by Batmonh set the agenda for further party action.

The fifth plenary session concluded with the Central Committee's

adoption of a seven-point resolution espousing the democratization of the political system. Batmonh discussed the major party

reforms involved during an interview reported in the March 1989

issue of the Soviet periodical, New Times. They included: reducing the size of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party membership and giving priority to the primary party organization, the

point of contact with the Mongolian population; setting a fixed five- year term of office for elected party bodies, from the Central Committee to the district party committee, and limiting the opportunity to be reelected to one further consecutive term; holding party

conferences every two to three years, with the partial—up to 25

percent—replacement of members of party committees; and con- ducting Political Bureau and Secretariat elections by secret ballot. In general, these party reforms were to contribute to a rejuvenation of party leadership and to democratize internal party politics.

Batmonh revealed that government reforms being proposed at the fifth plenary session were to emphasize the People's Great Hural

and assemblies of people's deputies as the "political basis of the

state.

'

' He said that a distinction would be more clearly drawn between the functions of party and state organizations. Briefly, party

organizations were to make policy decisions, the results of which

were to be managed and implemented through government

representative bodies. Major government reforms included reducing

and streamlining the government bureaucracy; limiting the term

in office in any of the representative assemblies to five years, with

only one opportunity for reelection; nominating several candidates

for an office; and discussing candidate qualifications freely. Following up on the fifth plenary session's initiatives, the Political

196
Government and Politics

Bureau proposed developing revisions to both the Party Program

and the state Constitution to reflect Batmonh's concerns. In February 1989, a commission was formed to begin drafting a new edition of the state Constitution, to be presented for national discussion

by December 1989. Addressing its first meeting, Batmonh asserted

that "implementation of restructuring in the country was impos:

sible without perfecting its existing laws, and this matter should

be started with a new edition of the . . . Constitution." In addition, a new body was being planned, the Commission for Constitutional Control, to improve adherence to the Constitution.

Revisions of the Rules of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary

Party and to the Party Program were to be ready for the Twentieth Party Congress planned for 1991. In large measure, Batmonh's efforts to emphasize and to strengthen the democratic features in the political system reflected

his responsiveness to precedents set in Moscow. Nevertheless, if implemented, these reforms may have at least the short-term ef- fect of opening debate and allowing more discussion of pressing

local issues, a development that might improve the quality of life for Mongolians. Over the long term, the permanence of these

"democratic" policies was likely to be related closely to the success or the failure of the ongoing economic programs.

Batmonh's professional background fits neatly into the mold of

the senior Mongolian political leader. He was born in 1926 in Hyargas Somon, Uvs Aymag, in western Mongolia, reportedly to a peasant family of herdsmen. Like his predecessor, Tsedenbal, Bat- monh was educated in the Soviet Union, at the Academy of Social

Sciences. Typical of past and present members of the party Politi- cal Bureau, Batmonh has a strong economic-technical background.

He studied at the Mongolian State University, and in the late 1960s

he was rector of the Higher School of Economics. From 1963 to 1973, he was vice rector and then rector of the Mongolian State University. Batmonh's political ascent was rapid and remarkable.

While serving as head of the Central Committee's Department of

Science and Education, he became chairman of the Council of

Ministers in June 1974, without first being elected to Political

Bureau membership. At that time, he was only a candidate member of the Central Committee. By December 1984, Batmonh was

concurrentiy the party's general secretary, having replaced Tsedenbal in August, and chairman of the Presidium of the People's Great

Hural. He thus had control over, and access to, the two governing bureaucracies, securing his place at the center of the political

system.

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Mongolia: A Country Study

Sodnom was the second most prominent leader in Mongolia in

the late 1980s. Born in 1933 in Orgon Somon, Dornogovi Aymag,

Sodnom graduated from the Finance and Economics Technical

School in Ulaanbaatar and the Finance and Economics Institute

in Irkutsk, Soviet Union. His professional career concentrated on

economics and planning. From 1963 to 1969, Sodnom was minister

of finance; by 1974 he was chairman of the State Planning Commission. He became a full Political Bureau member and chairman

of the Council of Ministers (premier) in December 1984, succeeding Batmonh.

The backgrounds of others serving on the Political Bureau in

1989 were mixed, but they shared a notable emphasis on economics and state-planning experience. Demchigjabyn Molomjamts,

perhaps the third most influential leader, was minister of finance

and concurrently held key state planning positions. Altangerel was

concurrendy the first deputy premier. Colonel General Jamsrangiyn Dejid a former minister of public security, was concurrently

a party secretary. Namsray, a former aide to Tsedenbal and a journalist, was elected to the Political Bureau in June 1984, just before Tsedenbal 's retirement in August. Candidate Political Bureau

members Bandzragchiyn Lamjab and Sonomyn Lubsangombo

represented different, but critical, career specialties. Lamjab concurrently served as chairman of the Party Control Commission.

Lubsangombo, an urban development specialist, was chairman of

the State Building Commission and deputy chairman of the Council

of Ministers (or, deputy premier).

Political Issues The political leadership style of Batmonh can be described as cautious and pragmatic, and it explains in part why the senior

leadership levels in the party have escaped major shake-ups. Under

his leadership, the political program has focused on bringing greater

productivity, efficiency, and material prosperity to society. Implementing this program, however, has raised certain key political

issues of central concern to Batmonh and other top party leaders.

One issue has been the performance of the party and government

bureaucracies. The official bureaucracy has come under attack for apathy to reform measures and for displays of resistance to their

implementation. Another major criticism, often related to those

just cited, was that some party and government leaders were considered either unqualified or too inept to understand and to carry

out reform programs.

In attempts to address this issue, party pronouncements have

stressed the participation and the accountability of officials at all

198
Poster of People *s Great Hural chairman and party

secretary general Jambyn Batmonh, 1988

Courtesy Allen H. Kassof

levels of the bureaucracy. This has been accomplished in some

measure at the provincial level by increasing participation of aymag

first secretaries on the party Central Committee. Having them serve on this national body included them in the policy debate and made

them responsible for, and accountable for, the effective implementation of policies and programs. In 1986 the Central Committee

included fourteen of the eighteen first secretaries, as either full or candidate members. Two of the unrepresented aymags actually were

represented indirectly by having representatives on the Central

Committee who had been elected from the autonomous cities,

Darhan and Erdenet, located within those aymags. Two decades

earlier, only a few aymag first secretaries served on the party Central Committee.

In 1989 the change that linked aymag leaders to the national-level

leadership probably did not indicate a major decentralization of

political power in Mongolia. Official policy still followed precedents

set in the Soviet Union that were transmitted by the central party

structure. Instead, these "decentralizing" measures appeared to be inspired more by a recognition of the nature of past economic

stagnation and failure. They were designed to provide aymag party

leaders with a substantial political stake in the regime in order to

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Mongolia: A Country Study

win their much needed enthusiasm and commitment to the new

reformist goals.

Creative approaches and bold thinking were qualities that the

regime espoused to energize its often-complacent bureaucracy. At

the Nineteenth Congress in 1986, Batmonh echoed the reformist

thrust of Mikhail Gorbachev's speech to the preceding Twentyseventh Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Batmonh stressed that party members needed to "think and work

in new ways." He identified as the "chief political result of the

supreme forum of Mongolian Communists" (that is, the party congress) the recognition that more attention had to be paid to party

ideological and organizational work and "to strengthening innerparty democracy." Batmonh raised similar themes in his key December 1988 plenary session speech. In discussing ideological work

within the party bureaucracy, he identified the main task as being

"to foster in people a scientific world outlook and further raise their

social consciousness."

Developing a program of "renewal and rejuvenation" has

precipitated as an issue the question of what should constitute the

official view of Mongolian history. Who were the heroes, and who

obstructed progress? By late 1988, Tsedenbal, for the first time, was identified with the regime's economic failures because economic

stagnation and official dogmatism that stifled growth and creativity

flourished during his tenure. The charges leveled against Tsedenbal during this revision of modern Mongolian history also appeared

to extend into the emotional area of the fate and the status of in- digenous Mongolian cultural institutions and heritage. Calling for a "realistic appraisal" of Tsedenbal's career, Batmonh said "we

draw serious conclusions on the acts of destroying historical and

cultural monuments, monasteries and temples. But that bitter les- son was not duly considered, and even today a careless attitude

to national culture persists." Filling in what have been called "blank

spots" in Mongolian history appeared in mid- 1989 to extend even

to the historical treatment of Chinggis Khan and perhaps can be

viewed as one important barometer of political change in Mongolia. Traditionally, the Soviet press has described Chinggis as a "feudal and backward element." By early 1989, the Mongolian press had adopted a more positive view of this historic national figure, a change suggesting that, politically, the Mongolian leadership has

begun to move somewhat out from under Soviet political tutelage.

Role of the Military

The Mongolian military establishment played only a minor role

in the political system in the late 1980s. In 1989, no Political Bureau

200
Government and Politics member or candidate member represented defense interests. Dejid

served on the Political Bureau and the Secretariat, but not as a

military leader. Rather, his responsibilities were civilian in nature,

involving preservation of party and state unity and discipline in

the course of carrying out the new programs of openness and leadership restructuring.

Dejid' s career experience was typical of military leaders who had

risen to positions of influence in party and state circles. Dejid was

a former minister of public security and chairman of the Party Control Commission. During his active military service, he was involved

in public security, censorship, and civilian control activities. Ancillary to these duties were his obligations to greet visiting Soviet

military delegations and to participate in defense discussions with

Soviet commanders.

The percentage of military representation on the party Central

Committee was not reported officially, but the number was thought

to be small. It was clear that military officers with direct and primary

defense responsibilities maintained a low political profile. This was

well illustrated by the fact that Colonel General Jamsrangiyn Yondon, minister of defense in 1989, was not a member of the Central

Committee when he was selected for the senior government defense

post in 1982. The well-documented career of Yondon's predecessor, Jorantayn Abhia, was characteristic of a member of the Mongolian military elite. Abhia held several key positions successively

in police or militia work and in the court and procuracy system.

Senior military officers often filled the key positions in government

public security and in the civil and criminal justice system. In 1989

the minister of public security was Lieutenant General Agbaanjantsangiyn Jamsranjab, and the chief of state security was Lieutenant General B. Tsiyregdzen. Tsiyregdzen's duties included

suppressing anti-Soviet propaganda and counterespionage as well

as guarding against alleged Western subversion, particularly

through censorship of the mails.

Probably the greatest impact the military has had on the Mongolian political process has been indirect—through its organizational and ideological activities. Beginning with the militarist period

of leadership under Choybalsan and even in 1989, the military es- tablishment contributed to the formation in the popular consciousness of the concepts of state and national polity (see Modern

Mongolia, ch. 1). In addition, the army played a significant role in spreading literacy, and it served as an integrating agent by

spreading the national language to minority groups. In the 1970s

and 1980s, as a result of improvements in media and communications, the military probably has found it somewhat easier to fulfill

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Mongolia: A Country Study

the goal of producing a dedicated cadre of soldiers who will return

to civilian life. General Political Values and Attitudes

The political system became heavily regimented under com- munism and the organizational principle of democratic centralism.

Young and elderly citizens, urban and rural dwellers, skilled and

unskilled laborers all had to become fully involved in, and cognizant of, the goals and the ideological content of party programs.

Inevitably, the implementation of this political system has provoked

a variety of responses. Mongolians, now middle-aged and older,

who by 1959 had experienced collectivization and were deprived

of their animal herds and the freedom to roam in search of new

pastures, harbored resentment against the government's procedures

and limitations on their erstwhile freedoms. Any outright opposition was put down quickly, but negative feelings probably have

not been eradicated.

Support for the regime existed, and it was likely to continue in

the 1990s among those with the greatest stake in the success of its policies—for example, party and government cadres, economists,

and technocrats. The earlier sovietization of politics and society,

and the role of officials in that process, had given this group an

elevated status, but with the concomitant requirement that they

exhort the people to uphold the preferred values of conformity and

political orthodoxy at the expense of more traditional values and

spontaneity. Improvements in communications and transportation

as well as the opportunities for reaching a larger audience afforded

by increased literacy have permitted the communist regime and

its cadres more immediate contact with the populace. By the 1980s,

there were no more mass political purges, but the state machinery

had become more efficient and pervasive in organization. Its political influence was deeply felt throughout the country. How this system would fare under the reformist policies of openness and

democratization could not be assessed in mid- 1989.

Reportedly, some resistance to this method of rule—from Mongolian youths who were better educated, aware that change was

occurring, and anxious that even greater openness be permitted

was becoming evident. Politically, they seemed to advocate extending the trend toward democratization. They viewed democracy more as a human right than as a means for improving the political

system and its policies, by such methods as encouraging public criti- cism of cadre incompetence, poor management practices, and so

forth. Youth demands also may have been shared by the artistic community and by some members of the intelligentsia. The latter,

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Government and Politics

while saluting the de-Stalinization campaign ongoing in 1989, also may have wanted a more extensive reappraisal of Mongolian cul- ture and its heroes. It was difficult to assess how deep these feel- ings were, but observers doubted that they represented any

immediate threat to the regime's stability.

Foreign Policy

Mongolia's foreign policy must be viewed in the context of the

nation's landlocked position, sandwiched between the Soviet Union

and China. The country's survival and growth have largely depended on its leaders' adroit management of this sensitive and stra- tegic location. Too weak to act independentiy to hold encroachments

from both China and the Soviet Union in check, Mongolia's leaders have interpreted their national interests as being best served

by accepting the political direction and military support of Moscow.

Thus, for more than sixty years, the Soviet Union has been the

patron and the predominant force shaping Mongolian foreign affairs. In 1987 this Mongolian stance was expressed succinctly in

Batmonh's statement that his country was "grateful Soviet units were still guarding socialism in Mongolia."

Motivation and Goals

In 1989 the principal motivations driving Mongolia's foreign policy were the preservation of territorial integrity, together with the

projection of a substantial measure of political independence. Major

goals included expanding and modernizing the economy through

aid and trade arrangements, and extending diplomatic and eco- nomic contacts with the international community. During the 1970s

and 1980s, the opportunities afforded by Soviet economic aid and

assistance, along with those available through Comecon and the

Soviet military guardianship, continued to hold Mongolia firmly

within the Soviet orbit. Internationally, Mongolia often served as a Soviet proxy, representing the Soviet position when and where

needed.

By mid- 1989, some indications of changes in Mongolia's for- eign policy direction were visible, very likely in response to initia- tives taken by Soviet leader Gorbachev. Operating within the context of the distinct improvements being made in Sino-Soviet

relations, Mongolian leaders also began to demonstrate a more

relaxed attitude toward China. Furthermore, they seemed willing

to explore new relationships with other Asian countries and to ac- celerate contact and deepening relationships with Western and

Third World countries.

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Mongolia: A Country Study

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Foreign policy goals are pursued through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed in 1989 by Tserenpiliyn Gombosuren. The

trade aspects of foreign relations are carried out by the Ministry

of Foreign Economic Relations and Supply (see Foreign Economic Relations and Comecon, ch. 3). The power of the Ministry of

Foreign Affairs is limited to implementing foreign policies formulated by high-level party organizations. That Gombosuren was only a candidate member of the Central Committee underlines this fact. The formulation of foreign policy is done in the name of the party

Central Committee, and it is closely controlled by top party leaders, organizations, and departments. Foreign policy is formulated

by senior leaders in the Political Bureau who are well attuned to Soviet foreign policy preferences. In mid- 1989 Political Bureau

member and party secretary Namsray appeared to have responsibility for supervising foreign affairs. In addition, the party Central Committee has a subordinate department responsible for foreign

relations; the head of it in mid- 1989 was concurrently a member

of the Presidium of the People's Great Hural. He probably coor- dinated foreign policy matters with the chairman of the Standing

Commission for Foreign Affairs of the People's Great Hural, who

also happened to be a party secretary. In 1989 the minister of for- eign affairs was assisted in implementing foreign policy by a first deputy minister, two deputy ministers, and heads of specialized

departments. Some key departments believed to have been responsible for specific geographic areas were: number one, the Soviet

Union, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic (East

Germany), and Poland; number two, remaining European countries; number three, East Asia and Southeast Asia; and number

four, South Asia, West Asia, and Africa. Additional departments

handled cultural affairs, treaties and archives, relations with in- ternational organizations, legal affairs, protocol, the administration of diplomatic agencies, the press, and other matters. Foreign Relations

Soviet Union

In the late 1980s, the close relationship between Mongolia and

the Soviet Union was much the same as it had been since the 1920s.

Mongolian foreign policy stressed consolidating the ''fraternal alliance" with the Soviet Union and close cooperation with the

members of the Warsaw Pact and Comecon. The two countries

had direct links among ministries, agencies, departments, and party

organizations. The Soviet Union encouraged direct contacts

204
Detail of mosaic dedicated to Mongolian-Soviet unity, Ulaanbaatar

Courtesy Steve Mann

between Mongolia and the Buryatskaya Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and Tuvinskaya Autonomous Soviet Socialist

Republic as well as the Central Asian Soviet republics. By 1985

the Soviet Union had consulates in the cities of Choybalsan;

Darhan, where many Soviet-built factories were located; and

Erdenet, the site of a Mongolian-Soviet joint copper and molybdenum mining enterprise (see Industry, ch. 3). In August 1988, the

only Mongolian ambassadorships with incumbents serving concurrently on the party Central Committee were assignments to countries of major concern to the Soviet Union: Albania, Afghanistan,

East Germany, and Finland. The Mongolian ambassador to the

Soviet Union also served on the party Central Committee.

When Batmonh became general secretary of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, an event followed closely by Gorbachev's

election as general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet

Union, the two leaders pledged to uphold and to strengthen the

Mongolian-Soviet alliance. Gorbachev's "new thinking" in for- eign policy matters soon became evident, however, and it no doubt

raised major concerns, on the part of Mongolian leaders, particularly regarding a warming of relations between the Soviet Union

and China. Soviet foreign minister Eduard Shevardnadze visited

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Mongolia: A Country Study

Mongolia from January 23 to 25, 1986, shortly after celebrations

marking the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the 1966

Mongolian-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual

Assistance and its extension for ten years. Shevardnadze said that

"the period of strained relationships with China is now behind us. The Soviet Union is for normalizing and improving relations with

the Chinese republic on condition that the principle of not harming third countries be observed." One clear purpose of the Soviet

formula of "not harming third countries" was to reassure Mongolia that the Soviet Union did not plan initiatives toward China

that would compromise or endanger Mongolia's national security or expose that country to Chinese encroachments.

In July 1986, Gorbachev extended the new direction in foreign

affairs in a speech on Asian security delivered in Vladivostok. He

indicated Soviet interest in improved Moscow-Beijing relations,

and he included a plan to withdraw Soviet troops from Mongolia,

a major factor in Soviet diplomatic initiatives designed to meet

China's conditions for normalization of relations (see Threat Perception, ch. 5). Shortly after the Vladivostok initiative, Mongolian officials began

talks with United States diplomats concerning another attempt to improve relations. Ulaanbaatar probably viewed prospective ties with Washington as offering a greater degree of maneuverability

in the increasingly complex international setting in Asia. In January 1987, diplomatic ties were established with the United States,

and the Soviet Union announced its intention to withdraw one di- vision of troops from Mongolia. Both actions no doubt were the

subject of lengthy substantive talks between Soviet and Mongolian

leaders.

Mongolia further broadened its diplomatic horizons by hosting

delegations from twenty-one communist and workers' parties for the Consultative Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties of

Asia and the Pacific Region, the first regional gathering of this type,

in July 1986. The theme of this meeting was "peace, security and

good-neighborly cooperation in Asia and the Pacific region." By

hosting this meeting, Ulaanbaatar served Moscow's purposes of

underscoring Gorbachev's new interest in Asia—further highlighted

by the attendance of a high-powered Soviet delegation. China

declined to send a delegation, claiming that conditions were "not

ripe," and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North

Korea) did not attend either, probably as a gesture to China.

As Mongolia expanded its contacts in the international community, Gorbachev continued to extend his Asian initiatives, a development directly affecting Mongolia's national interests. In a

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Government and Politics

speech delivered on September 16, 1988, at the southeastern Si- berian city of Krasnoyarsk, Gorbachev presented a seven-point pro- gram designed to enhance security in the Asia-Pacific region and

to promote his view of a multipolar approach to resolving issues

in foreign relations. The so-called Krasnoyarsk initiative indicated

both Soviet intentions to play a major role in the region and its awareness that China also must be included in regional development plans. Observers speculated that the Soviets must have ex- pended considerable effort in reassuring Mongolian leaders that

Soviet proposals dealing with East Asia, particularly those involving China, did not threaten Mongolian national security.

The challenge for Mongolia's foreign policy makers was to comply with Soviet initiatives, about which they had little choice, but

to do so in a manner that suggested that Mongolia was acting as an independent country, shaping a foreign policy that served its national interests. At the same time, the Soviet Union could not

appear to be overlooking the interests of its ally Mongolia while

making its overtures to China. This mild restriction on Soviet behavior had helped to reassure Mongolia that continued Soviet protection and strategic support were reliable. In any case, Mongolian

compliance with the Soviet initiatives was evident in Gorbachev's

address to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on December 7, 1988. In it he announced that most Soviet troops stationed

in Mongolia would be withdrawn. Subsequently, in February 1989,

during talks between Batmonh and a Soviet deputy foreign minister,

the latter explained that discussions to resolve questions connected

with "the withdrawal from the territory of Mongolia of 75 per- cent of Soviet land forces and other military subunits would soon

begin." On March 7, 1989, the Soviets announced, probably as an additional concession to China on the eve of the May 1989 SinoSoviet summit, that withdrawal plans had been finalized.

China

Mongolian-Chinese relations historically have suffered because

of China's claims to "lost territory" and Mongolia's fear of China's

expansion because of overpopulation. Since 1984 improvement in

Mongolian relations with China has lagged behind the more rapid

advances in Sino-Soviet relations. An early indication of lessening

of tensions, however, came in July 1984 when Ulaanbaatar sent

to Beijing a delegation led by its deputy foreign minister, the first such visit in several years. The Mongolian representative met with

China's minister of foreign affairs to discuss developing bilateral

economic, cultural, trade, and technical relations. Also, the offi- cials signed a document verifying the first joint inspection of the

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Mongolia: A Country Study

Mongolian-Chinese border. The warming atmosphere continued

with the signing of an agreement on civil aviation in December

1985. followed by the resumption of direct Beijing-Ulaanbaatar air service in June 1986. A five-year agreement increasing levels of

trade was signed in April 1986.

Batmonh gave official sanction to improvements in MongolianChinese relations in his address to the May 1986 Nineteenth Congress. Displaying caution and restraint, Batmonh declared that

Mongolia was pursuing consistendy its ''scrupulous policy'' of nor- malizing relations with China, with the qualification that the rela- tionship should be based on equality and "non-interference in another's internal affairs." This evident uncertainty concerning

national security was reflected in Mongolian press statements, just

prior to Gorbachev's July 1986 address that announced Soviet troop

withdrawals were under consideration. The press stressed that the

disposition of Soviet troops stationed in Mongolia was an internal

matter between Mongolia and the Soviet Union, and that it was

not a subject for discussion during any Sino-Soviet consultations.

An article appearing in the press shortly after Gorbachev's speech

captured the Mongolian sentiment that ' 'no country which borders on China feels secure." Batmonh' s initiatives were followed by an August 1986 visit to Mongolia of a vice foreign minister described as the highest-ranking

Chinese official to visit Mongolia in twenty years. This important

meeting resulted in the signing of a consular agreement, the first since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the countries in 1949. This agreement was followed in 1987 by several key

visits and events: a high-level delegation from China's legislative

body, the National People's Congress, visited Mongolia in June;

this visit was reciprocated in September 1988 by a delegation from

the People's Great Hural. the first since 1960; a scientific and tech- nical cooperative program for the 1987 to 1988 period was ratified in July: and a major Mongolian friendship delegation visited China

in September 1987 —reciprocated by a Chinese friendship delegation that went to Mongolia in July 1988.

Other important points of discussion at the August 1986 meeting reportedly were "certain international issues of common con- cern." Japanese press reports indicated that the Mongolians had

rejected a Chinese request at the meeting that all Soviet troops be

withdrawn from Mongolia. In China's view, the presence of Soviet

troops in Mongolia was a key 1 ' obstacle

'

' to normalization of rela- tions between China and the Soviet Union. China, maintaining

that only a total troop withdrawal would be satisfactory, refused

to back down from this position. From the Chinese perspective.

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Government and Politics

Mongolia once had been under China's domination; it was therefore particularly galling that Soviet troops were now massed in that area and were directed against China.

In 1988 security concerns and Mongolia's image as an independent country were especially visible in its foreign policy vis-a-vis

China. The Mongolian minister of foreign affairs remarked in

November that significant progress had been made in MongolianChinese relations, but he stressed that any further Soviet withdrawals from Mongolia were a matter for deliberation by the Mongolian government. Mongolia's message was that this was not a

unilateral Soviet issue. Following Gorbachev's UN address in

December, Mongolia announced that Soviet troop withdrawals had

been set in accordance with an agreement reached between Mongolia and the Soviet Union and had resulted from "the positive

shift that had occurred in Asia and on the international arena as a whole." Bilateral cooperation between Mongolia and China on

security issues had advanced to the point that on November 28,

1988, a treaty on a border control system was signed in Beijing.

The Chinese side described the purpose of the treaty as being to maintain stability in the border areas. The stationing of Soviet troops on Mongolia's border with China

remained a major impediment both to improved Sino-Soviet rela- tions and to Mongolian-Chinese relations. Nevertheless, by early

1989 Soviet assurances that Mongolian security would not be compromised, complemented by Mongolia's new relationship with the

United States and enhanced international status, apparently allowed

Mongolia's leaders to accept additional Soviet efforts to remove

the Chinese "obstacle" of border troops. Sino-Soviet consultations,

in preparation for the May 1989 summit between Gorbachev and

Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping resulted in the retention of Soviet

troops in Mongolia—a requirement, no doubt of Mongolia

although a 75 percent force reduction was to occur at some unspecified time in the future. Whether this action would satisfy China

fully was still unclear in mid- 1989. What was clear was that Mongolia's status would change significantly, with a much reduced level of protection from the Soviet Union. In addition, with increasing

Chinese influence and involvement in Mongolia, Soviet motivation for providing larger aid and assistance packages might be

diminished.

Foreign observers assumed that the agenda of the May 1989

Sino-Soviet summit was a key subject for discussion during Minister

of Foreign Affairs Tserenpiliyn Gombosuren's eight-day visit to Beijing, beginning in late March. With Sino-Soviet relations

showing significant improvement, and the normalization of

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Mongolia: A Country Study

Mongolian-Chinese relations being in practice a by-product of these

developments, the expansion of Mongolian-Chinese relations might

be expected to accelerate. The Beijing meeting of foreign ministers,

the first in twenty- seven years, resulted in agreement to establish a joint commission on cooperation in economy, trade, and science

and technology; on allowing visa-free travel between the two countries; and on restoring a Mongolian consulate general in China's

Nei Monggol Autonomous Region (Inner Mongolia—see Glossary) . United States The United States and Mongolia established diplomatic relations on January 27, 1987, after a period of "mutual flirtation" when

negotiations were conducted in New York by the two nations' UN

missions. United States officials were primarily interested in es- tablishing ties because of Mongolia's strategic and geographic position in the Sino-Soviet relationship. Washington had considered

establishing diplomatic relations in the past, but it had deferred

to the Guomindang (Kuomintang in Wade-Giles), or Chinese Nationalist, government in Taiwan, which still claimed Mongolia as part of China. In the early 1970s, negotiations were reopened, and

they were almost completed when the proceedings were broken off by Mongolia because of problems between the United States and

the Soviet Union, including the Second Indochina War (1963-75).

The establishment of Mongolian-United States relations reflected improvements in the United States-Soviet relationship, and it was

consistent with Gorbachev's interest in dealing with all states that

have substantial interests in Asia. The United States gained the

diplomatic recognition of a strategically located country in Asia.

The new Mongolian-United States relationship was assisted by the

establishment of ties between China and the United States. For

Mongolia the new relationship has given greater credibility to its political independence and sovereign status and has increased its foreign policy options.

The United States embassy in Ulaanbaatar opened in April 1988.

Because of continued inadequate facilities, however, the ambassador to Mongolia was the only United States chief of mission who

was resident in Washington. By 1989 the ambassador had traveled

to Mongolia several times in the space of a year in order to carry

out state business.

Other Countries

By mid- 1989, Mongolia had diplomatic relations with 104 countries. From 1921 until 1948, Mongolia had only one significant

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Government and Politics

diplomatic tie, that with the Soviet Union. The schedule followed

by Mongolia in recognizing, and being recognized by, other states demonstrated the general character of its foreign policy and relations. The first states to be recognized were those run by communist

parties and established after World War II. In 1955 India became

the first noncommunist state to be accorded diplomatic recognition. By 1965 nine Asian states, along with twenty-four from Europe and Africa, had been recognized. The decade of the 1970s was the most active diplomatic period; forty-six countries established relations with Mongolia.

In mid- 1989 only seventeen countries, however, maintained missions in Ulaanbaatar. They included Britain, Japan, India, China,

the Soviet Union, and East European nations. France closed its mission because of difficulties in staffing and expenses. Most of

the other countries with continuing diplomatic relations concurrentiy accredited their ambassadors to the Soviet Union—resident

in Moscow, or their ambassadors to China—resident in Beijing.

In a similar fashion, Mongolian diplomats were responsible for diplomatic affairs with several countries: the ambassador to Japan—resident in Tokyo, also handled matters concerning Malaysia and Australia. The Mongolian ambassador to Britain, resident

in London, was concurrently the ambassador to Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

Mongolia established diplomatic relations with Japan in 1972.

Modest economic and cultural ties existed between the two countries in 1989, although Batmonh occasionally expressed interest in

expanding relations. The Mongolian minister of foreign affairs visited Japan in May 1987, seeking exchanges in scientific, technical, and political areas. Agricultural biotechnology was identified as a key field for cooperation. The chairman of the People's

Great Hural went to Japan to attend the February 1989 funeral

of Emperor Hirohito, Mongolia's wartime enemy (see Economic

Gradualism and National Defense, 1932-45, ch. 1). After diplomatic ties had been established in 1955, MongolianIndian relations were strengthened by India's strong support for Mongolia's candidacy in the UN. During the 1970s, bilateral re- lations were friendly; they were circumscribed only by differences

in the domestic and the social systems of the two countries and by

the absence of substantial people-to-people contact. In 1981 an Agreement on Cooperation in the Fields of Culture and Science was signed, followed by the establishment in 1981 of a Center for Indian Studies in the Mongolian Academy of Sciences. Batmonh'

state visit to India in March 1989 further strengthened bilat- eral ties. He and Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi discussed

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Mongolia: A Country Study

Asia-Pacific security issues. The visit produced an agreement on

cooperation in science and technology.

International Organizations

Mongolia became a member of the UN in October 1961 . It had

permanent delegations resident in New York and in Geneva,

Switzerland, and was active in the UN Education, Scientific, and

Cultural Organization, as well as these groups: the World Health

Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Industrial Development Organization, the International Atomic Energy

Agency, the Disarmament Commission, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the World Meteorological Organization.

In 1989 Mongolia also belonged to the Economic Council for Asia and the Far East, the Interparliamentary Union, the World

Peace Council, the International Labour Organization, the World

Federation of Trade Unions, the International Telecommunications Union, the Universal Postal Union, the International Association for Mongol Studies, and the International Red Cross.

Mongolia was a member of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research,

headquartered in Moscow, and the Organization for the Collaboration of Railways, located at Warsaw, Poland.

In June 1962, Mongolia joined Comecon, an economic association binding the economies of the communist states of Eastern

Europe and the Soviet Union. Mongolia and Vietnam were the

only Asian states in that association. Afghanistan sent only observers

to Comecon meetings. Mongolia participated fully in all Comecon commissions that related to its own economy, and its Eighth

Five-Year Plan (1986-90) was adopted only after it was harmonized

fully with the economic plans of the other member states (see Socialist Framework of the Economy, ch. 3). The Media

Mongolia's approach toward the development and the dissemination of information and its policies concerning the degree of access

to, and influence allowed from, other countries were undergoing

significant change in the late 1980s as, particularly in 1989, offi- cial views concerning themes, events, and leading personalities in

Mongolia's recent and early history were undergoing substantial

revision. Many of these new interpretations were opening the way

to further research on the Mongolian cultural heritage, an area

previously regarded as sensitive because of its potential for arous- ing "nationalistic" emotions. Echoing similar events in the Soviet

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Government and Politics

Union, these developments were in keeping with the political trend

toward openness and democratization.

Information Policy

At the Nineteenth Party Congress in 1986, Batmonh described

the media as powerful " tools of openness" that were "to influence

the formation of public opinion, foster a creative atmosphere in

society, and inspire an active approach to life in the individual."

Recognizing the chief role of the media as being to educate and

to inform as well as to direct the population toward the goals and

program developed by the party, Batmonh and the senior party

leadership also appeared to be using media channels for improving the performance of party and government organizations. There was a new emphasis on exposing the shortcomings in economic

performance and on making "the real state of affairs" known. In

December 1986, Batmonh launched an attack on "bureaucracy,

stagnation and passivity," calling instead for "a new and creatively

courageous approach to work in an atmosphere of openness, frankness, justness and principledness." By mid- 1987, the press included

exchanges of letters between readers and responsible officials dis- cussing examples of bureaucracy and government inefficiency.

At the key December 1988 Central Committee plenary session,

Batmonh said that the media needed to foster in people "a scientific world outlook and further raise their social consciousness."

He also extended the scope of il tod (openness), Mongolia's ver- sion of glasnost, to include a critical reappraisal of questions about

Mongolian history and society by filling in the so-called "blank

spots." In addition to criticisms of Tsedenbal, Political Bureau reso- lutions emanating from the plenary session stressed the importance

of Mongolia's cultural heritage. In a major departure from the past,

the party was instructed to preserve the national culture carefully

and to transmit it to the next generation. Even Chinggis Khan,

whom the Soviet Union repeatedly had identified as a "reactionary figure," was given an honored place in Mongolian history as founder of the nation. A two-volume biography of Chinggis, published in China's neighboring Nei Monggol Autonomous Region

in 1987, reportedly was in great demand by young Mongolians.

Underlying the party's new information policy—espousing crit- ical thinking, intellectual vitality, and national pride—was the in- tention to inspire and to involve the entire population in the party's

developmental program. The media carried the party message

throughout society through press, radio, television, publishing outlets, vocational and social clubs, films, and libraries. The selec- tion of thematic material was being supervised closely in the late

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Mongolia: A Country Study

1980s, but, in comparison with the Tsedenbal years, a relaxed at- mosphere toward the media was apparent.

Major Channels

Channels of communication were government-owned and

government-operated; information and propaganda were woven

together in news, educational material, and entertainment. The

most important body directing the media was the Press Agitation

and Propaganda Section (Agitprop) of the party Central Committee. Agitprop, in conjunction with the Council of Ministers, published Unen (Truth), established in 1920. It was the most widely

read newspaper; in 1988 it had a circulation of 170,000 and was

published six days a week. The weekly publication of the Unen

newspaper organization was Shine Hodoo (New Countryside), aimed

at the rural population. Unen also published eighteen issues annually of the popular satirical magazine, Toshuul (Woodpecker), which

featured cartoons and light reading material. Namyin Amdral (Party

Life), with a circulation of 28,000, has served since 1923 as the

Central Committee's monthly ideological organ. Ediyn Dzasgiyn,

Asuudal (Economic Questions), also published by the Central Committee, carried speeches and documents concerned with political

and economic affairs and was published in eighteen issues annually.

Another party periodical, Uhuulagch (Agitator), emphasized propaganda material and was published bimonthly, with a circulation

of 34,000 in the late 1980s.

Communications media were directed by overlapping and in- terlocking government commissions and committees of the People's Great Hural, the Council of Ministers, and the Mongolian

People's Revolutionary Party. The Presidium of the People's Great

Hural published a quarterly journal, Ardyn Tor (People's Power),

with a circulation of 1 1 ,000. The Ministry of Culture, together with

the Union of Mongolian Writers, published a weekly periodical

called Utga, Dzohiol Urlag (Literature and Art). The Ministry of

Defense and the Ministry of Public Security jointly produced Ulaan

Od (Red Star), a biweekly, and Ardyn Armi (People's Army), a quarterly magazine. The Mongolian Academy of Sciences and the Mongolian Society for the Dissemination of Knowledge published a bimonthly popular science magazine, Shinjleh Uhaan, Amidral

(Science and Life). Finally, the Office of the Procurator of the

Republic, the Supreme Court, and the Ministry ofJustice collaborated in the publication of the quarterly journal Sotsialist Huul' Yos

(Socialist Legality).

In 1987, a total of almost 130 million copies of 35 national

newspapers and 38 periodicals were being published. In addition,

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Government and Politics

there were nineteen provincial newspapers, mainly published bi- weekly by provincial party and government executive committees.

The cities of Ulaanbaatar, Nalayh, Erdenet, and Darhan also had

their own newspapers. The two major news agencies were Mongol Tsahilgaan Medeeniy Agentlag (MONTSAME—Mongolian

Telegraph Agency) and Mongolpress. The latter published fort- nightly news bulletins in Russian, English, and French. In 1987

each household reportedly received four to six publications. Another

body, the Media Information Center, was established in February 1989, reportedly to expand the range of information available

to the public by providing members of the press and the media

with increased access to high party and government officials. Various mass organizations also had publishing arms. The offi- cial organ of the Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League,

Dzaluuchudyn Unen (Youth Truth), was published biweekly and car- ried league speeches and documents. Other youth journals included

Dzalgamjlagch (Successor) and Dzaluu Uye (Young Generation). The

Central Council of the Sukhe Bator Mongolian Pioneers Organization, together with the Youth League Central Committee, published 84 issues annually of Pioneriyn Unen (Pioneers' Truth) and

was circulated to 175,000 subscribers.

The leading publications of the Central Council of the Mongolian

Trade Unions was Hodolmor (Labor), published three times a week,

and a bimonthly magazine entitied Mongolyn Uyldberchniy Eblel (Mongolian Trade Unions). The publishing organ of the Federation of

Democratic Women was the quarterly magazine Mongolyn Emegteuchuud (Mongolian Women) . The Union of Mongolian Writers

published the bimonthly political and literary journal, Tsog (Spark).

The Union of Mongolian Artists and the Ministry of Culture published a quarterly journal, Soyol, Urlag (Culture and Art). Another

quarterly journal published by the union was Dursleh Urlag (Fine

Arts).

Most tides of Mongolian publications were translations of the

titles of counterpart Soviet publications, which served as models

for format and content. A Russian-language newspaper, Novosty

Mongolii (News of Mongolia) published 26,000 copies, three times

weekly; a Chinese-language journal, MengguXiaoxi (News of Mongolia), was published weekly. Publications in other languages were

scarce in 1989, although the situation was improving. In 1986 the

Mongolia Express Agency for Publication Data was established to aid in the distribution of publications and bulletins published in

several foreign languages.

Radio and television were available through Ulaanbaatar Radio

and Mongoltelevidz, both of which were supervised by the State

215
Mongolia: A Country Study

Committee for Information, Radio, and Television. In December

1988, a new radio and television center, built with Soviet aid,

opened in Ulaanbaatar. It was estimated that in 1989 the center would increase the volume of broadcasting by 150 percent. Almost

every family, including those residing in rural areas, had access

to a radio receiver in 1989. In 1985 Mongolia had 382 broadcasting centers, providing radiobroadcasts to more than 90 percent of

the population and television broadcasts to more than 60 percent.

By 1987 radiobroadcasts were available eighteen hours daily through

two programs, with broadcasts in Mongol, Kazakh, Russian,

English, French, and Chinese to sixty countries. A 1987 poll of

listeners and viewers indicated that the primary sources of news

information for this audience were: radio, 66 percent; the press, 21 percent; and television, 12 percent.

By 1988 an estimated 64 percent of families residing in Ulaanbaatar possessed television sets. National television broadcasts were

available five times a week, or for 15,000 hours annually. Broadcasting also was available from Orbita, a Soviet satellite communications system that relays television broadcasts. Almost 60 percent

of the Mongolian population viewed television by late 1987.

Mongolian-originated television was available in Ulaanbaatar,

Erdenet, and Darhan; in fifteen aymag centers; and in forty-eight

towns and somon centers. The Orbita broadcasting was more limited.

The State Publishing House and the Mongolian Academy of

Sciences supervised publishing. Each year they produced a prospectus of books to be published that year. The Sukhe Bator Publishing House produced 70 percent of Mongolia's printed matter,

including 400 book titles. There also were publishing facilities in each aymag, and there were other publishing houses in Ulaanbaatar. Russian-language books always dominated the foreign category,

but there also were prose and verse from France, the United States,

and India, which offered a view of the noncommunist world. By

1985 Mongolia had 983 libraries housing more than 13 million

volumes, most of which were located at the State Library in Ulaanbaatar.

Foreign Sources

The major foreign source for media information in the late 1980s,

as it had been since the 1920s, was the Soviet Union. Foreign news

consisted mainly of edited material available through the Soviet news agency, Telegrafnoye Agentstvo Sovetskovo Soyuza (TASS).

Other foreign bureaus located in Ulaanbaatar were the Soviet

Agentstvo Pechanti Novosti (APN) and the East German All- gemeiner Deutscher Nachrichtendienst (ADN). MONTSAME had

216
Government and Politics

a staff based in, or visiting and reporting from, all capitals of its communist allies. Foreign newspapers, magazines, and books came

from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. No newspapers from

the United States or Britain were being distributed in Ulaanbaatar in the late 1980s. Also, distribution channels reportedly have

been faulted for causing lengthy delays in deliveries to subscribers

and readers. English-language materials include Mongolia Today, a magazine geared to foreign consumption, published monthly by

the Mongolian embassy in New Delhi and distributed in Mongolia.

The existing political system, ruled by the Mongolian People's

Revolutionary Party, was firmly established in Mongolia in the

late twentieth century. Beginning in 1989, however, major revisions of the country's government and party structure were being

undertaken, patterned after reforms going on in the Soviet Union.

Although it was too early to assess the situation adequately in

mid- 1989, these measures were expected to meet with bureaucratic

resistance, as had occurred in other communist party-ruled states undergoing reform. Still there were certain factors—political and

international—that might be expected to work in favor of the re- form program's success: a stable political leadership, a tradition

of political conservatism and conformity, and an international cli- mate that continued to lessen external pressures on Mongolia. The

emerging relaxation in internal politics and the thaw in key exter- nal foreign relations might, if they lasted, afford Mongolian leaders valuable opportunities to establish a sense of national identity

and some measure of cultural authenticity, both probably essential to Mongolia's revitalization and revival in the 1990s.

* * *

Mongolia's contemporary politics have not been so widely studied

by Western scholars as have the traditional historical subjects. A

shortage of qualified linguists, the inaccessibility of the country to foreign scholars, and the fact that Mongolia has not played a major

independent role in international affairs, were the main reasons

for the dearth of scholarship and reporting. The most recent and

inclusive source in the English language is Mongolia: Politics, Economics, and Society hy AlanJ. Sanders. Sanders also reports frequently on all aspects of Mongolia in the Far Eastern Economic Review. Victor

P. Petrov's, Mongolia: A Profile, although dated, is also helpful. Useful articles and annual survey articles dealing with Mongolian politics appear in Asian Survey. Robert A. Rupen's How Mongolia Is Really Ruled explores the dynamics of Mongolian politics and demonstrates the importance of external factors, mainly the Soviet Union.

217
Mongolia: A Country Study

The primary source on Mongolian legislation and legal documentation was William E. Butler's The Mongolian Legal System. A detailed

study of the Mongolian Constitution is provided by George Ginsburgs in "Mongolia's 'Socialist' Constitution," in Pacific Affairs. Mongolian foreign policy matters were dealt with in Thomas

E. Stolper's China, Taiwan, and the Offshore Islands, and in more detail in the annual Asian Survey articles and in Robert A. Scalapi- no's Major Power Relations in Northeast Asia. The United States government's Joint Publications Research Service publishes translations of selected Mongol-language and Russian-language material.

Mongol radiobroadcasts and periodicals are translated and published in the United States government's Foreign Broadcast In- formation Service, Daily Report: East Asia. The annual editions of

the American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies and the

Bibliography ofAsian Studies also should be consulted for current publications on Mongolian government and politics. (For further in- formation and complete citations, see Bibliography.)

218
Chapter 5. National Security
Monument dedicated to the Revolutionary

Mongolian Tank Brigade of World War II
THE RICH MONGOL MILITARY tradition reached its highest

point during the thirteenth century, when a vast empire stretch- ing across Asia and into Europe was established and sustained by

well-organized, disciplined Mongol cavalry. Although Mongol

political power soon waned, and the empire disintegrated, the reputation of the prowess of the Mongol cavalry remained well into the

nineteenth century.

Modern Mongolian military practices trace their origin to the

1921 Mongolian Revolution, in which Mongolian rebel forces,

under the leadership of Damdiny Sukhe Bator and Horloyn Choybalsan, joined with a major detachment of the Russian Fifth Red

Army to defeat Chinese and Russian White Guard forces. This

alliance marked the beginning of a long and close relationship between the Mongolian and Soviet armed forces. In the 1930s, Mongolian forces once again joined with Soviet

forces to suppress internal rebellion and to guard their borders

against Japanese incursions. In July and August 1939, Mongolian

armed forces with their Soviet allies accomplished their proudest

feat: defeating Japanese forces and ending Japanese provocations

along the border. Mongolia takes pride in its economic support

of Soviet military forces during World War II and its part in the

August 1945 defeat of Japanese forces in Manchuria (see Glossary).

Soviet military support greatly increased during the 1960s and

the 1970s, following the Sino-Soviet split and increased Mongolian

concern over the Chinese threat. Although Soviet military support

decreased significantly in the 1980s, when Sino-Soviet and SinoMongolian relations improved, exclusive defense ties with the Soviet

Union continued, as did Soviet military training and the acquisition of Soviet military equipment.

In 1 989 internal security was maintained by the national police

force, called the militia. The structure of the courts and the

procuraturates was based on the 1960 Constitution, and the 1963

Code of Criminal Procedure set out the rules for their operation.

The 1961 Criminal Code determined which acts were criminal and

the punishment allotted for those crimes, placing heavy emphasis on crimes against the state and crimes against socialist ownership.

All of these documents were under review and were expected to be revised or replaced.

221
Mongolia: A Country Study

The Armed Forces

Historical Traditions

Mongol military power reached its apex in the thirteenth century. Under the leadership of Chinggis Khan and two generations

of his descendants, the Mongol tribes and various Inner Asian

steppe people were united in an efficient and formidable military

state that briefly held sway from the Pacific Ocean to Central Europe

(see The Era of Chinggis Khan, 1206-27, ch. 1). In an age when opposing armies were little more than feudal

levies around a nucleus of well-armed and well-trained, but rela- tively immobile and inflexible, knights, the Mongol armies were

the dominant force on the battlefields of Asia and Europe. Mongol forces, made up of skilled warriors well trained in marksmanship and horsemanship, were characterized by absolute discipline, a well-understood chain of command, an excellent communications

system, superior mobility, and a unified and extremely effective

tactical doctrine and organization.

As the control of the descendants of Chinggis weakened and as old tribal divisions reemerged, internal dissension fragmented the

Mongol empire, and the Mongols' military power in Inner Asia

dwindled. The tactics and techniques of the Mongol warrior

who could deliver shock action with lance and sword, or fire ac- tion with the compound bow from horseback or on foot—continued

in use, nevertheless, through the end of the nineteenth century.

The mounted warrior's effectiveness decreased, however, with the

growing use of firearms by the Manchu armies beginning in the

late seventeenth century (see Caught Between the Russians and

the Manchus, ch. 1). Mongol leaders in the late sixteenth century, and later their Manchu overlords, encouraged the spread of Tibetan Buddhism

(Lamaism—see Glossary). Its passive religious doctrine gradually

diluted the warlike qualities of the Mongols and encouraged between 30 and 50 percent of the male population to escape military

service by entering monasteries (see Buddhism, ch. 2). To keep

the Mongols militarily weak, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty

(1644-1911) downgraded the hereditary princes and recognized the- ocracy as the local government of many Mongol areas. The Mongols were divided further by intertribal warfare fought with

traditional means and by revolts against the Qing. Nevertheless,

the Qing continued to call up Mongolian levies to help quell re- bellions in actions against foreign invaders in China in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Mongols fought in the Taiping

Rebellion (1851-65), in the Nianfei peasant revolt in northern

222
National Security

China in the 1850s and 1860s, against the British and French in

1860, against Muslim rebels in the 1860s and 1870s, in the SinoJapanese War (1894-95), and in the Boxer Uprising of 1900. They

were employed as light cavalry and were considered the best of the

traditional troops. Their style of fighting had become obsolete,

however, because foreign troops and increasing numbers of Chinese

units used firearms and modern tactics. Mongolia's nomadic econ- omy could not produce guns, and the Qing would not permit their

acquisition.

The memory of Chinggis, his descendants, and their military

domination of Asia remains. Although litde attention has been paid

to Mongol military exploits after that period, popular legends are

filled with accounts of violent opposition to foreign oppressors, such

as the usurious Chinese trader and his armed guards, or the local Qing tax collector. Beginning of Modern Military Practices, 1911-21

In terms of a consciously expressed military tradition, modern

Mongolian military history began in 1911 with the autonomy of

Outer Mongolia (see Glossary) and the establishment of a newstyle army with Russian military assistance. Russia, after its dis- astrous defeat in the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War, noted the

modernization of the Chinese army and realized the need for a

buffer between a resurgent China and Russia's tenuous lifeline to eastern Siberia, the Trans-Siberian Railway. Consequently, Russia looked with favor on Outer Mongolia's efforts to free itself of

Chinese rule in 1911. The tsar received a Mongolian delegation

in August 1911, and he agreed to furnish arms and ammunition

to Outer Mongolia. When the Chinese revolution occurred in

October, the Mongolians proclaimed their freedom, receiving diplomatic support from Russia (see The End of Independence, ch. 1). In 1912 a small Russian military mission arrived in Yihe Huree

(present-day Ulaanbaatar—see Glossary) to train a Mongolian army

of conscripts furnished by the ruling nobles. As increments of this force were trained, they were sent as first priority to the Chinese

frontier. About half the army was retained near Yihe Huree as a general reserve. In the summer of 1912, elements of this fledgling

army fought their first battle, forcing the surrender of a Chinese

garrison at Hovd in western Mongolia. On November 3, 1912, a secret Mongolian-Russian agreement supported Mongolia's claim

for its own national army and promised to prohibit Chinese troops

in Mongolia.

The Mongolian government of monks and nobility lacked

both the funds and the will to pay for such an armed force. The

223
Mongolia: A Country Study

Mongolians, who wanted the Chinese to leave, were disappointed

by the Sino-Russian agreement of November 1913, which recognized Chinese suzerainty over Outer Mongolia and substituted the

vaguer concept of autonomy for the Mongolian claim to independence. In addition, not all the nobility, particularly not those in

western Outer Mongolia, willingly accepted Yihe Huree's hegemony over their territories, and the Chinese initially held Hovd. The

new national state still did not see the need for a modern armed

force for its preservation, seemingly relying on Russia's diplomatic

support and promises, as well as on its own estimate that revolution- torn China was little to be feared.

In February 1913, Russia granted the Mongolian government

a loan of 2 million rubles (then equivalent to about US$1 million)

for the maintenance and training of an army consisting of two cavalry regiments with a machine gun company, a four-gun battery

of artillery, and 1 ,900 soldiers and officers. The loan and a Russian

military mission did not solve the problem. The Russians promptly

made a new loan of 3 million rubles, but this time they sent a Russian financial adviser to control the expenditures.

Russia's objective of creating a Mongolian self-defense and in- ternal security capability encountered further difficulties in 1913.

Freedom-loving Mongolian recruits did not relish the idea of two

years of barracks life under harsh discipline. Furthermore, the Russian colonel in charge insisted on infantry drills, which were anathema to hard-riding nomadic cavalry. The desertion rate was

high, and one unit actually mutinied against its Russian instructors, who called out the Russian Cossack Legation Guard to suppress the uprising. The Mongolian government's lack of interest

in an effective military force further plagued the Russian effort; for the most part, misfits and sick men were sent as recruits.

Mongolian irritation at the harshness of the Russian instructors

and the constant Russian pressures for government moral and

material support resulted in the one-year agreement's being allowed

to lapse on its termination date. Russia won reluctant Mongolian

agreement to its being allowed to maintain 1,000 troops and thus

to reduce its military mission by only half; however, by the end

of 1914, continued resentment against the Russian instructors and

reluctance to support a regular army forced the recall of the military mission.

World War I diverted Russia's attention from Mongolia. Russia's principal effort with respect to Mongolia and China was to

call a tripartite meeting in Kyakhta, on the Siberian side of the

Mongolian-Russian border, in 1915. Chinese and Mongolian

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National Security

representatives attended with considerable reluctance, but eventually a treaty resulted (see Period of Autonomy, 1911-21, ch. 1). Its principal military effect was to limit Chinese forces in Mongolia to a 200-strong guard for the residence of the Chinese high

representative at Yihe Huree. Between 1914 and 1919, the Mongolian army languished, but it retained some semblance of order.

During these years, the expenditures for the army varied from 20

to 25 percent of the total government budget. Although an agent

of the Communist International (see Glossary), also called the

Comintern, said while visiting Yihe Huree in 1919 that there was

no army, 2,000 troops were actually on the rolls. The Chinese took advantage of the Russian preoccupation with

their own revolution at home to reinforce their consular guard at Yihe Huree in 1918—in violation of the 1915 Treaty of Kyakhta.

The Russians protested, but with the collapse of effective White

Guard forces in Siberia in late 1919, the Chinese brought in 3,000 more troops. In October 1919, General Xu Shucheng arrived with an army of 4,000 (later increased to 10,000); he suppressed the

autonomous government, carrying out numerous executions, loot- ings, and other atrocities. Thus the army of autonomous Mongolia came to an end after a scant eight years of tenuous existence.

The army was to live on, however, in a small cadre of demobilized Russian-trained soldiers that was led by Sukhe Bator and

aspired to again free Mongolia from Chinese rule. Sukhe Bator—whose name means Ax Hero—was poor and jobless when he was called up at the age of nineteen as one of the first conscripts for the new army in 1912. His lack of wealth and position reportedly was more than compensated for by intelligence and

vigor. Sukhe Bator soon became a junior noncommissioned officer (NCO). During border clashes with the Chinese, he distinguished

himself in combat and was promoted to senior NCO rank. As a member of a machine gun company, a technical and prestigious

assignment for that time, he was associated closely with Russian

instructors, and he learned some Russian. He also reportedly was

a natural leader, liked and respected by his peers, and he was an

accomplished practical soldier.

In late 1918, the recently demobilized Sukhe Bator, anticipating the return of the Chinese, formed a group of like-minded army

friends to plan a new revolution and encouraged discharged sol- diers to await his call. In November 1919, under the aegis of Russian Bolshevik agents in Yihe Huree, Sukhe Bator's group joined

with a similar small group of revolutionaries led by Choybalsan.

In 1920 Sukhe Bator and Choybalsan, with about fifty followers,

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Mongolia: A Country Study

escaped the returning Chinese forces and moved to Siberia where

they received further military training.

As Bolshevik victories grew, some opposing White Guard troops

retreated into Outer Mongolia, where they were supported and

encouraged by Japanese forces in Manchuria and eastern Siberia.

The largest White Guard band was 5,000 strong and was led by

Baron Roman Nicolaus von Ungern-Sternberg. After an abortive

attack on Yihe Huree in October 1920, von Ungern-Sternberg at- tacked again in February, drove out the Chinese troops, and

declared an independent Mongolia.

In February 1921, Sukhe Bator, Choybalsan, and their followers were joined in Irkutsk by a Mongolian delegation from Moscow.

In March 1921, they moved to Kyakhta, where they formed the

Mongolian People's Party and a provisional national government.

Sukhe Bator was named minister of war. The partisan forces, now

numbering 400, were combined to form the Mongolian People's

Revolutionary Army, with Sukhe Bator as commander in chief and

Choybalsan as commissar.

In mid-March 1921, Sukhe Bator drove the Chinese out of the

trading settlement now known as Amgalanbaatar across the

Mongolian-Russian border from Kyakhta, and he established a

provisional capital under the new name of Altanbulag. In April

1921, the provisional Mongolian government announced the conscription of all males older than nineteen in the territory under their

control. At the same time, they asked for the assistance of the Russian Red Army in opposing the White Guards.

Von Ungern-Sternberg' s force struck north against the new

Bolshevik- sponsored government in May. The provisional government, assisted by a division- size task force from the Fifth Red Army,

resisted. The White Guard offensive began May 22, 1921, and

Altanbulag was attacked June 6, 1921 . The Red Army force divided

to meet this two-pronged attack; there was a Mongolian contingent in each column, one under Sukhe Bator at Altanbulag, and

the other under Choybalsan. The attacks were repulsed, and the

combined Red Army-Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army

force swept toward Yihe Huree. Yihe Huree was captured on

July 6, 1921, and it was renamed Niyslel—capital—Huree. A

provisional national government was proclaimed on July 11, 1921

,

under close Bolshevik supervision. Von Ungern-Sternberg escaped

with a remnant of the White Guards. In late August 1921, Mongolians in his own forces seized him and turned him over to the

Red Army for execution (see Revolutionary Transformation,

1921-24, ch. 1).

226
Headquarters of Mongolian partisan army, March 1921, near Altanbulag

Courtesy Institute of Party History, Ulaanbaatar

The Mongolians are extremely proud of these revolutionary feats. On every public patriotic occasion—such as the anniversary of the

founding of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army on March

18, 1921, the day marking the expulsion of Chinese forces from

Amgalanbaatar—speeches of national leaders invariably refer glowingly to the events of 1921 and to the virtues of the participants,

as well as to the fraternal help of the Red Army. Sukhe Bator died

suddenly, and, some thought, mysteriously, in 1923 while still a young man. The tragedy of his early death assisted in his immortalization as the great young hero of the revolution. A heroic- size equestrian statue of Suhke Bator stands in the main square of Ulaanbaatar (Red Hero).

The Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army of Sukhe Bator

and Choybalsan provided a convenient patriotic symbol to inspire

Mongolians and established a new military tradition. This army

also formed the nucleus of the eventual Mongolian People's Army,

which was to expand to a strength of 10 percent of the population

by the late 1930s in response to the Japanese threat. It also acted

as a modernizing force and gave the nation a generation of politi- cal leaders. Choybalsan led the nation militarily in the 1920s and

the 1930s as commander in chief of the army, and he was premier

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Mongolia: A Country Study

and top party leader from 1939 until his death in 1952 (see Modern

Mongolia, 1911-84, ch. 1). The Mongolian Army, 1921-68

Early Development

The provisional national government in March 1921 declared

that every male in the country, regardless of class, must perform

military service. This compulsory service included the large numbers of monks and others who traditionally had been exempt,

although in practice monks were not conscripted during the 1920s.

The new government also proclaimed that it could declare war,

negotiate peace, and determine budgets. A Mongolian-Russian

accord signed on November 5, 1921, provided Russian assistance

in organizing a regular army and in conducting training. In

addition, special Comintern representatives eventually set up a mili- tary council in the government and propagated militant com- munism. Thus began a continuing close military association

between the Soviet Union and Mongolia, which has endured with

varying intensity through 1989 (see Foreign Relations, ch. 4). This

association helped to communize and modernize Mongolia, as well

as to provide the Soviet Union with a loyal ally and a buffer against

Japan and later China.

In the early 1920s, Russian White Guard remnants remained

as brigands in remote parts of Mongolia, and Chinese bandits and

detachments of warlord armies constantly encroached upon the

borders. Thus one of the first orders of business for the new Mongolian government was to establish a strong and politically relia- ble army. To help suppress White Guard remnants and Chinese

bandits and to carry out Comintern policy, detachments of the

Soviet Red Army remained in Mongolia at least until 1925. Thereafter, until the revolts of the early 1930s and the Japanese border

probes beginning in the mid- 1930s, Red Army troops in Mongolia amounted to little more than instructors and guards for diplomatic and trading installations.

The development and politicization of the Mongolian People's

Army became an essential element of the Comintern's plan for Mongolia. As early as August 1921, the Main Political Administration of the army was established to supervise the work of the

political commissars and the party cells in all army units, and to act as a political link between the Central Committee of the Mongolian People's Party and the army (see Mongolian People's

Revolutionary Party, ch. 4). This politicization of the army served

not only to ensure its loyalty, but also that of the government at

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large. Up to one-third of the soldiers were members of the party,

which became the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party in 1924;

still others belonged to the Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League.

The army received up to 60 percent of the government budget in

these early years, and it expanded from 2,560 men in 1923 to 4,000

in 1924, and to 17,000 by 1927. The more leftist members of the

government, who also were prominent in the party, tended to be

connected with the army as well, which made the army an important political force in the 1920s. With the close cooperation of the

Red Army and the Mongolian and Soviet secret police, purges of

rightists and nationalists were conducted, and the Buddhist theocracy was severely curtailed.

Most of the Altanbulag revolutionaries—soldiers and politicians

alike—appear to have been more nationalist than communist.

Choybalsan and a few of his immediate associates were exceptions.

From an early age, Choybalsan had been Russian-oriented by

schooling and communist-influenced by Bolsheviks at the Russian

consular compound and print shop in Yihe Huree. In the early

1920s, however, the nationalists either became communists or were

purged. Choybalsan's close cooperation with Comintern agents and

the Soviet Union enabled him to survive to become premier.

Horloogiyn Dandzan, another member of the original Altanbulag

government, succeeded Sukhe Bator as minister of war and com- mander in chief of the army when Sukhe Bator died in 1923. With

the growth of the Mongolian People's Army and the reduction of

the Soviet garrison, Dandzan thought he had sufficient power to opt for a Mongolian nationalist policy. Dandzan's anti- Soviet re- marks to the Third Party Congress in 1924, however, led to his arrest by armed Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League members, directed by Choybalsan. His trial and execution were completed within twenty-four hours, and Choybalsan was elevated to commander in chief of the army. The portfolio of minister of war

was given to Sandagdargiyn (Khatan Baatar) Majsarjab, a revolutionary military hero who had secured western Mongolia for the

government. Members of the new top command, however, did not

have the supreme authority enjoyed by Sukhe Bator and Dandzan.

Comintern agents, many of whom were Russian-trained Buryat

Mongols (see Glossary) acting either as advisers or as actual

administrators, were the real power in the government, which was

backed by the secret police and by the Red Army. They instituted

organizational changes that effectively attenuated the authority

exercised by Majsarjab and by Choybalsan.

The Military Council was inserted in the chain of command between the Presidium of the National Great Hural and Council of

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Mongolia: A Country Study

Ministers and the minister of war. The council was headed by a Buryat Comintern agent, and its members were among the more

trustworthy leftists. Furthermore, interposed between the com- mander in chief of the army and his staff departments was a Soviet

general as chief of the general staff. Thus restricted, the Mongolian

military leadership would have had difficulty becoming deviationist even if it had chosen to. Majsarjab may have tried, for he soon was executed, but Choybalsan displayed complete loyalty to the

Soviets. He succeeded Majsarjab as minister of war and continued

his rise. In 1926 Choybalsan was a member of both the Central

Committee and the Presidium of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party.

Even with substantial Soviet assistance, organizing and training the Mongolian army in the 1920s was a frustrating experience

for both the Soviets and the Mongolians. It helped that the recruits were excellent riders and good shots. The training base of ex- perienced soldiers, however, initially was little better than it had

been ten years before when the Russians first attempted to train

Mongolian soldiers. The illiteracy rate of 90 percent among the

population at large must have been reflected among the recruits.

Venereal disease, tuberculosis, and trachoma were endemic. About

one-third of the men of military age were monks exempt from mili- tary service in the 1920s. The young nomads who were conscripted were resentful of military discipline, were passive by conditioning,

and were influenced against military service by the monks. Finally,

the building of the army had to be carried out along with the simultaneous suppression of revolts in the Hovd and the Uliastay areas of western Mongolia in the 1922-23 and the 1925-26 periods and

along with guarding the borders against the encroachments of

Chinese bandits and warlord armies.

From the beginning, the army consisted of a cadre of regulars

augmented by short-term conscripts, who were trained and returned

to their homes as part of a reserve pool from which they could be

mobilized when needed. In the beginning, both regulars and conscripts frequently deserted; a deserter was virtually impossible to apprehend in the steppes or the mountains.

Initially, training of conscripts lasted only three months before

they returned home. Although the training period was short, it was

an effort to bring as many men as possible under the unifying and

modernizing influence of military training and political indoctrination. Administration of conscription and the conduct of postservice military training were delegated to aymag (see Glossary) and

to somon councils. Those eighteen years and older were conscripted

locally and were sent either to the capital or to one of the principal

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garrison towns. Upon completion of their three-month training

period, they returned to their native districts, where they were to reassemble every three years for refresher training and maneuvers. The population, however, still was largely nomadic and constantly on the move, and the administrative structure of the subdivisions was rudimentary and inefficient at best. Because individuals were

hard to locate—if indeed they were known to exist—initial and

retraining call-ups were hard to enforce.

By 1926 the government hoped to train 10,000 conscripts an- nually and to increase the training period to six months. Chinese

intelligence reports in 1927 indicated that between 40,000 and

50,000 reservists could be mustered at short notice. These reports

greatly overestimated the mobilization potential of the Mongolian

army. In the fall of 1929, a general mobilization was called to test the training and reserve systems. The expected turnout was 30,000,

but only 2,000 presented themselves. This fiasco prompted several changes and reforms. A new Soviet chief adviser arrived early

the following year to aid in enforcing military service, but his unpopularity provoked an assassination attempt. The Military Council was reorganized, and in September, when the National Great Hural

met, it strengthened the military service enforcement provisions

of the legal code (see Government Structure, ch. 4). These actions,

together with new laws that abolished all but a few monasteries

returning monks to civilian life, prohibiting young men from becoming monks, and making them available for conscription—laid

the foundation for an effective army.

By the end of the 1920s, despite its deficiencies, an army with some cohesion and effectiveness had been established by Soviet in- structors and Mongolian leaders through both patient efforts and

draconian measures. The groundwork was laid for an army that was to put down the popular revolts of the early 1930s despite some

disaffection, to meet the challenge—with its Soviet allies—of largescale border clashes initiated by the Japanese, and finally to mount

the invasions of Manchuria and Inner Mongolia in 1945. In March

1925, an aviation branch was formed with four aircraft; the anniversary of this event continues to be celebrated annually as Mongolian Aviation Day. By 1927 the army, almost exclusively cavalry,

numbered about 17,000 mounted troops, and it boasted more than

200 heavy machine guns, 50 mountain howitzers, 30 field guns,

and 2 armored cars. The basic unit was the 2,000-man cavalry regiment of three squadrons. Each 600-plus-man squadron had five companies, a machine gun company, and an engineer unit. Cavalry

regiments were organized into larger units—brigades or divisions—which included artillery and service support units. The chief

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Mongolia: A Country Study

characteristic of this force was mobility over the great distances

of Mongolia; small mounted units were able to cover more than

160 kilometers in 24 hours.

Internal Discord and War with Japan

In the late 1920s and the early 1930s, the army frequently was

called on to put down widespread popular revolts led by nobles

and monks (see Purges of the Opposition, 1928-32, ch. 1). The

revolts erupted from a basic feeling of nationalism (particularly in

western Mongolia), from opposition to the pro-Soviet line, and from

the government's extreme measures in forcing collectivization of

stock raising and harsh actions against the monks. The revolts cul- minated in an uprising by 13 detachments of more than 3,000 troops

in April 1932; it was put down by the Mongolian army, assisted

by a large Soviet Red Army force. By the mid- 1930s, the communist government had suppressed the insurgency. It then decided

that a more reliable army was necessary, both for internal security

and for actions as a forward screen for Soviet troop deployment

in the event of a Japanese invasion.

As the army recovered from the revolt, it began rebuilding. The

number of young Mongolians on active duty increased annually.

During this period, the army acted as an important unifier of the

population, in effect supplanting the liquidated monasteries in this

role. In striving for national reinvigoration, the army's military

role was less important than its social and political roles. A Soviet

observer wrote that the army taught the soldier to read and write

the national language and converted him into a politically aware

soldier-citizen. Soviet arms and military equipment were provided

to the expanding army, and Soviet officers acted not only as in- structors, but also as unit advisers and commanders. These ar- rangements were formalized first in November 1934, when a Mongolian-Soviet "gentlemen's agreement" was reached in

Moscow to provide for mutual assistance in the event of attack. This accord was unpublished, because Moscow still nominally

recognized the Chinese government (see Economic Gradualism and

National Defense, 1932-45, ch. 1). Monasticism direcdy inhibited military buildup. Therefore, it was imperative that the monasteries be dealt with. During the pe- riod of the "leftist deviation" in the early 1930s, almost half the

monasteries had been closed. This policy was relaxed during the

insurrectionary period between 1933 and 1936, however, and the

monasteries were reopened. By 1936 the monastic population had

increased by 10,000 to more than 100,000—11 percent of the total population and 35 percent of men of military age. This drain

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adversely affected the government's ability to meet the increasing

personnel requirements both for defense and for economic production. Monastic influence also perpetuated a general lack of interest

among the general population in establishing an effective national

army. The government, therefore, undertook drastic measures

against the monks. Monasteries were taxed severely for each monk

of military age who did not respond to the military call-up. A law was passed requiring the first son of every family to enter the army

when of age; the second son was to remain with the family to work;

only the third son was permitted to enter the monastery. Because

few Mongol families had more than two sons, this measure was

effective in diminishing the monastic population. Monastic power

was reduced, senior monks were liquidated, and monks of middlerank were imprisoned. Finally, ordinary monks were forced out

of the monasteries, which then were destroyed, and all monastic

livestock (10 to 15 percent of the national total) was confiscated.

By 1939 these repressive measures had ended monasticism and had

released a substantial reservoir of manpower for military service

and for the civilian economy.

Japan's occupation and annexation of neighboring Manchuria

in 1931 left no doubt of Tokyo's long-range objectives in Northeast Asia. A program of subversion among the Mongolians and

of agitation in support of pan-Mongolism was followed by minor

clashes along the Mongolian-Manchurian border in 1934 that

reached major intensity in 1935. After serious clashes with the

Japanese along the eastern Mongolian border in early 1935, a conference of Mongolian and Japanese representatives was convened

in June at the Chinese border town of Manzhouli to settle border

demarcation and other matters. After six months without reaching agreement, the effort was abandoned. On March 1 , 1936, Josef

Stalin publicly and unequivocally stated that "IfJapan should venture to attack the Mongolian People's Republic and encroach upon

its independence, we will have to help the Mongolian People's

Republic . . . just as we helped in 1921. . . ." Two weeks later, a Protocol Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance reiterated

the main provisions of the 1934 agreement. Apparently the Soviets

at the time were less concerned about Chinese sensibilities than

they had been earlier. The protocol was to run for ten years; it provided for joint consultation and protective action in the event

of threat to either party by a third power, for military assistance

in the case of a third-power attack, and for the stationing of troops

in each other's territory as necessary. Some Soviet troops had re- mained in Mongolia after the suppression of the revolts; when Japan

invaded northern China and occupied Inner Mongolia, this treaty

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Mongolia: A Country Study

provided a basis for increasing Soviet strength to a reinforced corps, the Fifty- seventh Independent Rifle Corps.

In 1937 the Japanese invaded northern China, which enabled

Japanese forces to occupy the Inner Mongolian provinces of Qahar

and Suiyuan along Mongolia's southern border. This widened the zone of contact between Mongolian and Japanese forces and in- creased Mongolian security problems. Incidents continued along

the Mongolian borders with Manchuria and Inner Mongolia. In

July 1938, the Japanese Guandong (Kwantung in Wade-Giles

romanization) Army (the Japanese army in Manchukuo, as Japan

called the region) mounted a major, yet unsuccessful, attack against

Soviet positions in an ambiguously demarcated area along the

Manchurian-Siberian border near Vladivostok. Frustrated along

the Siberian border, Japan turned the following year to the more

vulnerable Mongolian border, where it thought that subversion

against the Mongolians would pave the way.

Mongolia's easternmost portion is a salient jutting deep into

Manchuria (see fig. 1). A branch railroad runs from Changchun

on the Shenyang-Harbin railroad to within a few kilometers of the

border; on the other side of the frontier, the Halhin Gol runs parallel to the border on the Mongolian side for about 70 kilometers. This

area had been the scene of serious clashes in early 1935. To facili- tate military deployment into this vulnerable area, the Soviet Union

built a wide-gauge railroad, completed in 1939, connecting the

Chinese-Eastern railroad to the Mongolian town of Choybalsan.

The frequency of border clashes increased until they occurred almost

daily in this area during 1938 and early 1939. In early May 1939,

Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav M. Molotov issued another stern warning to Japan: "I give warning that the borders of the Mongolian People's Republic will be defended by the USSR as vigorously as we shall defend our own borders."

On May 11, 1939, the Japanese army occupied portions of

Mongolia between the border and the Halhin Gol. A combined

Mongolian-Soviet force quickly moved against the invaders. By

the end of May, the joint force had seized a bridgehead on the

Halhin Gol's eastern bank. To counter this move, the Japanese

by early July concentrated a corps of 38,000 troops and attacked

the northern flank of the Mongolian-Soviet bridgehead. The

Japanese drove the allies back across the Halhin Gol, crossed it themselves, and established their own bridgehead on the western

bank. On July 5, 1939, Soviet armor counterattacked and eliminated the Japanese bridgehead, after which both sides began a major

force buildup.

234
Detail of mosaic commemorating the Mongolian-Soviet victory over Japan in 1939, Ulaanbaatar

Courtesy Steve Mann

DuringJuly 1939, the Mongolian-Soviet forces were reorganized.

The Trans-Baykal Military District was set up as a front headquarters, with the First Army Group under General Georgi Zhukov

as the striking force. Soviet forces were concentrated in eastern Mongolia, and the Mongolian army mobilized to its full strength

of 80,000 in eight cavalry divisions; the 515 aircraft of the combined force were used mostly in screening the southern borders.

Zhukov's First Army Group included Mongolia's Sixth and Eighth

Mongolian cavalry divisions, both of which were employed as flank

protection for the army group along the 70-kilometer front on the

Halhin Gol. During July and early August, the Japanese forces,

setting August 20, 1939, as the target date, prepared to cross the

river and to destroy the opposing forces. The Japanese decision to attack must have been based on faulty

intelligence or on extreme overconfidence, because the Japanese were weaker in infantry battalions by 30 percent, in tanks by 60

percent, and in aircraft by 25 percent. Further, Soviet intelligence was superior to the Japanese, because the Soviets had detected the

Japanese buildup for the attack and had evidently correctly esti- mated its timing. At dawn August 20, 1939, the commander of

the Mongolian-Soviet troops preempted the Japanese attack: 150

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Mongolia: A Country Study

bombers struck Japanese positions, rear areas, and lines of communication. A ground attack by the southern and the northern

wings of the First Army Group penetrated the Japanese flank with armor and infantry, and then they turned inward in a classic double envelopment as Mongolian cavalry protected the outer flanks. The Japanese defended tenaciously, but by August 23 the Soviets

had encircled the Japanese forces along the Halhin Gol. For five days, the Mongolian-Soviet forces beat back fierce attacks by

Japanese relief forces as well as attempts by the surrounded units

to break out. Japanese relief attempts slackened, and pockets of

resistance were cleared out. On August 31, 1939, the MongolianSoviet forces advanced to the frontier. The Japanese conceded defeat

and a cease-fire took effect on September 16, 1939.

Soviet casualties came to nearly 10,000, and the Mongolians lost 1,130. Japanese losses were far greater, with more than 18,000 killed and 25,000 wounded (some total estimates were as high as 80,000).

More than 170 guns and 200 aircraft were lost. After the defeat,

Japan turned its military thrust southward. On June 9, 1940, an

agreement fixing the Manchukuo-Mongolian border was signed in Moscow. This was followed on April 13, 1941, by the SovietJapanese Neutrality Pact, which included a Soviet pledge to recognize the territorial integrity of Manchukuo and a similar Japanese

pledge with respect to Mongolia. Germany's invasion of the Soviet

Union in June 1941 and the entry of the United States into World

War II in December fully committed the Soviet Union and Japan

to other flanks of their respective domains; thus, their Mongolian

flanks remained relatively quiet until the final weeks of World War II. Mongolia stayed mobilized, however, at the 80,000-troop level to guard its frontiers and to discourage any further Japanese in- cursion. Mongolia also devoted extensive resources to its part of

the 1936 mutual-assistance pact, providing the Soviet armed forces

with winter clothing, wool, hides, leather goods, meat, and almost

half a million ponies and horses for draft and remount use from

1941 to 1945. The Mongolian people raised the money for a brigade

of tanks, named the Revolutionary Mongolian Tank Brigade, and

for a squadron of aircraft, named Mongolian Herdsmen, presented

to the Red Army. In August 1945, Mongolian and Soviet forces

joined in the invasion of Manchuria and Inner Mongolia, destroyed

the greatly weakened Japanese army, and achieved Soviet politi- cal and military goals in northeastern Asia.

Postwar Developments

In early 1946, Mongolia and the Soviet Union renewed the 1936

Protocol Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance for another

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National Security

ten years, this time making it extendable. Although the provisions

remained essentially the same, what had been a protocol treaty be- came a formal treaty to signify that, because China had relinquished

claims of suzerainty, Mongolia was legally competent to handle

its own foreign affairs. Thus Mongolia's close defense ties with the

Soviet Union continued, as did Soviet military assistance in the

form of training and materiel. This treaty encouraged Ulaanbaatar's

intransigence against Guomindang (Kuomintang in Wade-Giles

romanization), or Chinese Nationalist Party, troops in 1947, when

violence flared along the ill-defined and disputed MongolianChinese border in the Altai Mountain region. Indigenous Kazakhs

and Mongols had been grazing their herds indiscriminately throughout the entire area, and the Soviets had developed gold and tungsten mines in areas the Chinese considered part of Xinjiang. Kazakh

rebels opposed to the Chinese regime had declared their autonomy in 1944, probably with Soviet encouragement; however, when

China reestablished control over Xinjiang in 1946, some of the

Kazakh leaders redefected to China.

In June 1947, Mongolian cavalry with tank and air support at- tacked the Kazakh and Chinese troops, apparently in an attempt

to take over the disputed territory. The Soviet Union and Mongolia denied that they were aggressors and claimed that the Chinese were 15 kilometers inside Mongolia; the Chinese countered that

the Mongolian army had driven 200 kilometers into Xinjiang. The

Chinese were driven back, and the Soviets continued to operate

the mines despite a further outbreak of fighting in early 1948 (see

Foreign Relations, ch. 4). The Mongolian armed forces, with the close and continuous col- laboration of the Soviet Red Army, came of age in the years after 1929. It had survived and had helped to suppress internal revolts,

had successfully fought the Japanese and the Chinese, and had

played a major role in the education, training, and indoctrination

of the Mongolian people. The 1949 communist victory in the

Chinese civil war eliminated the threat on Mongolia's southern

border for the next decade. This development permitted Mongolia to begin reducing its 80, 000-troop army, which had been maintained at about that level for 10 years. During the 1950s, Mongolia was able to deemphasize defense.

Defense expenditures dropped from 33 percent of the total budget

in 1948 to 15 percent in 1952. Yumjaagiyn Tsedenbal became pre- mier after the death of Choybalsan in 1952. Although he had been

a lieutenant general and chief political commissar of the army during

World War II, Tsedenbal was an economist, and he was less in- clined to maintain a large army without a definite need. Thus,

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Mongolia: A Country Study

defense expenditures continued their steady drop in the next few

years; soldiers went into the labor force and defense funds were

diverted into neglected economic development and social services.

The nation's economic and social development required an in- frastructure: public buildings, housing, factories, roads, and power

plants. The army formed a mobile, disciplined, and partially skilled work force in a country that was short of labor. Units were apprenticed to construction gangs made up of technicians and workers from the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and China. By the

late 1950s, the army's Military Construction Administration was

building workers' apartments and public buildings, and it was in

charge of constructing a large part of the industry around Darhan

(see Labor Force, ch. 3). The army continued to develop and modernize during the 1950s.

It continued to use the two years' compulsory military training to provide Mongolian youth with Marxist-Leninist indoctrination,

to ensure their literacy, and to teach them a variety of useful technical skills. Soviet troops continued to be garrisoned in Mongolia

until 1956, at first to ensure against Chinese irredentist moves and

later, probably, to discourage any deviation that might have resulted

from the post-Stalin and post-Choybalsan thaw. The combat ele- ments of the now-smaller army were modernized; tanks, self- propelled guns, armored infantry, jet fighters, and surface-to-air

missiles replaced the last of the cavalry. Soviet instructors and advisers served with the Mongolian army, but more and more, the

Mongolian People's Army was standing on its own, except in the

production of arms and heavy equipment.

The 1960s saw quite altered prospects for the army. The SinoSoviet rift occurred in 1960, and China adopted an increasingly

hostile policy toward the Soviet Union and Mongolia. As the new

threat from China was perceived and then grew more ominous,

the Soviet Union and Mongolia again became militarily close. Soviet troops once more entered Mongolia in strength. Military,

and other, national celebrations provided opportunities for the ex- change of top-level military delegations, for consultations on defense

matters, and for public hymns of praise, loyalty, eternal friendship, and cooperation. Marshal Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovskiy

and other top Soviet military leaders, together with senior Chinese

generals, visited Ulaanbaatar on People's Army Day, March 18,

1961 . The Soviets were honored with high Mongolian decorations,

whereas the Chinese were snubbed, receiving none.

Significantly, while Mongolia and the Soviet Union reacted to the perceived Chinese threat much as they had to the Japanese

threat in the 1930s—that is, by deploying Soviet troops and

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strengthening Mongolia's defenses—the magnitude of the measures

taken in the 1960s was not so great. This circumspection probably

reflected the policies of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and

Tsedenbal, versus those of Stalin and Crioybalsan, as well as the

strengthened internal and global positions of Mongolia and the

Soviet Union. Soviet assistance enabled the Mongolian army, while

continuing to equip and train for modern war, to carry on with

its construction projects at Darhan and elsewhere.

Chinggis and ancient Mongol warriors were used as symbols to inculcate patriotism and a military tradition as early as 1927. Feeling

pride and confidence in their new national viability, Mongolian

leaders, despite Soviet disapproval, celebrated the 800th anniversary of the birth of Chinggis on May 31, 1962, with ceremonies

and the unveiling of a monument at his purported birthplace. The

Soviet Union took exception to this display of nationalism with its pan-Mongol overtones, and the Soviet press vehemendy attacked

Chinggis as a reactionary and an evil person. Whether connected

or not with this demonstration of independent thought and the SinoSoviet rift, a bloodless purge of a number of top Mongolian defense

officials took place. Those replaced were the commandant of Ulaanbaatar, the minister of public security, the chief of the general staff, and the head of the army's political department. Just as past purges

had missed Choybalsan, this one passed by Colonel General

Jamyangiyn Lhagbasuren, longtime minister of people's army af- fairs and commander in chief of the army. Again, suspected nationalists and those with pro-Chinese leanings were purged. The

military tradition to be fostered was not that of ancient Mongol

military heroes, but that of the 1921 revolution and the battles against the Japanese in the 1930s and the 1940s. These events al- ways stressed the cooperation and close comradeship in arms of

the Soviet army.

Chinese border incidents, though not serious, continued through

the 1960s, and they were accompanied by a strengthening of the

Mongolian troop presence in border areas. China, in turn, charged

that reconnaissance flights from Mongolia and Siberia had violated

its airspace. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union and Mongolia continued

their public display of political and military affinity. In 1966 the

Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance was

renewed for another twenty years; it was extendable for an additional ten. It included a clause permitting the stationing of Soviet

troops in Mongolia. A parade in Ulaanbaatar in 1967 honored the

fiftieth anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 and showed

off new weapons, including Mongolian army-manned SA-2 surfaceto-air and SNAPPER antitank guided missiles. In his address,

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Mongolia: A Country Study

MONGOLIAN PEOPLE'S REVOLUTIONARY PARTY

NATIONAL PARTY CONGRESS

PEOPLE'S GREAT HURAL

CENTRAL COMMTTTEE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS'

SPECIAL MILITARY DEPARTMENT MILITARY COUNCIL

I t MAIN POLITICAL DIRECTORATE

MINISTER OF DEFENSE

MONGOLIAN

PEOPLE'S ARMY COMMANDER IN CHIEF

FUNCTIONAL DIRECTOR/

POLITICAL COMMISSARS

MILTARY UNITS

CONTROL

COORDINATION

1 THE PRESIDIUM FORMS THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

2 THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS APPOINTS THE

MILITARY COUNCIL

Figure 15. Organization of the Armed Forces, 1989

Lhagbasuren gave high praise to Soviet military aid. In May 1968,

at the forty- seventh anniversary of the founding of the Mongolian

People's Army, Lhagbasuren spoke similarly of the "fraternal dis- interested" aid of the Soviet Union. These panegyrics, while in- tended to instruct Mongolians in the current policy and to reassure

the Soviets of Mongolian solidarity, nevertheless amply demonstrated the degree of Soviet influence and the subordinate Mongolian position in the Soviet mutual defense agreement.

Organization since 1968

The Military Council, originally established by the MongolianSoviet defense accord of 1921, was responsible in the 1980s to the

Council of Ministers for all defense matters (see Major State Organizations, ch. 4). Observers thought that the council was

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composed of the minister of defense (who was called the minister

of people's army affairs until March 1968) and his deputy ministers,

the chief political commissar of the army, and top party officials with military experience and orientation. The Military Council

worked in close conjunction with the Special Military Department

of the party Central Committee, which lent political authority to

its directives (see fig. 15).

In 1987 the Ministry of Defense was allotted an annual budget

of US$249.44 million. It was administered by the minister of

defense, Colonel General Jamsrangiyn Yondon, assisted by the chief

of the general staff, Lieutenant General C. Purebdorj, and by

deputies responsible for various functional directorates, including

operations and intelligence, organization and mobilization, military transportation, and signal communications, the main inspectorate, the main directorate of the rear services, and the main

political directorate. More than 70 percent of armed forces per- sonnel were members of either the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party or the Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League.

In 1988 the armed forces consisted of 24,500 active-duty per- sonnel (21,000 army and 3,500 air force), augmented by 200,000

army reservists and by various paramilitary forces, including militia

(internal security troops and frontier guards attached to the Ministry

of Public Security) and military construction troops. The army in- cluded approximately 17,000 conscripts (see fig. 16). It was or- ganized into four motorized rifle divisions and equipped with Soviet

weapons and equipment ranging from relatively modern to obsolete (see table 13, Appendix). The air force included 100 pilots and was organized into one fighter regiment, at least two transport

squadrons, and a helicopter squadron. The air force was equipped

with more than thirty Soviet MiG-21 fighters along with An-2

biplanes, An-24, An-26, and An-32 transports, and Mi-4 and Mi-8

helicopters.

The Civil Air Transport Administration, responsible for Mongolian Airlines (MIAT), was thought to be affiliated with the air force. All airline pilots had military ranks, and they flew Sovietbuilt transport aircraft on crop dusting, forest and steppe fire patrol,

and air ambulance missions. They also provided mail and passenger

service on 38,300 kilometers of domestic routes as well as on inter- national routes to Irkutsk and Beijing, the latter inaugurated in

1986 (see Civil Aviation, ch. 3). Personnel

The Universal Military Service Law declared all male citizens

between the ages of eighteen and twenty-eight to be eligible for

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Mongolia: A Country Study

THOUSANDS

40,000

1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 YEAR

Source: Based on information from International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance, London, 1978-88.

Figure 16. Armed Forces Personnel Strength, Selected Years, 1978-88

military conscription. Soldiers and noncommissioned officers (NCOs) in the Mongolian armed forces had been required to serve three years of active duty—two years, for those with higher education. In August 1988, compulsory military service for all conscripts was reduced to two years. Males seventeen or older who

attended military schools were considered to be on active military

duty. Those older than twenty-eight with special skills who had

not been drafted might be accepted into special service. Male enlisted personnel could serve on active duty until the age of fortyfive. Although there were women in the armed forces in 1989, no

information was available on the role women played.

Most officers received their commissions from a military academy, but some were educated in civilian universities. Soldiers and

NCOs with a secondary or higher education who had performed

in an exemplary fashion also might be granted commissions after being discharged from active duty. Experts up to the age of thirtyfive might be inducted to carry out such functions as those of medical

officers or computer specialists. Company-grade officers (junior

lieutenant, lieutenant, senior lieutenant, and captain) were per- mitted to serve on active duty to the age of forty-five and in the

reserves to the age of fifty. Field- grade officers (major, lieutenant

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colonel, and colonel) were permitted to serve on active duty to the

age of fifty-five and in the reserves to the age of sixty. General

officers (major general, lieutenant general, and colonel general) were permitted to serve on active duty to the age of sixty and in

the reserves to the age of sixty-five. Those holding the rank of general of the army or marshal could remain on active duty regardless of age. (The last person to hold these ranks was Tsedenbal.)

In 1989 there were indications that these age restrictions were being

relaxed because of a shortage of middle-aged men. The uniforms and insignia of the armed forces in the 1980s were

similar to those worn by the armed forces of the Soviet Union. Mongolian officer and enlisted uniforms differed in texture and quality

of material, but the cut and style were the same. Women's uniforms generally were the same color and texture as their male counterparts' in the respective services and branches.

There were four categories of uniforms in the army and the air force: full dress, dress, service, and field. The full-dress uniform was worn during formal reviews, such as parades; during conferral of a promotion in rank or a military decoration; or in perfor- mance of duties as a member of an honor guard. The dress uniform was worn during off-duty hours; the service uniform was worn for duty with troops in garrison. The field uniform was worn during

training, maneuvers, and firing exercises. All four categories of

uniform were olive drab. An ornate gold and red belt was worn

on the service jacket of the full-dress uniform, along with medals, an olive drab shirt and tie, long trousers, low quarter shoes, and

a service hat. The dress uniform was similar to the full-dress, ex- cept that service ribbons were substituted for medals and no belt was worn. The service uniform was the same as the dress uniform,

except that leather Sam Browne-type belts were worn by officers,

and garrison caps were worn by enlisted personnel. Both officers

and enlisted personnel wore breeches, high boots, and steel hel- mets with their field uniforms. Seasonal differences allowed for the

wearing of an overcoat, gloves, and a fur pile cap. A quilted olive

drab jacket and field breeches also were worn as a winter field uniform. The background of the shoulder boards, the collar tabs, and

the service hatband was red for the army and blue for the air force. All rank insignia were displayed on shoulder boards. Marshals

(when there were any) and general officers wore stars on a broad,

ornate gold stripe with a red background. Field-grade officers wore

two longitudinal gold stripes and smaller gold stars, and companygrade officers wore one longitudinal gold stripe with even smaller

gold stars. Enlisted ranks were identified by longitudinal or trans- verse gold stripes on shoulder boards (see fig. 17). Branch-of-service

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Mongolia: A Country Study

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insignias worn on collar tabs were gold metallic devices, except in

the veterinary service, which used silver devices. Both officers and

enlisted personnel wore a cockade on their headgear.

The armed forces maintained a reserve force in excess of 200,000

people. Enlisted personnel automatically were transferred to the

reserves when they were discharged from active duty, and they re- mained in the reserves until the age of forty-five.

Education and Training

The educational level of the Mongolian armed forces compared

favorably with that of the armed forces in most other countries.

All officer and enlisted personnel in the mid-1980s had at least a secondary education, and many had received a specialized civilian

education. Most officers were educated in the academies and schools

of the Military Institute, an outgrowth of the Sukhe Bator Military Academy of the 1930s. Among those who were offered direct

commissions were some discharged enlisted personnel with secon- dary or higher education, whose enlisted performance was exemplary, and civilians up to thirty-five years of age who had expertise

useful to the military. Many officers received higher education and

high-level training in the Soviet Union.

In the late 1980s, arms training at individual, small unit, and

combined arms levels was supervised by Soviet instructors and advisers, or by Mongolian army instructors thoroughly trained in

Soviet army courses. The training met Soviet military standards,

and it was conducted under both winter and summer conditions.

Discharged enlisted personnel with up to two years of active military service received two months of reserve training every two years. Those who had more than two years of active military service

received up to two months of reserve training every three years. Officers who registered in the reserves after completing their active duty, no matter what the source of their commission, received

up to three months of reserve training every two years. Soldiers

received a thorough political indoctrination. The technical training required for their military specialty was related constantly to

civilian needs after military service. Soldiers trained as tank drivers

could apply these skills in civilian life as tractor drivers, and sol- diers trained as truck drivers in the army could be used as civilian

drivers. The army also trained printers and tailors, as well as

specialists in agriculture and animal husbandry.

In the mid-1980s, the Mongolian armed forces instituted major

improvements in the content and methodology of staff, logistical,

and field military training. Tactical training grounds, firing ranges,

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Mongolia: A Country Study

tank training grounds, and airfields were mechanized and auto- mated. Field and training exercises included good-quality live fir- ings, rocket launches, and operational training flights.

Civil-Military Relations

In the Mongol military tradition, all men were warriors, and

therefore military training was not confined to the regular army.

In the early days of the Mongolian People's Republic, before

universal military conscription, party and youth league members

received sporadic special military training in the reserve and in physical culture detachments. Women were admitted to this training on a voluntary basis. In 1929 the League for Assisting the Defense

Aims of the Mongolian State was established by the party Central

Committee; it was based on the Soviet Voluntary Society for Cooperation with the Armed Forces. In 1942 the league was reor- ganized as the People's Volunteer Self-Defense Detachment and

was used in home defense against the Japanese. In 1945, at the

end of World War II, it again was reorganized and renamed

this time the Auxiliary Defense Organization. A 1975 decree of

the Political Bureau of the party Central Committee specifically

assigned the Auxiliary Defense Organization the task of fostering

patriotism and support for the army through sponsorship of an- nual defense popularization months, Mongolian-Soviet friendship

months, and military sports competitions throughout the year. In

the late 1980s, the Auxiliary Defense Organization still was responsible for these activities and for providing spare-time schools and

courses to train all seventeen-year-old males in basic military skills and specialties of use to the military. "To protect the economy

against weapons of mass destruction, ' ' all citizens were obliged to participate in civil defense training organized by the Civil Defense

Office of the Ministry of Defense. In 1982 there reportedly were

600 civil defense units in Mongolia.

Economic Role

The army over the years has had a generally positive impact on

the national economy. Although the work-force shortages and mili- tary expenses of World War II imposed austerity on personal con- sumption and retarded social development and the economy's

civilian sector, many soldiers acquired valuable technical skills. In 1934 the Choybalsan industrial combine with 1,500 workers was

established to produce cloth, clothing, saddles, harnesses, fur coats,

and footwear for the army. By 1939 its production almost completely supplied the army with clothing and individual equipment.

Beginning in the early 1950s, wartime facilities turned to producing

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items both for the civilian sector and for export (see Light Industry, ch. 3). Transportation was another industry intended initially as much

for military as for civilian use. In 1929 the Soviet Union aided in

the establishment of Mongoltrans (Mongolian Transportation), a

transportation company with approximately 100 trucks and buses

as well as a repair shop. Mongoltrans was a paramilitary organization from the beginning; its personnel received military training and transport was diverted to military tasks on call. Air transport was established, in 1925, also with Soviet assistance. In 1989 it was operated as part of the air force both for military and for civilian use (see Civil Aviation, ch. 3). The Military Construction Administration, developed out of the

Darhan Military Construction Project in the late 1950s, continued

in the late 1980s as a paramilitary organization under the Mongolian army. Between 1981 and 1984, military construction troops

helped to establish the new city of Erdenet; they built more than

1 ,000 installations and enterprises—including state farms, a shoe

factory in Ulaanbaatar, and an international camp for young

pioneers—for the civilian economy.

Threat Perception

In the early 1980s, despite improved Sino-Soviet relations, Mongolia maintained its traditional distrust of Beijing and was unwilling to reduce its own armed forces or the level of Soviet forces

stationed in Mongolia. By 1985 Soviet troops in Mongolia still numbered 75,000; they included two tank and three motorized infantry divisions. China insisted that Soviet forces in Mongolia be

withdrawn as a condition for improved Sino-Soviet relations. Soviet

communist party general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev responded

to that demand in a July 1986 Vladivostok speech in which he

offered to withdraw Soviet troops from Mongolia. Two weeks later,

the Mongolian government gave its support for "the withdrawal

of a considerable part of the Soviet troops from Mongolia ... to promote the establishment of the overall Asian and Pacific security

and serve the cause of strengthening trust and good neighborliness

in Asia." Between April and June 1987, the Soviet Union an- nounced the withdrawal of one full- strength motorized rifle division and several separate units, which reduced Soviet forces in Mongolia to approximately 55,000 (see Foreign Relations, ch. 4). Mongolia's relations with China also improved during this period; the exchange of government, trade, and friendship delegations

culminated in the November 1988 signing of a Mongolian-Chinese

border treaty. In December 1988, Mongolia's first deputy minister

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Mongolia: A Country Study

of foreign affairs, Daramyn Yondon, commenting on a Soviet offer to withdraw the majority of its troops stationed in Mongolia within

two years, stated that "if relations with China continue to improve,

all Soviet troops will be withdrawn." In February 1989, official Mongolian news sources quoted Mongolian military leaders as call- ing for a reduction in the size of the Mongolian armed forces. Mongolia's concern over the Chinese threat, although by no means

eliminated, was at its lowest level in nearly thirty years. Criminal Justice and Public Security

The Mongol legal heritage, based on a nomadic pastoral cul- ture, first was unified and codified in the yasaq (see Glossary). The

yasaq, promulgated in 1229, contained directives on state administration and military discipline, criminal law, private law, and special customs for the steppe region. It served as a basis for a more

extensive legal code during the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368).

With the breakup of the Mongol empire, Mongol tribes returned

to earlier customs. In 1640 an alliance of Mongol princes drafted

the Mongol-Oirad Regulations, characterized by the strong in- fluence of Lamaism and by considerably milder punishments than

foreign codes of the time or previous Mongol codes. Under Qing

Dynasty rule, Mongol laws and customs were combined with

Chinese law.

In an effort to improve on some of the harsher aspects of the

criminal justice system, the Mongolian government, in 1922,

abolished various investigative tortures and corporal punishments

left over from the Qing period. A November 1925 law on judicial

reform provided that courts were to be guided by new laws and

that punishment should be to protect public order and to reeducate criminals. The old system remained in effect, however, ex- cept when superseded by the new regulations.

The first criminal code of the Mongolian People's Republic,

adopted on October 21, 1926, established a statutory basis for the

control of crime and disorder. It consisted of 227 articles in 31 chapters, and it applied extensive criminal regulations and sanctions

to citizens and foreigners. That code was replaced on September

23, 1929, by a new criminal code with modifications reflecting the

political struggle taking place in Mongolia at that time (see Purges

of the Opposition, 1928-32, ch. 1). The 1929 code remained in

effect for five years. It was replaced by the 1934 criminal code,

which was adopted in two stages—the general part, confirmed on May 24, 1934, and a special part, confirmed on October 8, 1934,

that expanded the scope of "counterrevolutionary" crimes and

added a chapter on military crimes. The 1934 code was in turn

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replaced on January 17, 1942, by a code reflecting the changes in

society and the influences of World War II. The 1942 code remained

in effect, with numerous amendments, until January 31, 1961, when

the code still in use in 1989 was confirmed.

Mongolia's first constitution, adopted by the National Great

Hural on November 26, 1924, established a state structure, including courts and procuraturates, based on the Soviet system. The

1924 constitution was replaced by the 1940 constitution, closely

modeled on the 1936 Soviet constitution. The 1940 constitution was replaced by the Constitution adopted on July 6, 1960. Later

amendments to the 1960 Constitution increased the terms of

Supreme Court members and procurators from three to four years

and the terms of the members of city and people's courts from two

to three years (see Constitutional Framework, ch. 4). The Legal System

Criminal Code

According to the 1961 Criminal Code, a crime was a socially

dangerous act or failure to act. Insignificant acts that did not present a "social danger" were not considered crimes, even though they

may have violated the letter of the law. Crimes committed against

the state and socialist ownership were considered more serious than

crimes against private persons. Crimes against the state included

treason, espionage, terrorism, sabotage, and smuggling. Crimes

against socialist ownership included theft, misappropriation, or embezzlement of state property; and intentional or negligent destruction of state property. Other crimes listed in the criminal code

included murder; deliberate crippling; mayhem; impairing the

health of others; rape; theft; banditry; vagrancy; destruction of state, communal, or individual property; slander; insult; misuse of

guardianship; false imprisonment; forgery; hindering people in vot- ing; illegal search of homes; violation of the privacy of correspondence, of labor laws, or of the separation of church and state, or church and school; and interference with religious freedom.

Generally, any crimes committed by military personnel and

active-duty reservists were treated as military crimes. Specific mili- tary crimes included insubordination, desertion, unwarranted ab- sence or abandonment of a duty station, evading military service

through self-mutilation, violations of guard-duty rules, and mistreatment of prisoners of war. Close attention was given to equal rights for women. According

to the 1961 Criminal Code, it was a crime to force a woman to marry or to prevent her marriage, to violate the equal rights of

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Mongolia: A Country Study

women (for example, by preventing them from studying in a school or working in a state agency or in industry), and to refuse jobs

to pregnant women or to mothers.

People sixteen and older were considered legal adults. Those between the ages of fourteen and sixteen were treated as juveniles,

except in the most serious cases. Courts were encouraged to apply

"compulsory measures of education" rather than criminal penalties to people younger than eighteen who had committed crimes,

unless doing so would risk a serious danger to society.

According to the criminal code, punishment was intended to reeducate and correct the offender's behavior rather than to inflict bodily harm or humiliation. If court sentences were reversed, the

official responsible for wrongly imposing punishment was liable to criminal court or disciplinary action.

Punishments consisted of confinement in prisons or correctional

labor colonies, assignment of correctional tasks without deprivation of freedom, deportation from the country, prohibition from

holding public executive or managerial jobs, fines, public reprimands, confiscation of private property, expulsion from one's native aymag, and loss of the right to hold public office. For treason,

espionage, public subversion (which covers a variety of antistate

crimes), murder, and armed banditry, the death penalty could be

imposed. Women were exempt from the death penalty, as were men younger than eighteen or older than sixty.

Prison sentences generally were limited to terms of six months

to ten years, but repeated criminal acts could be punished by prison

terms as long as fifteen years. Minor theft and embezzlement usually were punished by imprisonment of up to one year, plus eighteen

months of correctional tasks to be served at the convicted person's

place of work or residence; repeat offenders could receive sentences of one to five years in prison.

Stricter punishments could be imposed on those who misappropriated, plundered, or stole state and public property. They

could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison, and repeat

offenders could be sentenced to six to fifteen years, in some cases accompanied by full or partial confiscation of property. Stealing

private property could be punished by terms of up to five years

in jail or by eighteen months of correctional tasks without deprivation of freedom; repeat offenders could receive five to ten years

in prison. Robbery with the use or threat of force could be punished

by imprisonment for ten years, and repeat offenders could be imprisoned eight to fifteen years. Malicious embezzlement and squandering of state property were punishable by death by a firing squad

and confiscation of private property. A sentence of death, ten to

250
Soviet-made BMP-1 mechanized infantry

combat vehicles, from a train window

Courtesy Allen H. Kassof

fifteen years in prison, or property confiscation was meted out to persons using force in robbery or banditry; misappropriating funds

and property, or dissipating them by illegal consumption; abusing their official positions; swindling; extorting; or showing carelessness or negligence in the discharge of official duties. Terms spent

in jail awaiting trial counted toward completion of the sentence,

and probation was permissible after one to five years in prison had

been served. There were statutes of limitation for most crimes, and

pardons occasionally were granted. Penalties against violators of

public order consisted of warnings, public rebukes, fines, imprisonment, and compulsory labor for five to thirty days.

Criminal Court System

The Constitution charges the courts with administering justice

in accordance with the laws of the state; with upholding the Constitution; with protecting the rights and interests of the state; with

protecting state, public, and cooperative property; and with

safeguarding the personal, political, and property rights of the

citizens. Courts try cases of treason; sabotage; embezzlement of

state, cooperative, and public property; theft; robbery; swindling;

and other crimes based on the criminal code. They also try cases

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Mongolia: A Country Study

involving losses inflicted on private citizens, on the state, and on

cooperative and public enterprises and organizations according to the civil code (see Major State Organizations, ch. 4). Courts punish persons convicted of crimes, but they also serve

as educative and political agencies. They correct, reeducate, and

reform criminals. They are called on to train citizens in the spirit

of "dedication to the fatherland" and in the cause of "socialist

democracy"; to uphold the strict and undeviating observance of

the law; to train citizens in the careful treatment of state, cooperative, and other public property; and to support the observation of

labor discipline, the honoring of state and public duty, and respect

for the rules of communal life. The courts are expected to promote

popular attitudes of loyalty, patriotism, peaceful behavior, and en- thusiasm for socialism; to uphold conformity with the laws and

respect for public property and labor discipline; and to involve

citizens in state and civic affairs. The court system consists of the Supreme Court, aymag courts,

city courts, and special courts. Except in special cases for which

provisions are made by law, all cases in all courts are tried by per- manent judges in the presence of assessors, who are elected representatives sitting on the bench with the judges. The assessors hear the

evidence, may question witnesses and the accused, examine the case as presented by the procurator, and participate in findings

and sentences. When a question of law or its interpretation arises,

however, the judge's opinion rules. An assessor may serve for no more than twenty days per year, unless the nature of a case or crime

requires the period to be extended. Citizens twenty-three years or

older who have never been convicted by a court are eligible for election as judges and assessors. According to the Constitution, the Supreme Court is the highest

judicial body. It is elected by the People's Great Hural for a term

of four years, and it is responsible and accountable to the People's

Great Hural and its presidium (Article 66 of the Constitution as amended). It consists of a chairman, a deputy chairman, members, and assessors, as may be determined by the People's Great

Hural. The Plenum of the Supreme Court consists of the chairman, the deputy chairman, and all members meeting together in a general session. The Presidium of the Supreme Court consists

of a committee of selected members. There is a judicial chamber

in charge of criminal cases, another in charge of civil cases, and

a third in charge of overseeing the work of all the judicial organs

of the state. The Supreme Court directs, inspects, and reviews the work of

all the lower courts. It supervises all judicial work in the state, and

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it formulates national legal policies. The court holds a general ses- sion at least once a month, that is attended by the procurator or

the procurator's deputy. Decisions at general sessions are adopted

by voice majority of the membership. Such sessions may change

previous interpretations of the laws, but not the Constitution. Only

the Presidium of the People's Great Hural has the right to examine and change decisions reached in the Supreme Court's general

sessions or in court cases. The Presidium of the Supreme Court

reviews the work of all lower courts and investigates the general causes of crime in the country. The Supreme Court also may take

jurisdiction over certain cases, presumably those posing serious

difficulties, problems of legal procedure or jurisprudence, or seri- ous dangers to the state that ordinarily would be tried by military or by railroad courts. In 1989 there were about 100 circuit courts throughout the

country—5 to 7 in each aymag. Circuit courts serve about 340 counties, or somons (see Glossary), and towns. Each circuit court has

jurisdiction over several somons in dealing with citizen complaints

and with criminal and civil cases. Judges and jurors are elected

for three-year terms—the judges by the regular session of the aymag

assemblies, the jurors by direct elections. The courts promote

knowledge of the laws, and they work for crime prevention.

Each aymag and city court consists of a chairman, a deputy chairman, members, and assessors. Judges and assessors are elected for two-year terms by the local assemblies of people's deputies. These

courts can try all criminal cases except those that fall under the

jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, the special courts, and the state arbitration organs. These courts also engage in crime prevention

propaganda and the popularization of the law. They report on their

own work to aymag and municipal assemblies.

There also are special military and railroad transport courts. Each

is staffed by a chairman, a deputy chairman, members, and assessors; all are elected by the People's Great Hural to three-year terms. Military courts try cases involving military personnel, fire fighters, and militia members. Railroad courts try cases connected with

the operation of railroad lines and with criminal and civil offenses

committed by railroad workers. A trial is carried out under the

chairmanship of one judge, assisted by two assessors. The Constitution establishes the Office of the Procurator of the

Republic. It vests the position with supreme supervisory power over

the strict observance of the laws by all ministries and other central

administrative bodies, and by the institutions and organizations

subordinate to them; by local bodies; by all public and cooperative organizations; by all officials; and by all citizens. The procurator

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Mongolia: A Country Study

is appointed by the People's Great Hural to a four-year term and

is responsible and accountable to the People's Great Hural and

its presidium. The procurator appoints aymag, somon, ancl municipal

procurators for three-year terms. These local procurators are subordinate only to the procurator of higher rank.

Thus the procuratorial system parallels that of the courts, and

its chain of command extends unbroken from top to bottom. The

Office of the Procurator serves as a check on the entire court sys- tem, as well as on the government apparatus. As such it wields enormous power and is a strong arm of the party for enforcing its national policies.

The procurator is authorized to review the activities of the Ministry of State Security and its field organizations, all organizations

of inquiry, all militia units, and all judicial organizations. The

procurator's staff reviews all cases, takes account of sentences, and

checks on the legality of detentions and on prison conditions. It supports public prosecution work in each locality, issues arrest warrants and confirms indictments, protests against laws it considers

illegal or unconstitutional, checks the legality of resolutions, ensures that state orders and regulations are properly issued, and su- pervises all public prosecutors and the investigative apparatus.

The deputy procurator is appointed by the procurator for a three- year term, subject to confirmation by the Presidium of the People's Great Hural. The incumbent is charged with reviewing the

investigative organs of the Ministry of State Security and the militia; with checking prison conditions and the legality of detentions; with

reviewing legal judgments, rulings, and decisions of regular and

special courts; and with participating in Supreme Court preparatory and judicial sessions as the procurator's representative.

The assistant procurator is appointed by the procurator and con- firmed by the Presidium of the People's Great Hural. The assis- tant procurator supervises the coroners, the Office of the Military

Procurator, and the border guards; is responsible for prompt ac- tion on all statements and complaints from state and public insti- tutions and private citizens; and supervises the legal personnel on

the procurator's staff and legal training in the country.

At the local level, aymag and municipal procurators issue arrest warrants, direct coroners and militia organs in crime investigations,

and review the investigative activity of the organs under the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Coroners, under direction of the procurators, are required to make prompt inquiry into all criminal cases. They appear in court in criminal cases as expert witnesses and in

civil cases as defenders for workers and the state. They may be

members of the medical bureaus that are attached to all courts in

254
Mongolian People's

Army honor guard

Courtesy Steve Mann

order to examine victims injured in crimes, to perform autopsies,

and to conduct scientific investigations. Bailiffs at each level are appointed by the court chairman. They see that the decisions and

sentences imposed by the courts are carried out. All persons charged with a violation can be handed over, together

with the evidence against them, to the courts of local assemblies

by official and public organizations, local authorities, procurators,

militia members, or citizens. An accused person has the right to be tried within one month of arrest or is automatically absolved.

Court proceedings are conducted in Mongol, but a person not

speaking the language has the right both to an interpreter and to use his or her own language in court. Accused people are guaranteed the right to defend themselves. All cases are heard in public,

except for special cases in which the law provides for closed courts. Verdicts, decrees, and decisions of all courts except the Supreme

Court may be appealed by the defense or by the prosecution. Decisions and sentences legally in force can be protested only by the

chairman of the Supreme Court, by the state procurator, or by

the minister of state security.

The Penal System

Mongolia maintained both prison camps and correctional or

educational colonies in the 1980s. There also were detention camps

for minor offenders, designed to rehabilitate them by "socially useful

255
Mongolia: A Country Study

labor." Such labor included town-improvement projects: cleaning the street, and repairing buildings. Those performing this labor

received neither wages nor food; they purchased their food or depended on their families to provide it. Local jails existed for brief

detentions (twenty-four hours or less) of intoxicated persons and

those awaiting indictment.

Law Enforcement

The Security System

The people of Mongolia were subject to the control of a variety

of political, economic, and social organizations inside and outside

the government. The entire system was guided by the party, which

directed the overall policies of the government agencies; other political groups, such as the youth and labor organizations; and the

network of herding and agricultural cooperatives that extended to include the lowliest arad (see Glossary). Through this hierarchy of

formal control and the dynamics of its politico- social activities, the

central government extended its general, and often extremely particular, direction over the entire population (see The Society, ch. 2; Major State Organizations, ch. 4). In the government structure itself, the security system comprised

the Ministry of Public Security under which were the central Militia

Office and the network of police departments, called militia departments; the State Security Administration; the Fire Prevention Administration; the Border and Internal Troops Administration; and

the offices handling correctional organizations. In addition, both

governmental and public auxiliary law-enforcement groups helped

these agencies to maintain public order and safety (see Local Administration, ch. 4). The national police apparatus, commonly called the militia, had

a department in each aymag and a militia office in each district. The militia was responsible for the registration and supervision of

the internal passports that all citizens aged sixteen and older were

required to carry, and for enforcement of the passport regulations

at the national and local levels. A passport was necessary for in- ternal travel, and persons wishing to travel first had to obtain per- mission from the militia. After arriving at their destination, they

had to register with the militia. The militia collected the passports

of those entering military service. The passports of persons under

criminal investigation and detention were held by the investigative organ, but those who were sentenced to prison surrendered

their passports to the militia. A system of tight control was imposed

upon the movements of all citizens. The militia also had been

256
Mongolian People's Air Force pilots

Courtesy Mongolian State Publishing Office

designated as the organ of criminal investigation—giving central

direction to police work and combining the functions of criminal

investigation and criminal arrest. The procurators supervised the

militia's crime-detection work. Militia investigators were expected

to have strong political convictions, a knowledge ofjurisprudence,

extensive working experience, loyalty, and honesty.

Militia organs, together with local assemblies administered compulsory labor sentences of convicted criminals. Militiamen, as well

as the executive committees of local governments, had authority

to put intoxicated persons into detention houses for twenty-four

hours or less and to fine them.

Each militia office had a motor-vehicle inspection bureau, which

regulated vehicular traffic, investigated accidents, issued licenses,

and could impose fines on operators guilty of minor law infractions. Detectives attached to motor vehicle inspection bureaus also investigated vehicular accidents. Militia members directed motor

traffic, and they were stationed along the railroads.

The Ministry of Public Security also was responsible for the Fire

Prevention Administration and the State Security Administration.

The Fire Prevention Administration supervised all fire-prevention

and fire-fighting activities. The State Security Administration was

257
Mongolia: A Country Study

a counterintelligence organization thought to oversee antiespionage, antisubversion, and anti-sabotage activities. The Border and Internal Troops Administration was in charge

of 15,000 troops responsible for border patrol, for guard duties,

and for immigration control. Border defense troops were equipped

with fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, tanks, motor vehicles and

motorcycles, radio communications equipment, engineering equipment, and automatic weapons.

Auxiliary Security Forces Various governmental and public organizations assisted the regular law-enforcement agencies in keeping order. Public brigades had

been organized as auxiliaries to help the militia in crime detection

and prevention, in gathering evidence, in observing public gatherings, in finding stolen goods, and in tracking escaped criminals.

In addition, there were mass social organizations, including block

and district committees, and parents' committees in schools. These

citizens' groups were used to help fight such crimes as murder,

burglary, theft, and arson. They also could function as deputies

or special police, as the occasion demanded. In addition, there were

administrative committees, special police courts, committees of

public- spirited citizens to deal with juvenile delinquents, and anti- crime commissions in the larger cities and towns.

The most important of these bodies were the Crime Fighting

and Crime Prevention Councils, which were voluntary and informal party organizations operating without paid staffs at all levels of the party- government structure. These councils were strictiy advisory bodies, and they had no authority to replace judicial or lawenforcement agencies in any way. Their function was to discuss

in general terms the problems of crime and how best to combat it. Incidence of Crime

In the late 1980s, the most common crimes were theft and embezzlement of state property, black-marketing, juvenile delinquency, misappropriation of materials (food and drugs, for example), and speculation (such as selling automobiles). To combat these crimes, the authorities called for better enforcement of

laws, harsher punishment for criminals, and additional public in- volvement in fighting crime.

Hooliganism and vandalism by juvenile delinquents in the towns

and cities also caused the authorities grave concern. Much of this activity was attributed to the rising rate of divorce and to broken

homes. To combat this situation, the authorities called for efforts to strengthen the family structure; to ensure better compliance with

258
National Security

family and marriage laws; to improve the laws on family, marriage, child adoption, and guardianship; and to better integrate

schools with the job market, in order to discourage idleness among

students more effectively.

In 1989 Mongolian government and party leaders, now less fearful of foreign threat, were taking steps to reduce the size of the armed

forces and to make further use of the skills of demobilized military

personnel in support of the civilian economy. The leaders were more

concerned with the threats of corruption and of incompetence in

law enforcement that allowed for an increase in crime, especially

economic crimes. To remedy this situation, the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party called for renewed efforts to reform lawenforcement organizations by enhancing the role of the Ministry

ofJustice, to ensure the independence of prosecutors, and to improve the training and evaluation of judicial cadre.

* * *

Little has been published on the Mongolian armed forces. What

is available is mainly historical, such as the discussion of the great

Mongol conquests of the thirteenth century in History of the Mongolian People's Republic, published by the Soviet Akademia Nauk,

and an account of the exploits of the Mongolian People's Army

in World War II in the History of the Mongolian People 's Republic,

available in William A. Brown's and Urgunge Onon's English

translation. William R. Heaton's and Kenneth Jarrett's articles in Asian Survey provide insight into the evolving Mongolian per- ception of the military threat from China. Military Balance [London] each year provides an up-to-date table of organization and

equipment for the Mongolian armed forces. Albert P. Blaustein

and Gisbert H. Flanz's Constitutions of the Countries of the World and

William E. Butler's The Mongolian Legal System provide indispensable information on the legal system. (For further information and

complete citations, see Bibliography.)

259

Appendix

Table

1 Metric Conversion Coefficients and Factors

2 Population Statistics, Selected Years, 1918-89

3 Ethnic Composition, 1979 Census

4 Urban-Rural Breakdown by Family Size, 1979 Census

5 Females in the Work Force by Sector, 1979 Census

6 Education Statistics, 1970, 1980, and 1985

7 Employment by Sector, Selected Years, 1960-85

8 Major Joint Ventures, 1987

9 Foreign Trade, 1970, 1980, and 1985

10 Principal Foreign Trade Commodities, 1986

11 Hurals, 1924-86

12 Party Congresses, 1921-86

13 Major Equipment of Mongolian People's Army, 1988

261

Appendix

Table 1. Metric Conversion Coefficients and Factors When you know Multiply by To find

Millimeters 0.04 inches Centimeters 0.39 inches Meters 3.3 feet Kilometers 0.62 miles Hectares (10,000 m2 ) .. . 2.47 acres Square kilometers 0.39 square miles Cubic meters 35.3 cubic feet Liters 0.26 gallons Kilograms 2.2 pounds

Metric tons 0.98 long tons

1.1 short tons 2,204 pounds

Degrees Celsius 9 degrees Fahrenheit

(Centigrade) divide by 5 and add 32

Table 2. Population Statistics, Selected Years, 1918-89

Year

Estimated

Population Crude Birth Rate

(per thousand) Crude Death Rate(per thousand) Rate of Natural Increase

(per thousand) 1918 .... . . , , 647,000 n.a. n.a. n.a. 1925 . ... 651,700 n.a. n.a. n.a. 1935 738,200 n.a. n.a. n.a. 1940 738,600 26.1 21.8 4.3 1945 759,300 n.a. n.a. n.a. 1956 , , , 845,500 32.3 14.2 18.1 1960 .... 936,900 43.2 10.5 32.7 1965 . , , , 1,076,000 38.0 12.0 26.0 1970 1,230,500 40.2 12.3 27.9 1975 1,424,400 39.4 10.0 29.4 1979 1,595,000 37.2 9.5 27.7 1980 .... . . . . 1,639,700 37.9 10.4 27.5 1985 . . . . 1,890,500 36.0 9.2 26.8 1989 * 2,125,000 35.1 7.6 27.5

n.a. —not available.

* Projected. Source: Based on information from Mongolia, Central Statistical Board, National Economy oftheMPRfor65 Years, 1921-1986, Ulaanbaatar, 1986, 79-80; United States, Depart- ment of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Center for International Research, World

Population Profile, 1987, Washington, 1987, 292; and K.C. Zachariah and My T. Vu,

World Population Projections: 1978-88 Edition, Baltimore, 1988, 282.

263
Mongolia: A Country Study

Table 3. Ethnic Composition, 1979 Census

Estimated

Population Percentage of Ethnic Group (in thousands) Population Khalkha 1,236 77.5 Kazakh 84 5.3 Dorbet 45 2.8 Bayat 31 1.9 Buryat 29 1.8 Dariganga 24 1.5 Dzakchin 20 1.3 Urianhay 19 1.2 Oold 9 0.6 Torgut 9 0.6 Other 88 5.5 TOTAL 1,594 100.0 Source: Based on information from Mongolia, Central Statistical Board, National Economy oftheMPR in 1981, Ulaanbaatar, 1982, translated in JPRS-MON-86-001, Jan- uary 27, 1986, 13.

264
Appendix

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265
Mongolia: A Country Study

Table 5. Females in the Work Force by Sector, 1979 Census

Sector

Female Employees

as Percentage

of Sector

Females in Sector

as Percentage of Employed Females

Material production

Agriculture 46.8 34.9 Communications 46.9 0.9 Construction 35.0 6.7 Industry 45.9 14.5 Trade and procurement 57.8 8.9 Transportation 14.7 2.8 Total material production 42.5 1 69.0 2

Nonmaterial production

Education, art, and culture 62.6 11.5 Finance, credit, and insurance 59.3 0.6 Housing and domestic services 54.9 3.1 Public health and social security 78.8 9.4 Science and scientific service 41.3 1.4 Total nonmaterial production 54.6 1 31.0 3 TOTAL , . 45.6 1 100.0

1 Average.

2 Figures do not add to total because of rounding.

3 As published. Source: Based on information from Mongolia, Central Statistical Board, National Economy oftheMPR for 65 Years, 1921-1986, Ulaanbaatar, 1986, 144-47.

Table 6. Education Statistics, 1970, 1980, and 1985

1970 1980 1985

Schools

Institutions of higher learning 5 7 8 Vocational secondary 28 37 40

Specialized secondary 19 25 28 Primary and junior secondary 761 885 91

1

Total schools , 813 954 987

Students

Institutions of higher learning 8,400 23,200 24,600

Vocational secondary 10,600 22,100 27,700

Specialized secondary 11,100 18,700 23,000 Primary and junior secondary 245,900 394,400 435,900

Total students 276,000 458,400 511,200

Source: Based on information from Mongolia, Central Statistical Board, National Economy

of the MPR for 65 Years, 1921-1986, Ulaanbaatar, 1986, 361-64.

266
Appendix

Table 7. Employment by Sector, Selected Years, 1960-85

(in percentages)

Sector 1960 1970 1980 1985

Material production

47.3 39.9 33.8

5.8 6.0 6.1

1 O 1 10.3 lo.U 18.6 Trade, material, technical supplies, and

. 3.5 6.5 6.8 7.3 5.4 7.1 7.8 Total material production * 87.0 80.6 76.0 73.8 Nonmaterial production

. . 3.7 7.8 9.6 10.3

0.1 0.3 0.4 0.4

0.6 2.0 2.8 3.8 Public administration . 4.6 2.1 2.2 2.4 Public health and social security institutions . . 2.8 5.2 6.3 6.4 Science and scientific services 0.4 1.0 1.7 1.9 Total nonmaterial production * . . 13.0 19.4 24.0 26.2 TOTAL 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

* As published. Source: Based on information from Mongolia, Central Statistical Board, National Economy

of the MPR for 65 Years, 1921-1986, Ulaanbaatar, 1986, 134-37.

267
Mongolia: A Country Study

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Appendix

Table 9. Foreign Trade, 1970, 1980, and 1985

(in percentages)

1970 1980 1985

Exports Raw materials and processed products

(nonfoodstuffs) 58.5 30.9 24.5 Raw materials (foodstuffs) 19.5 13.4 6.2 Foodstuffs 9.6 19.0 9.2

Industrial consumer goods 5.9 9.6 16.8

Fuel, minerals, raw materials, and metals . . 5.4 26.4 42.6 Chemicals, fertilizers, and rubber

Construction materials 0.9 0.4 0.6 Machines and equipment 0.2 0.3 0.

Total exports 100.0 100.0 100.0 Imports Raw materials and processed products

(nonfoodstuffs) 2.0 2.4 2.8 Raw materials (foodstuffs) 0.3 2.9 1.4 Foodstuffs 12.7 8.4 6.2

Industrial consumer goods . . . 36.3 20.9 17.3

Fuel, minerals, raw materials, and metals . . 12.8 24.1 28.7 Chemicals, fertilizers, and rubber 5.1 6.3 6.0 Construction materials 1.7 1.9 1.4 Machines and equipment 25.9 33.1 36.2 Total imports 100.0 100.0 100.0 means negligible. Source: Based on information from Mongolia, Central Statistical Board, National Economy

of the MPR for 65 Years, 1921-1986, Ulaanbaatar, 1986, 340-42.

269
Mongolia: A Country Study

Table 10. Principal Foreign Trade Commodities, 1986

Commodity Unit Quantity Exports Cement thousands of tons 13 Grain -do- 139 Meat and meat products -do- 44 Wool -do- 16 Large hides thousands 121 Small hides -do- 1,256 Lumber thousands of cubic meters 39 Sawn timber -do- 121 Clothing millions of rubles 38 Imports Cement thousands of tons 49

Fertilizers -do- 33 Fresh fruits -do- 2,600 Gas, diesel, and paraffin -do- 788

Lubricating oil -do- 24 Paper -do- 9 Refined sugar -do- 42 Rolled iron and steel -do- 74 Canned vegetables tons 1,500

Insecticides -do- 1,615 Cotton cloth millions of meters 55

Silk and synthetic cloth -do- 8 Woolen cloth -do- 1 Buses units 319

Clocks and watches -do- 120,000 Cranes -do- 55

Diesel generators -do- 7 Electric forklifts -do- 17 Excavators -do- 60 Machine tools -do- 50 Motorcycles -do- 7,107 Automobiles -do- 551 Radio receivers -do- 17,100

Refrigerators -do- 12,600 Sewing machines -do- 10,100

Television sets -do- 11,000

Tractors -do- 695 Transformers -do- 186 Trucks -do- 1,546 Washing machines -do- 6,500 Leather footwear thousands of pairs 566

Source: Based on information from Europa Year Book, 1988, London, 1988, 1, 865.

270
Appendix

Table 11. Hurals, 1924-86

Hural * Date

First National Great Hural November 1924 Second National Great Hural November 1925 Third National Great Hural November 1926 Fourth National Great Hural October-November 1927

Fifth National Great Hural December 1928-January 1929

Sixth National Great Hural April 1930 Seventh National Great Hural December 20-27, 1937 Eighth National Great Hural June 20-July 9, 1940 Ninth National Great Hural February 12-19, 1949

First People's Great Hural July 1951 Second People's Great Hural June 1954 Third People's Great Hural ' June 1957 Fourth People's Great Hural July 1960

Fifth People's Great Hural June 1963

Sixth People's Great Hural July 1966 Seventh People's Great Hural June 1969

Eighth People's Great Hural July 1973 Ninth People's Great Hural June 1977 Tenth People's Great Hural June-July 1981 Eleventh People's Great Hural July 1986

* Known as National Great Hural from 1924 to 1951, when the National Little Hural was abolished and its functions absorbed; thereafter known as People's Great Hural.

Table 12. Party Congresses, 1921-86

Party Congress * Date

First Party Congress March 1-3, 1921 Second Party Congress July 18-August 18, 1923 Third Party Congress August 4-24, 1924 Fourth Party Congress September 23-October 2, 1925

Fifth Party Congress September 26-October 4, 1926

Sixth Party Congress September 22-October 4, 1927 Seventh Party Congress October 23-December 10, 1928

Eighth Party Congress February 21 -April 3, 1930 Ninth Party Congress September 28-October 5, 1934 Tenth Party Congress March 20-April 5, 1940

Eleventh Party Congress December 7-23, 1947 Twelfth Party Congress November 19-24, 1954

Thirteenth Party Congress March 17-22, 1958

Fourteenth Party Congress July 3-7, 1961

Fifteenth Party Congress June 7-11, 1966

Sixteenth Party Congress July 1971 Seventeenth Party Congress June 14-18, 1976

Eighteenth Party Congress May 26-30, 1981 Nineteenth Party Congress May 29-31, 1986

* Party known as Mongolian People's Party from 1921 to 1924; thereafter known as Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party.

271
Mongolia: A Country Study

Table 13. Major Equipment of Mongolian People's Army, 1988

Country Estimated Number

Description of Origin in Inventory Armor

Main battle tanks (T-54, T-55, T-62) Soviet Union 650 BRDM-2 reconnaissance vehicles -do- 135 BMP-1 mechanized infantry combat vehicles -do- 420 BTR-40, BTR-60, and BTR-152 armored

personnel carriers -do- 450

Artillery D-30 122mm, M-46 130mm, and ML-20

152mm towed artillery -do- 650 ZPU-4 14.5mm, M-1939 37mm, and S-60 57mm air defense guns -do- 100 T-12 100mm antitank guns -do- n.a. 120mm and 160mm mortars -do- n.a. BM-21 122mm, B-13 132mm, BM-16

132mm, BM-14 140mm, BM-16 140mm,

and BM-17 140mm multiple rocket launchers -do- 120 +

Surface-to-air missiles SA-7 -do- 300

Fighters

MiG-21 (Fishbed), including one MiG-21U

trainer -do- 30

Transports An-2 (Colt) -do- 20 An-24 (Coke) -do- 19 An-26 (Curl) -do- 1 An-32 (Cline) -do- 1

Helicopters Mi-4 (Hound) -do- 10 Mi-8 (Hip) -do- n.a.

n.a. —not available. Source: Based on information from The Military Balance, 1988-1989, London, 1988, 171.

272
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297

Glossary

arad—Mongolian term for people; the workers; the common people.

aymag—Provincial-level or second-level unit of administration in

Mongolia since 1921. Aymags are divided into somon (q.v.).

Traditionally, an aymag was a tribe. Communist International—also called the Comintern or the Third

International. It was founded in Moscow in 1919 to coordinate

the world communist movement. Officially disbanded in 1943,

the Comintern was revived as the Cominform (Communist In- formation Bureau) from 1947 to 1956.

Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon)—Also abbreviated CEMA and CMEA, the organization was established

in 1949 to promote economic cooperation among socialist bloc

countries and is headquartered in Moscow. Its members as of

1989 included the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Hungary, Poland, Mongolia, Romania, and Vietnam. Mongolia,

the first non-European member, joined Comecon in 1962 and

has traditionally been a supplier of raw materials to the Soviet

Union.

fiscal year (FY)—January 1 through December 31.

Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence—Mutual respect for one

another's territorial integrity and sovereignty; mutual nonaggression; mutual noninterference in one another's internal af- fairs; equality and mutual benefit; and peaceful coexistence.

ger—Mongol term for the round, felt-covered tent known by its Russian (from the Turkic) name of yurt.

glasnost—Russian term meaning outreach, openness.

Golden Horde—From Mongol, altan ordo, or Tatar (q.v.), altun ordu,

literally golden palace or camp, from the color of the tent used

by Batu Khan (died 1255) in his conquest of Russia. Term used

to refer to the Mongol suzerains of Russia (1240-1480), also

known as the Khanate of Kipchak.

govt—Mongol term for arid pastureland, and source of the name

Gobi.

gross domestic product (GDP)—The total value of goods and service

produced by the domestic economy during a given period,

usually one year. Obtained by adding the value contributed

by each sector of the economy in the form of profits, compensation to employees, and depreciation (consumption of capital). Most GDP usage in this book was based on GDP at factor

299
Mongolia: A Country Study

cost. Real GDP is the value of GDP when inflation has been

taken into account.

gross national product (GNP)—Obtained by adding GDP (q. v.

)

and the income received from abroad by residents less payments remitted abroad to nonresidents. GNP valued at market prices was used in this book. Real GNP is the value of GNP

when inflation has been taken into account. horde—A horde (ordo in Mongol) was a force of several tumen (q. v.), roughly equivalent to a modern army corps. See also Golden

Horde.

hurals—Assemblies of people's deputies. Hural is a vernacular term

for kuriltai (q.v.).

Inner Mongolia—The southern part of traditional Mongolia; during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), comprised the provinces

of Suiyuan, Qahar, and Rehol; the present-day Nei Monggol

Autonomous Region of China (Outer Mongolia, q.v.).

Kazakh—Turkic-speaking, traditionally Muslim ethnic group of

pastoralists, living in the Soviet Union, northwestern China,

and western Mongolia.

Khalkha—Mongol subethnic group inhabiting the central and

eastern portion of Mongolia and forming the majority of the

population. Variant form: Halha.

khan—A king, prince, or chief; common tide for sovereigns in Inner

Asia. Sometimes used interchangeably with kaghan.

kuriltai—A council of Mongol chieftains or khans having origins

among the assembly of the Kitan; a great assembly and a type

of electoral procedure developed among tribal leaders in the

first century A.D. A classical Mongol term having the same meaning as hural (q.v.).

Lamaism—Tibetan Buddhism, became the state religion of Mongolia in 1586.

living buddha or incarnate buddha—Western term for Tibetan

Buddhist leaders who are considered incarnations and reincarnations of buddhas actively working for human salvation. Mongolia's Jebtsundamba Khutuktu was one of the many Living

Buddhas.

Manchuria—The present-day northeast Chinese provinces of

Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning; homeland of the Manchus,

founders of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Known as Manchukuo during the period of Japanese control (1931-45).

negdel—Mongol term for a herding collective. Comprises agricultural stations and herding camps in the somon (q. v. ) and is subordinate to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry.

Contrast with state farm, which produces crops.

300
Glossary

nomenklatura—Russian-language term for the elite administrative

positions filled by direct appointment by the communist party,

and hence for the elite administrative class as a whole.

Outer Mongolia—The name applied to the northern part of traditional Mongolia during the period of Manchu control (1691-

1911) and commonly in Western literature thereafter.

perestroika—Russian-language term meaning reform, or, restruc- turing of political system. somon—Third-level administrative unit, subdivision of an aymag.

The term, the root of which means arrow, derives from a Qing

Dynasty (1644-191 1) hereditary military unit of about 100 fa- milies.

Tannu Tuva—Uriankhai region of northwestern Outer Mongolia (q.v.); in December 1921, as a result of Soviet insistence,

it became the Tannu Tuva People's Republic, the independence of which was later recognized by Mongolia in the

Mongolian-Soviet Treaty of Friendship of 1926. In 1944 it was

annexed by the Soviet Union as the Tuvinian Oblast of the

Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, and in 1961 it became the Tuvinskaya Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Tuvins (q.v.).

Tatar—Name of unknown origin, which first appeared in the eighth

century. In the thirteenth century it became the European appellation for the Mongols, although the Mongols themselves

had been fighting against the Tatars. From the fourteenth century, the name was applied to Turks living in the European

parts of Russia, mainly in the khanates of Kazan and of the

Crimea.

tugrik—The unit of currency; in March 1989, value of 1 tugrik = US$2,985. The tugrik is made up of 100 mongo; there are one, two, five, ten, fifteen, twenty, and fifty mongo denomination

coins and a one tugrik coin. Currency consists of 1, 3, 5, 10,

25, 50, and 100 tugrik notes. tumen—Traditional Mongol military unit, roughly equivalent to a modern division, comprising 10,000 troops and their families. Tuvins—Ethnic group of Turkic-speaking pastoralists from the

Tannu Tuva (q.v.) region of the Soviet Union, which was administered as part of Mongolia under the Qing Dynasty

(1644-1911). Also known as Uriankhai.

Uighurs—Inner Asian ethnic group of oasis-dwelling, Turkicspeaking, traditionally Muslim agriculturalists resident largely in northwest China's Xinjiang-Uygur Autonomous Region.

Urga—see Yihe Huree.

301
Mongolia: A Country Study

Uzbeks—Inner Asian ethnic group of Turkic-speaking, Muslim

agriculturalists, resident primarily in the Soviet Union.

yasaq—A legal code developed after Chinggis Khan's death but at- tributed to him; regulations; the code of Mongol law.

Yihe Huree—Literally, "great monastery" or "great camp,"

founded in the seventeenth century as the residence of the Jebtsundamba Khutuktu (Living Buddha, [q. v. ]) and capital of

Mongolia in 1911, when it was renamed Niyslel—capital

Huree. Commonly referred to in Western literature as Urga.

In 1924 when the state was secularized, the name was changed

to Ulaanbaatar, which means Red Hero.

302
Index

Abbasid Caliphate, 23

abbots, 43, 48, 103 Abhia, Jorantayn, 201

Abtoneft Import and Supply Cooperative, 157 Abu Said, 27

Adriatic Sea, xxvii Afghanistan, 4, 19, 161 African nations, 52

Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Organization, 104 Agentstvo Pechanti Novosti (APN), 216

Agitprop. See Press Agitation and Propaganda Section (Agitprop)

Agreement on Economic and Cultural Cooperation, Mongolia-Soviet Union

(1946), 50 Agreement on Economic and Cultural Cooperation (1965) with Soviet Union,

52 Agreement on Mutual Recognition and

Friendly Relations (1921) with Soviet Union, 41 agreements {see also treaties), 38, 46, 52; for air transport with Comecon,

168; with China, 52, 208-10; with

India, 211-12; on Manchukuo-Mon

golian border, 49, 236; related to uran- ium mining (1981), xxxv; with Soviet Union, 41, 50, 52, 223, 228, 232, 233

agricultural sector (see also cooperatives,

herding; herders; pastoral nomadism;

state-owned farms): collectivized, 117, 119-20; cooperatives, 125, 128, 131, 133; crop production in, 118, 131-32; development of, 51, 127-28; economy

of, 53, 127-36; effect of weather on, 53, 54, 66; exports of, 127; government or- ganization changes affecting, 129; in economic regions, 122

agricultural stations. See negdels Agricultural Technical Equipment Import

and Supply Cooperative, 157 AIDS incidence, 107 Ain Jalut (battle), 25, 27

air bases, military, 47

aircraft squadron (Mongolian Herds- men), 236

air force, 241

airport, 168

Akihito, Emperor, xxxvi

Albania, xxxiv

Albazin, 35

Allgemeiner Deutscher Nachrichtendienst (ADN), 216

Allied Expeditionary Force, 40

Altai Mountains, 6, 7, 10, 11, 63

Altanbulag, 226

Altangerel, Bat-Ochiryn, 188 Altan Khan, 32, 33-34, 100 ambulance, air, 168, 241 Amgalanbaatar, 227 Amur River, 35, 63 Amur Valley, 35

Anatolia, 19 animal husbandry {see also arads [herders]

herding), 132-34 Arabian Sea, 16

arads (herders, see also herders), 87, 117, 127, 131, 132 Aral Sea, 3, 8 Argun River, 63 Arhangay Aymag, 122 Arik-Buka, 23

aristocracy, 43-45, 59, 80-81, 91, 117, 232 armed forces: educational level of, 245;

officers in, 242-43; size of, 241; train- ing of, 245-46; uniforms and insignias

of, 243, 245 army {see also Mongolian People's Army),

43; actions in nineteenth century of, 222-23; of autonomous Outer Mongolia, 225; aviation branch of, 231; cavalry of, 231-32; development of

effective, 231, 238; Military Construction Administration of, 238, 247; newstyle, 223; politicization of, 241, 245;

role in economy of, 246-47; size of, 47; Soviet assistance with, 46-47; as unifying force (1930s), 232; in World War

II, 49

art, xxxiv

Asia. See Inner Asia 303
Mongolia: A Country Study

Asia, Southeast, 22

Asia, Southwest, 22, 27 Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace, 104 Asian Development Bank, xxxv, xxxix Astrakhan, 16, 30

Attila, 4

Austria, xxvii Auxiliary Defense Organization, 246

aymag centers, 117, 183

aymags (provinces) (see also somons [counties]), 53, 88, 175, 199; court system

in, 252-53; hospitals in, 105; legisla- tive assemblies in, 183-84; trade union

councils in, 155

ayrag, 99 Ayuka Khan, 34

Azerbaijan, 28

BagaNuur, 118, 122, 125, 138, 139, 158 Baghdad, 23

Baibars, 25, 27 Bandung Conference (1955), 52 banks, 144-45 banner system (koshuus), 32, 34, 36, 79 barter economy, 144, 146 Batmonh, Jambyn, 54, 98, 156, 175, 188-89, 194-97, 211; economic reforms

of, xxxi; on information and the media,

213; political leadership of, xxxvii, 198-200; on relations with China,

xxxvi, 208; replaced by Ochirbat,

xxxvii; replaces Tsedenbal, xxxiii- xxxiv, 55; upholds relations with Soviet Union, 205 Batu Khan, 19, 20-22, 27 Bayan, 23 Bayan-Olgiy Aymag, 71, 73, 122 Bayanhongor Aymag, 122 Bela IV (king of Hungary), 21 Berke Khan, 27 Bhutan, 104

Black Sea, 3 blizzards, xxviii, 53, 66 Bodoo, Dogsomyn, 39, 40, 41 Bogdo Khan. See Jebtsundamba Khtuktu

Bolshevik Revolution (1917), 5, 39-40,

226, 239 Border and Internal Troops Administration, 257

Borjigin Mongols, 13

Bor Ondor, 138 Boxer Uprising (1900), 223 Brezhnev, Leonid, 52, 54

Britain: relations with, xxxiv, 211; trade

with, 162 buddhas, living, 101-2 Buddhism (see also Lamaism; shamanism;

Tibetan Buddhism), 12, 32, 37, 100-4; monastic system of, 59-60; role in

social and economic structure of, 103-

4; suppression of, 44-45, 98, 102-3, 108

budget, government (see also defense spending), 118; education spending of, 108;

military spending of, 229, 237-38; scope

of, 121 Bukhara, 31 Bulgan Aymag, 122, 127

Bulgaria, 21, 22, 27, 160

Bulghar, 21 Bulghar people, 19, 20

bureaucracy, xxxi, 86, 182 Burma, 52

Buryatia, 39 Buryat Mongols, 35, 39, 72, 74, 75, 229-30

Buryatskaya Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, 39, 205 Byambarusen, Dashyn, xxxix-xl Byzantines, 28

Cambodia, 52, 104, 161 Carpathian Mountains, 21 Caspian Sea, 10, 16, 17 Catde Breeders' Day, 99 Caucasus, 27 Caucasus Mountains, 16 Center for Indian Studies, 211

Central Auditing Commission, 186-87

Central Council of Mongolian Trade

Unions, 155 Central Europe, 4 Central Statistical Board, 181 Chagadai, 19 Chagadai Mongols, 19, 31 Chahar Mongols, 32, 33 Chamber of Commerce, 157-58 Chang'an (Xi'an), 10 Chang Jiang River, 8 Chiang Kai-shek, 44, 52 Chiang people, 8 304
Index

China: assistance from, 147; attitude of Mongolia toward, 203, 247; border

with, xxx, 209, 230, 237, 239, 247; expansion of, 8, 36-37; forces in Mongolia of (1915), 225; Great Wall of, 6-7,

8, 16; Heilongjiang andJilin provinces

of, 11; influence of, xxxi, 8, 10-11,

37-38; influence of Mongols on, xxviixxviii, 3, 25-27; invades Mongolia, 27; invasion by and defeat of Turk people

of, 10-11; labor force assistance of, 117, 137, 164; Manchu conquest of, xxix, 4-5; Mengke's war in, 22-23; modernization of army of, 223; Mongolian

population of, 59; nomadic tribes in, 4, 6-7; recognizes independence of Mongolia, 50; relations with, xxx, xxxii, xxxvi, xxxviii, 50, 52-53, 207-10, 237, 238-39, 247-48; response to Russian

expansion by, 37; revolution in (1911),

38, 223; Shanxi Province in, 8; sover- eignty over Outer Mongolia of, 37, 38, 42, 46, 223-24; Soviet Union defense

against, 52, 54, 237; territorial claims

to Mongolia of, xxx, xxxviii, 52, 207, 237; threat of incursion by, 228, 238-39, 247-48; trade with, xxx, 43, 162-63; treaty with xxxviii, 52, wars of Khubilai in, 23, 25; Xinjiang-Uygur Autonomous Region in, 7, 12, 73, 237; Xizang Autonomous Region of, 8 China, People's Republic. See China

China, Republic of (Taiwan), xxxviii Chinese Communist Party, xxxiv

Chinese: employed by Mongols, 3; in Mongolia, xxix, xxxi, 43, 45, 59, 74, 76, 230

Chinese Revolution (1911), 5

chinggis, 15 Chinggis Khan (see also Temujin), 3-4,

11-12, 19, 30; conquests of, xxvii-xxix, 15-18; eulogies for, xxxvii; historical significance of, xxxiii-xxxiv, 213, 223, 239; last campaign of, 18; military

organization of, 222; rise and influence

of, 13, 15, 222 Choybalsan, Horloyn, 39, 40, 42, 44-45,

48-49, 51, 176, 194, 238; cooperation with Soviets by; criticism of, xxxiv; as government and party leader, 227-30;

as revolutionary leader, 221, 225-27

Choybalsan (city), 71, 118, 123, 138, 205 Choybalsan industrial combine, 137

Choybalsan University, 48

Christianity. See Nestorian Christianity Christian Peace Conference, 104

cities, autonomous (hots), 175

Civil Air Transport Administration, 167—

68, 241

Civil Code, 183

civil defense, xxxiii climate, xxviii, 63, 66

clinics, medical, 104-5

coal deposits, 125

coal mining, 137, 141, 142 Code of Criminal Procedure (1963), 221

collectives, xxxi, 44-45, 46, 60, 87-88,

90-91, 117, 119-20, 128 Comecon (Council for Mutual Economic

Assistance), 52, 118, 120; Commission

on Cooperation in Public Health, 106; economic activities of, 158; economic

planning, xxxi; economic relations with

countries of, 1 56-63 ; effect of membership in, 158; International Bank for Economic Cooperation, 158; International Geological Expedition, 158; Inter- national Investment Bank, 158; member

of (1962), xxx, 212; trade with countries

of, 162-63 Comintern (Communist International).

See Communist International (Comintern) Committee of War Veterans, 194 communes, agricultural, 47 communication systems, 47, 118 Communist International (Comintern),

39, 43, 45; Buryat Mongols as agents

of, 229-30; influence on Mongolian

army of, 228-29 Communist Party: of China, xxxiv, 44,

50; of Soviet Union, 45, 59

conscription, xxxiii, 228, 230-31, 241-

42

constitution (1924), 42, 48, 175, 249

constitution (1940), 48-49, 176, 249

Constitution (1960), 51, 104, 175, 221,

249; adoption of, 175-76; amended,

xxxvii-xxxviii; definition of socialist ownership in, 118; duties of, 177-78;

provisions for legislative branch, 178-

81; provisions of, 176-78

constitution, draft (1990), xxxv

construction industry, 143-44

Consul's Group, 39

305
Mongolia: A Country Study

Consultative Meeting of Communist and

Workers' Parties of Asia and the Pacific Region, 206

cooperatives, agricultural. See agricultural sector cooperatives, herding. See arads; herding copper deposits and mining, 125, 127, 141-42

correctional colonies, 255

Council of Ministers: Comecon Commission of, 156; deputy chairman of

replaced, xxxix; Military Council re- sponsibility to, 229-30, 231, 240-41;

reorganization of, 119; responsibilities

of, xxxii, 181-82; right of legislative ini- tiative of, 180; role in planned economy

of, 118, 120 Council of Mongolian Trade Unions, 106 Council for Mutual Economic Assistance.

See Comecon

counties. See somons (counties) court system (see also Procurator of the Republic; procurators), 175, 182-84,

221; circuit courts in, 253; for criminals, 251-55

credit market, 145 Crimea, 16-17, 27, 30 Crime Fighting and Crime Prevention

Councils, 258

crimes: incidence of, 258; types of, 251-

52, 258

Criminal Code (1961), 183, 221, 249-51

criminal codes (1926, 1929, 1934, 1942), 248

crop dusting, 168, 241 Cuba, 52

cultural reform, xxxiv Culture Fund of the Mongolian People's

Republic, 193 Cuman people, 16, 19 currency, 43

Cyrillic alphabet, xxxiv, 50, 72, 98, 108

Czechoslovakia, 127, 160

Dadu (Beijing, Khanbalik, Cambaluc),

xxviii, xxix, 23, 25-27 Dai state, 8 Dalai Lama, 36, 100, 101, 104 Dalmatia, 21 Damba, Dashiyn, 51 Dambadorj, Tseren-Ochiryn, 44 Dandzan, Horloogiyn, 39, 42, 229

Danube Valley, 21 Daoism, 25 Darhan, 71, 106, 118, 122, 137-38, 175, 205 Dayan Khan, 31-32

defense sector (see also civil defense): policy with Soviet Union of, xxxii, 232-40; purge of, 239

defense spending, 47, 50, 229, 237-38

Dejid, Jamsrangiyn, 198, 201 democratic centralism, 194-98, 202 Democratic Party of Mongolian Believers,

xl Democratic People's Republic of Korea

(North Korea), 50, 160, 162 Deng Xiaoping, 209 Disarmament Commission, 212

disease, 60, 106-7, 230

divorce, 69, 94 Dnieper River, 17, 20 Donghu people, 7-8 Don River, 16, 20 Dornod Aymag, xxxv, 71, 122, 127 Dornogovi Aymag, 122, 125, 127

droughts, 53 Dundgovi Aymag, 122, 127

dust storms, xxviii Dzavhan Aymag, 122 Dzungar Mongols, 33-34, 36-37 Dzuun (East) Huree Group, 39

earthquakes, 63 Eastern Han Dynasty, 7, 8 economic assistance (see also mutual assis- tance): from China, 52; from Comecon

countries, xxx, 53, 128, 158; from

Soviet Union, xxx, 47, 51, 53, 54, 59, 69, 117, 128, 131, 137, 158-60; from Western countries and Japan, xxxv,

159; to Soviet Union and other countries, 49, 133, 160-61, 236; turnkey

projects as, 159-60 Economic Council for Asia and the Far

East, 212 economic development, xxxi-xxxii; with Comecon membership, 158; under communist control, 117-18 economic performance, 96, 121-23; role of military in, xxxiii, 246-47

economic policy (see also Five-Year Plans):

central planning of, 118, 1 19-20; change

in, 45-46; coordination of planning with 306
Index

other countries, xxxi, 120; for develop- ment, 51-52; effect of communist, 45; government intervention in, xxxi; New

Turn Policy of, 46-49; post-World War

II, 50-51; reforms in, 118, 123-25;

Soviet Union control and guidance of, 43, 59, 117, 120 economic regions, 122

education, 48, 51, 60, 84, 86; of armed

forces, 245; as channel for social mobility, 97; higher, 110; military, 245; for Mongolians in Soviet Union, 110

educational system {see also schools): controlled by Tibetan Buddhism, 107; development of secular, 107-9; women

in, 95-96

Egypt, xxvii, 3

elections, multiparty, xxxiii, xxxvii, xxxix

electric power, 137, 141, 142-43

energy, 142-43

environmental issues, 66-67, 139

Erdenet (city), 71, 74, 106, 118, 123, 138, 139, 160, 175, 205, 247

Erdenet Mining and Concentrating Combine, 141-42, 143, 160

Erdes, xxxv Esen Khan, 31 Estonia, 22

ethnic groups, xxix, 72-75

Eurasian continent, xxxix, 3-4

Europe: Mongol administration in, 26; invasion of, xxvii, 16; economic aid from countries in, xxx; Hun empire in, 4; relations with countries of, 50 European Economic Community (EEC),

xxxiv-xxxv

executive branch of government (see also Council of Ministers), 173, 177, 181-82

exports, 127; of animal products, 133,

161; of foodstuffs, 161; of fuel, 161; of

fur pelts, 136; of minerals, 141, 161

family structure, 91-93

famine, 45

Federation of Democratic Women, 215

Federation of Mongolian Peace and

Friendship Organizations, 192 Ferghana, 31

Fire Prevention Administration (Ministry of Public Security), 256-57

fish, 76, 125, 136

Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, 52

Five-Year Plans (see also Three-Year

Plan), xxxi, 119; First, 51, 117, 120; Second, 51, 120; Third, 120, 159; Fourth, 53, 159; Fifth, 53, 159; Sixth,

54, 159; Seventh, 122, 131, 154, 159; Eighth, 122, 131-32, 134, 139, 141-44,

148, 154, 161-62, 168, 212

fluorite, 125, 127, 138, 141, 142 Food and Agriculture Organization, 212

food processing plants, 117, 139

foreign policy: administration of, 204; of economic relevance, xxxv; formulation, 203; role of Buddhism in, 103-4; Soviet influence in, 203

forest fire patrol, 168, 241

forests, 63, 125, 134, 136

France, 211 Free Labor Party, xxxix

Galdan Khan, 32, 34, 36 Gandan Monastery, xl, 103, 104 Gansu corridor, 8 geography, xxviii, 60, 63 Georgian people, 16

ger, 72, 94, 139 Germany, East, 160, 162-63, 165 Gandhi, Rajiv, 211-12

glasnost, 173, 195 Gobi area, xxvii, xxviii, 5-7, 8, 63, 66, 67, 74

gold deposits, 125, 142 Golden Horde, xxviii, 21, 27-28, 30 Gombojab, D., xxxix Gombosuren, Tserenpiliyn, xxxvii, 204, 209

Gonchigdorj, Radnaasumbereliyn, xxxix Gorbachev, Mikhail, xxxiv, 200, 203, 205, 206-7, 209, 247 Govi-Altay Aymag, 122 government intervention: in the econ- omy, xxxi, 43; in internal trade, 47 government structure (see also aymags;

somons): administrative subdivisions in, 88, 175, 183; changes in, xxxviii-xxxix, 123-25; design for control by, 256; major parts of, 173, 175; Military Council in, 229-30, 231, 240-41 Grand Canal, 26 Group of 77, xxxv Guandong Army of Japan, 234 Gungaadorj, Sharabyn, xxxvii 307
Mongolia: A Country Study

Guomindang (Chinese Nationalist Party),

xxxii, 44, 50, 210, 237

Halhin Gol, Battle of, 49, 234-36

Halperin, Charles, 17 Hangayn Nuruu (mountains), 63, 67 Hangzhou, 23 Hanoi, 23 Hentiy Aymag, 123, 125, 127 Hentiyn Nuruu (mountains), 63

Herat, 31 herders (see also arads), 45, 59-60, 76-81,

87-88, 92

herding, xxxi, 78-80, 82, 87-88, 117, 132-33

Horshoololimpex, 157

hospitals, 104-5

Hotol, 138

hots. See cities, autonomous (hots) housing, 71-72, 86 Hovd Aymag, 72, 122, 230 Hovd Basin, 73 Hovsgol Aymag, 72, 106, 122, 127 Hovsgol Nuur(lake), xxviii, 63, 67, 167;

as part of ecosystem, 139

Hsien-pei people. See Xianbei people

Hsiung-nu people. See Xiongnu people

Huang He River, 7, 11, 18 Hulegu, 22, 23, 25, 27 Hun empire, 4, 8 Hungary, 3, 21, 160, 162 hunger strikes, xxxvii, xxxviii

hurals. See National Great Hural; National

Little Hural; National Provisional Little Hural; People's Great Hural; Small Hural (Baga Hural)

hurals defined, 173 Hutyen Orgil (Nayramadlin Orgil), 63

Ilkhans (see also Iran), xxviii, 22, 27, 28, 30

illiteracy. See literacy

II milione (see also Marco Polo), 26

imports, 157; of fuels, 161 ; of machinery

and equipment, 161-62 income distribution, 153-54

independence (1921), 40; recognized by

China (1946), 50

India, 4, 6, 21, 52; relations with, 211-12

Indo-Europeans, 3, 6

industrial centers, 118, 137-38

industrial combine, 137

Industrial Development Organization, 212

industrial sector, 137-41; light industry

in, 139, 141

infertility, 60

information: policy, 213-14; sources, 214-17

infrastructure: under communist govern- ment, 47; development under Mongols

of, 25-26; military contributions to, 238 Inner Asia, xxvii, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12,

19, 37; peoples of, 4, 19, 26, 59 Inner Mongolia, xxix, 5, 7, 37, 39, 46,

50; invasion of (1945), 231; Japanese

occupation of (1937), 234

Institute of Agriculture, 110

Institute of Economics, 110

Institute of Geography and Permafrost,

111

Institute of Hygiene and Virology, 107

Institute of Medicine, 110

Institute of Physical Culture, 110

Institute of Russian Language, 110

insurance, 145

International Association for Mongol

Studies, 212

International Atomic Energy Agency, 212

International Civil Aviation Organization, xxxv

International Democratic Federation of Women, 192

International Labour Organization, 155, 212

International Monetary Fund (IMF),

xxxix

International Red Cross, 212

International Telecommunications Union,

212

International Union of Students, 191 Interparliamentary Union, 212

invasions: by Chinese, 10-11, 27; by

Japan, xxx, 49, 221, 233-34; by no- madic tribes, 6-7

investment, foreign, 137-38, 158

Iran, xxviii, 6, 19, 27; people of employed

by Mongols, 3 iron ore, 125, 127

irrigation systems, 55, 131

Islam: in China, 25; as Golden Horde

state religion, 28; in present-day Mongolia, 104; reaches Inner Asia, 11 308
Index

Jamsranjab, Agbaanjantsangiyn, 201 Jao Modo, 36 Japan, 3, 25; agreement on ManchukuoMongolian border, 236; attempted inva- sion by Mongols of, xxvii, 25; Buddhist

association members visit Mongolia,

104; economic assistance to Mongolia,

xxxvii; fight with forces in Manchukuo

of, 49; interest in Mongolia of, 38-39;

invades Mongolia (1939), xxx, 49, 221; invades northern China (1937), 233-34;

loan from, 159; Mongolian border inci- dents of, 231, 234; most-favored-nation agreement, xxxvii; occupation of Manchuria (Manchukuo) by (1931), 46, 233; occupies Mongolia (1939), 234; offensive in Russia (1920), 40; pressure on

Mongolia, xxxix; relations with, 211;

threat of, 227, 228; trade with, 162-63; war declared with (1945), 49-50

Java, xxvii, 25

Jebe, 16, 17 Jebtsundamba Khutuktu (Living Buddha),

34, 36, 38-42, 101-2

Jin Dynasty, 13, 15-16, 18-19, 33

Jochi, 19 John of Piano Carpini, 21, 26

Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 212

joint-stock companies and ventures, 117, 141-46, 160, 165 Juan-juan people. See Ruruan people

judicial system {see also court system; Supreme Court), 175, 177, 182-83 Jurchen people (see also Jin Dynasty; Manchu people), 12-13, 19

Kabul Khan, 13 Kadan, 21 Kaidu Khan, 20-21

Kaifeng, 16, 19 Kaifu Toshiki, xxxvi-xxxvii Kalka River, 17 Kalmyk tribe, 33, 37 Kangxi (emperor), 36

Karakitai state, 13, 16 Karakoroum, xxviii, xxix, 15, 18, 21, 27-28 Karluk people, 11 Kazakh people, xxix, 72, 73, 74 Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, 6, 73 Kazan, 30

Kereit clan, 13

Khalkha Mongols, 31-32, 33, 34, 35, 36,

72, 186 Khanbalik (Beijing), 23 Khrushchev, Nikita, 239

Khubilai Khan (Zhiyuan), xxvii, 22-23, 25-26 Khwarizm state, 16-18, 27, 31 Kiev, 20

kinship, 91 Kipchak (Khanate), 21 Kipchak people, 28

Kirghiz people, 11, 59 Kitan people (see also Liao Dynasty), 10-13

Kiyat people, 13 Kompleximport and Supply Cooperative, 157 Korea (see also Democratic People's

Republic of Korea; Republic of Korea),

3 Korean Peninsula, 6, 7, 19 Koryo (Korea), 13 Kosygin, Alexei, 54 Krasnoyarsk initiative, 207 Kuban steppes, 16 Kuchlug, 16 Kuomintang. See Guomindang (Chinese

Nationalist Party)

kuriltai, 15, 18-19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 36 Kushan Empire, 7 Kushan people, 4 Kuyuk, 21-22

labor force (see also Labor Law; manpower

allocation): from China, 52, 117, 137, 150, 238; in collectives, 90-91; East Europeans and Soviets, 86, 150, 238;

military in, 143, 238, 239, 247; policy

for, 150-52; salaries of, 154; shortages

in, 86, 90, 92, 134, 151; women in, 92-93, 150, 152-53 Labor Law (1973), 69, 152-53, 156, 192 Lake Balkash, 6, 11, 16 Lake Baykal, 11, 31, 35, 63, 67; as part of ecosystem, 139

lakes, 63, 125, 136 Lamaism (Tibetan Buddhism), xxxi, 11, 25, 32, 100-2, 104, 222 Lamjab, Bandzragchiyn, 198

land: confiscation of, 44-45; development

and reclamation of, 118, 131 309
Mongolia: A Country Study

languages {see also Cyrillic alphabet):

Arabic, 28; English, 217; Kazakh, 73; Khalkha Mongol, 72; Mongol, xxxiv,

28, 72-73, 98, 107-8, 110, 255; Mongol dialects, 72-73; Russian, xxxiv, 59, 73, 86-87, 97, 98, 108, 110; Tatar, 28; teaching of foreign, xxxv-xxxvi; Ti- betan, 107; Tungusic, 73; Turkic, 73 Laos, 161 Law on Elections, xxxvii-xxxviii

lead, 127 League for Assisting the Defense Aims of

the Mongolian State, 246

legal system {see also criminal code; court system; Mongol-Oirad Regulations),

182; Civil and Criminal Codes of, 183, 248-51

legislative branch of government (see also National Great Hural; National Litde Hural; National Provisional Little Hural; People's Great Hural), 173, 175, 178-81 Lhagbasuren, Jamyangiyn, 239-40

Lhasa, 36

Liao Dynasty, 11-13

Liegnitz, battle at, 20 Ligdan Khan, 33

lignite deposits, 141 limestone deposits, 127

literacy, 60; low levels of, 44, 48, 59, 107, 117, 230

Lithuania, 20, 22

livestock. See animal husbandry; herders

Living Buddha (Jebtsundamba Khutuktu).

See Jebtsundamba Khutuktu; Tibetan Buddhism

local government {see also aymags [provinces]; somons [counties]), 119, 120,

121, 183-84 Lubsangombo, Sonomyn, 198 Lubsantseren, Bat-Ochiriyn, 192-93

Majsarjab, Sandagdargiyn, 229, 230

Malinovskiy, Rodion Y., 238 Mamluks, xxvii, 3, 23, 25, 27, 28 Manchukuo (Manchuria), 46, 49, 236 Manchu people {see also Qing Dynasty),

4; armies of, 222; domination of Mongolia by, 37; pressure on Mongolia, 5; response to Russian expansion of, 33-36; rivalry with China, 5

Manchuria {see also Manchukuo), 7; border

with, 49, 233-34; Japanese Guandong

Army in, 234; Japanese occupation of, 46, 234; Mongolian rail link with, 234; Mongolian-Soviet troops invade, 50, 231 manpower allocation, 151-52 Manzhouli, 233 Mao Zedong, 52 Mardai uranium mine, xxxv

marriage, 69-70, 92, 93-94 Marxism-Leninism: as basis for legal sys- tem, 182; in military training, 238 mass organizations, 84, 190-94; publishing activity of, 215; security duties of, 257-58

Materialimpeks and Supply Cooperative, 157 media, 212-17 Media Information Center, 215

Mediterranean, xxvii medical care, 104-5

medical research, 106 Medmolibdenstroy, 143 Mengke, 22-23 Mesopotamia, 23 Metropolitan See of Rus', 20 MIAT. See Mongolian Airlines (MIAT)

Michigdorj, Nyamyn, xxxvii Middle East nations, 26, 52

migration, 6

military: assistance from Soviet Union,

xxix-xxx, 46-47, 221, 223-24, 228, 230-31, 233-40; assistance to Soviet Union, 49; compulsory service in, 228, 242; compulsory training for, xxxiii, 238; courts, 253; dominance of Soviet

influence on, xxxii; effect of monasti- cism on, 232-33; practices, historical,

6, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 25, 36, 222-23; practices, modern, 49, 223-28,

238; role in politics of, 201-2; ties to civilian sector of, xxxiii Military Construction Administration,

238, 247

Military Council, 229-30, 231, 240-41

Military Institute, 245

militia, or national police force, 221, 256-57 Ming Dynasty, 27, 32 mining and mineral resources, 55, 125, 127, 139, 141-42

Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, xxxix, 119, 129, 138, 182 310
Index

Ministry of Agriculture, Light, and Food

Industry, xxxviii Ministry of Aviation (Soviet Union), 168 Ministry of Communications, 119, 168-69

Ministry of Construction, xxxviii Ministry of Culture, 214, 215

Ministry of Defense, 214, 241; Civil Defense Office of, 246

Ministry of Education, xxxviii Ministry of Environmental Protection,

67, 119, 129, 136, 139, 182 Ministry of Finance, 119, 120, 121, 145 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 204; Postal and Telegraph Department of, 168 Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Supply, xxxix, 119, 157, 204

Ministry of Forestry and Woodworking,

138

Ministry of Fuel and Power Industry, 138 Ministry of Geology and Mining, 138 Ministry of Health and Social Security, xxxviii-xxxix Ministry of Heavy Industry, xxxix Ministry of Justice, 214

Ministry of Light Industry, xxxix, 119, 138

Ministry of Power, Mining Industry, and

Geology, xxxix, 119, 138 Ministry of Public Security, 214, 256-57

Ministry of Social Economy and Services, xxxix, 119, 139, 157, 204

Ministry of Trade and Cooperation,

xxxix Ministry of Trade and Procurement,

xxxix, 146 Ministry of Transport, 119

modernization, social and economic, 81-87 Molomjamts, Demchigjabyn, xxxv, 198 Molotov, Vyacheslav, 234 molybdenum deposits and mining, 125,

127, 141-42

monasteries (see also Gandan monastery),

108, 231-33; abolition of majority of, 98, 231, 232-33; historical role of, 80,

81, 100-3, 117; role in internal trade

of, 146; toleration of, xl monasticism, 232-33 Mongolbank (Mongolian Trade-Industrial Bank) (see also State Bank of the Mongolian People's Republic), 144-45, 160

Mongol empire (see also Chinggis Khan;

Golden Horde; Yuan Dynasty), 3; in China, 25-27; conquests of, 15-23; in- fluence of Golden Horde, 27-28

Mongolenergostroy, 143 Mongolia (see also Inner Mongolia; Mongolian People's Republic; Outer Mongolia), 3, 4-5, 19, 27, 31, 41-42; autonomy of, 38-40; buffer state sta- tus of, xxx, 46, 59, 228; Chinese domination of, 37-38; habitation in, 5-6; independence of (1921), 40, 226; invasion by Russia (1920), 39; northern and

southern provinces of, 37; Soviet troops

in (1921-25), 40, 42 Mongolia Express Agency for Publication Data, 215 Mongolian Academy of Sciences, xl, 111, 181, 214, 216 Mongolian Airlines (MIAT), 167-68, 241 Mongolian Aviation Day, 231 Mongolian Building Cooperative, 43 Mongolian Central Cooperative, 146 Mongolian Democratic party, xxxix Mongolian Democratic Union, xxxvi Mongolian Green Party, xxxix Mongolian National Bank, 43 Mongolian Partisan Army, 40 Mongolian People's Army, xxxii, 227; development and politicization of, 228-29, 230-32, 237, 238-40, 241 Mongolian People's Party: First Party

Congress of, 40; formation of (1921), 39-40, 184, 226; Second Party Congress of, 41; Third Party Congress of, 42 Mongolian People's Provisional Government, 40 Mongolian People's Republic, 3; formal

establishment of (1924), 5, 42 Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army

(see also Mongolian People's Army), 46, 226-27 Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party: armed forces personnel membership in, 241; assumes present name (1924), 42, 184, 229; Central Committee of, xxxii, 187-88; composition of, xxxi, 54, 97; economic and social control by, 83-84,

120, 173, 175; information policy of, 213-14; military training of, 246; opposition to, xxxiii, xxxvii, xxxviii; Party

Congresses of, xxxiv, xxxvi, 43-44,

311
Mongolia: A Country Study

184-87; Party Control Commission of Central Committee, 188; Party Pro- gram of, 184, 187, 188; philosophy of, 59, 187; Political Bureau, xxxii, xxxvi,

xxxvii, 175, 188-89; purges in, 48, 49,

51; reform in, 184-85; relations with Chinese Communist Party, xxxiv;

repression by, 44-45; role in Constitution, xxxvii; role in government of, 173; role in trade unions of, 155;

Secretariat of, xxxii, 188-89; social position of members of, 86-87; Special

Military Department of, 241; structure on national level, 184-89; structure on

provincial and local level, 189-90; suc- cess in free elections, xxxi* Mongolian Red Cross, 106 Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League,

84, 97, 106, 180, 190-91, 215, 229; armed forces personnel membership in, 241; military training in, 246 Mongolian-Russian agreement, 38 Mongolian Society for the Dissemination

of Knowledge, 214

Mongolian-Soviet Friendship Society, 189, 191-92

Mongolian-Soviet Geological Expedition, 127

Mongolian-Soviet Intergovernmental Commission for Economic, Scientific, and

Technical Cooperation, 156-57 Mongolian-Soviet Treaty of Friendship

(1936), 46 Mongolian-Soviet Treaty of Friendship,

Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance

(1966), 206 Mongolian State Trading Office, 146 Mongolian State University, 48, 54, 97, 110, 183 Mongolian Telegraph Agency (Mongol

Tsahilgaan Medeeniy Agentlag:

MONTSAME), 215, 216-17 Mongolian Trade Unions, 154-56, 180, 192-93; Congress and Central Council of, 154, 192-93; publications of, 215; Thirteenth Congress, 156 Mongolian Women's Committee, 84, 192 Mongolilgeemj, 157 Mongolimpex, 157 Mongolnom, 157 Mongol-Oirad Regulations, 248 Mongol people (see also Buryat Mongols;

Chagadai Mongols; Chahar Mongols;

Dzungar Mongols; Khalkha Mongols;

Naiman Mongols; Oirad Mongols;

Ordos Mongols; Torgut Mongols),

12-13, 15; decline of, 30-33; influence on other countries of, xxvii-xxviii, 11, 27-28, 30-31; origins and conquests of, xxvii; in population, xxix Mongolpress, 215

Mongoltelevidz, 215-16

Mongoltrans (Mongolian Transportation), 160, 163-64, 247 Mongsovbuner, 146 monks (see also Buddhism), 43, 44-45, 48, 59, 60, 81, 100, 101-2, 103, 117, 228, 230, 232-33 MONTSAME. See Mongolian Telegraph

Agency (Mongol Tsahilgaan Medeeniy

Agentlag: MONTSAME)

mountains, 60, 63 Mstislav (prince of Kiev), 17 Mukden incident (1931), 46 mutual assistance: with China, xxxviii, 52; Soviet-Mongolian, xxxii, 46, 232-35, 236-37

Naadam festival, 99-100 Naiman Mongols, 15, 16 Namsray, Tserendeshiyn, xxxvii, 188,

192, 198, 204 Nanchao (Yunnan), 22 Narangerel, Tserendorjiyn, 190

National Great Hural (see also People's Great Hural), 42, 44, 48-49, 51, 163, 175, 176

nationalism, xxxiii-xxxiv, 37, 39, 98, 173, 232, 239

nationalization, 45, 117, 163, 168 National Little Hural (see also Small

Hural), 42, 44, 176 National Progress Party, xxxix National Provisional Little Hural, 40

national security, xxxii natural resources, 46, 125, 127, 137

negdels (agricultural stations), 92, 125, 128-29, 131, 132 Nei Monggol Autonomous Region,

China, 7, 59, 210

Nestorian Christianity, 12, 25 news agencies, 215, 216-17

newspapers, 90, 108, 155, 214-15; for- eign language, 215, 217 New Turn Policy. See economic policy

312
Index

Nianfei peasant revolt, 222-23

Ningxia, 18

Niyslel Huree (see also Ulaanbaatar), 38,

39, 42, 226

nobles. See aristocracy

nomads (see also pastoral nomadism), xxix, 28, 33, 47, 59, 90; repression of, 45;

tribal activity of, 3-4, 6-8, 10

nomenklatura, 86, 147, 188 Northern Wei Dynasty, 8, 10 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963), 52-53

Nurhaci, 33

nutrition, 60, 77

oblasts, 53

Ochirbat, Gombojabyn, xxxvii, xxxviii Ochirbat, Punsalmaagiyn, xxxvii,

xxxviii, xxxix, xl Office of the Procurator of the Republic,

See Procurator of the Republic

Ogedei, 18-19, 21

oil deposits, 127, 142 Oirad Mongols, 31-32, 33 Omnogovi Aymag, 71, 122, 125, 127 Oold, Tsebeenjabyn, xxxvii Orbita satellite communication system, 216 Ordos Mongols, 32, 33 Organization for the Collaboration of Railways, 212 Orkhon inscriptions, 10 Outer Mongolia, xxix, 5, 37, 39, 74; army of autonomous state of, 224-25;

as Chinese autonomous state, 38, 42,

46, 223 Ovorhangay Aymag, 122 Oxus Valley, 6-7, 11

Pacific Ocean, 35 Pagmadulam, Lubsanchultemiyn, 192

Palestine, xxvii, 27 Pamir Mountains, 6, 7, 13 Panchen Lama, 101 paramilitary organizations, 247, 257-58

pastoral nomadism, xxxi, 75-80, 81, 88,

90, 117

penal system, 255-56

People's Government of Mongolia, 41-42

People's Great Hural (see also Small Hural

[Baga Hural]), xxxii, 173, 175; amends

Constitution, xxxviii; appoints Procurator of the Republic, 182; constitutional provisions for, 178; elections to, xxxix; Mongolian People's Revolution- ary Party in, xxxix; Presidium of, 180-

81, 214; renamed from National Great

Hural, 176; role in economic planning

of, 118, 120; Supreme Court accountability to, 252

People's Republic of China. See China,

People's Republic

People's Volunteer Self-Defense Detach- ment, 246

perestroika, 118, 123, 173, 195 Pergamon Press, xl periodicals, 155, 214-15, 217

Persian Gulf, 16

Pest, 21 phosphate deposits, 127, 142

physicians, 105-6

pipeline, water, 141

plains, 63

plateaus, 60 Podgorny, Nikolai, 54

Poland, 20, 22, 160

police, secret, 229

police force, national (militia), 221, 256-57

political system (see also Mongolian

Revolutionary People's Party; Soviet Union), 83-84; legalization of opposition parties in, xxxviii; party opposition

to Mongolian People's Revolutionary

Party, xxxiii, xxxvii, xxxix

Polo, Maffeo, 26

Polo, Marco, 26

Polo, Niccolo, 26

Polytechnic Institute, 110

population: Chinese and Russians in, xxix, 72-74; in economic regions, 122-

23; levels of, xxviii-xxix, 60, 67, 69; policy to increase, 69-70; urban and

rural, 60, 71, 86

postal service, 168, 241

precipitation, xxviii, 63, 66, 75

Press Agitation and Propaganda Section

(Agitprop), 214

price system: controls in, 121, 147; free market, 147

prison camps, 255

Procurator of the Republic, 175, 180, 182, 214, 253-54

procurators, provincial and local, 184, 253-55 313
Mongolia: A Country Study

Protocol Treaty of Friendship and Mutual

Assistance, Mongolia-Soviet (1936),

46, 233-34, 236-37

provinces. See aymags (provinces)

public health, 60, 104-7

publishing industry (see also newspapers;

periodicals), 216

Purebdorj, C, 241

purges by communist regime, xxx, 44-46,

48, 51, 239

Qian Qichen, xxxiv Qing Dynasty (see also Manchu people),

34, 36, 38, 80, 222-23

radio, xxxvi, 168, 215-16

railroads, 47, 52, 117, 141, 164, 165, 167; Shenyang-Harbin, 234; trans-Mongolia

line, 164; Trans-Siberian Railway, 164, 165, 223; Ulaanbaatar Railroad, 117, 160, 165

railroad transport courts, 253

rebellions and revolts against communists,

45, 230-32 Red Army (Soviet Union): in Mongolia,

xxxii, 226, 228-29; in Mongolia

(1930s), 232

religion (see also Buddhism; Islam; Lamaism; shamanism; Tibetan Buddhism),

43, 44, 48, 59, 100-4; campaign against, 48-49, 102-3, 232; easing of suppression of, xl; freedom of, 104 Renchin, Lubsandorjiyn, 182 Republic of China (see also Taiwan), 38 Republic of Korea (South Korea), xxxviii Revolution (1921), xxx, xxxi, 40-42, 221, 226-28

Revolution in Russia. See Bolshevik Revolution (1917) Revolutionary Mongolian Tank Brigade, 236

rights, constitutional, 177

river systems, xxviii, 63, 125, 136

roads, 47, 141, 163-65

rock music, xxxiv Roman Catholicism in China, 25 Romania, 160 Ruruan people, 8, 10 Russia (see also Bolshevik Revolution

[1917]): agreements with, 223; colonial expansion of, 5, 34-35, 37; influence of, xxix-xxx, 5; influence of Golden Horde

Mongols on, 27-28; influence of Mongols on, xxviii, 3, 27-28, 30; invasion by Mongols of, 16-17, 20; revolution and civil war in (1917), 5, 39-40, 226,

239; rise of power in, 28, 30; steppes of, 8, 19, 21; Tatar heritage of, 30; White

Guard invasion of, 39-40, 154, 226, 228 Russian Orthodox Church, 104 Russian Revolution. See Bolshevik Revolution Russians: employed by Mongols, 3; in Mongolia, 74-75

Russo-Japanese War (1904-5), 223

Sajo River, 21 Samarkand, 31 sanatoriums, 106-7

Sanders, Alan J. K., 148

Sarai, 21, 28

satellite communication system, 216

schools, 107-9

schools, military, 242

scientific research, 111-12

Scythian people, 3, 6

Secret History of the Mongob, 13 Selenge Aymag, 71, 122

Selenge Moron (river), 63, 66, 67, 167; as part of ecosystem, 139

Serbia, 21, 22 Shahin Girai, 30 shamanism, 12, 100, 104 Shangdu (Xanadu), 23 Sharin Gol, 125, 139

Sherst Company, 146 Shevardnadze, Eduard, 205-6

shipping fleet, 167

Siberia, 19, 27, 34, 40, 75

Silesia, 20

Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), 223 Sino-Mongolian Agreement on Economic

and Cultural Cooperation (1952), 52 Sino-Russian agreement (1913), 38, 224

Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alli- ance (1945), 50

Small Hural (Baga Hural), xxxviii, xxxix,

xl Social Democratic Party, xxxix

social structure (see also family structure; kinship; marriage): distinctions among

classes in, 84, 86-87; historical, 80-81;

mobility in, 96-97; modernization of, xxxi, 81-83; transformation of, 60 314
Index

Sodnom, Dumaagiyn, xxxvi-xxxvii, 55, 181, 189, 198

somons (counties), 88, 90, 92, 104, 143, 175, 181, 182, 183, 189; court system

in, 253 Song Dynasty, 12-13, 18-19, 22-23, 25

Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact (1941),

49, 236

Soviet Union: agreements with, xxxv, 41, 42, 46, 50, 52, 156-57, 206, 228, 232,

233; announcement of troop withdrawal

plans (1989), 207; assistance for postal and telecommunications modernization

from, 168; assistance to, 49, 133, 160-

61 , 236; coordination of economic plan- ning with, xxxi, 120; credit and assis- tance from, xxx, 159-60; education for Mongolians in, 110; influence of, xxixxxx, 42-46, 50, 59, 152, 203, 217; joint military operations, xxx, 234-36; joint mineral exploration activity of, xxxv,

127, 141; Manchurian-Siberian border

of, 234; military assistance from, 221,

237, 239-40; military influence of, xxxii; military training in Mongolia by, 232, 245; relations with, 40-51, 204-7; rela- tions with China of, xxvii, xxxii, 42, 49-53, 173, 238; relations with Japan

of, xxvii; trade with, 43, 162; troops in Mongolia of, 52, 54, 74-75, 228, 229, 238-39, 247; troop withdrawal of, 52, 247

Soviet Voluntary Society for Cooperation

with the Armed Forces, 246 Sovmongolpromstroy, 143

Special Military Department, 241

Sri Lanka, 104

Stalin, Josef, 44, 194, 233

State Bank of the Mongolian People's

Republic, 119, 145, 181

State Committee for Information, Radio,

and Television, 216

State Committee for Prices and Standards, 147

State Construction Committee, 119, 138-39

State Directorate for Insurance (Mongoldaatgal), 145

State Library, 216

state-owned enterprises, 90, 123-25

state-owned farms {see also collectives), 82-83, 87-88, 128, 129, 131

State Pedological Institute, 110

State Planning and Economic Committee, 120, 123, 147, 150

State Publishing House, 216

State Socioeconomic Development Committee, xxxix

State Security Administration (Ministry

of Public Security), 256-57 Stormong Company, 146, 160

strategic location, xxvii, xxxiii, 46, 59, 173, 203

Subetei, 17-19, 20 Sudak, fortress at, 17 Sukhe Bator, Damdiny, 39-40, 42, 191, 221, 225-27, 229 Sukhe Bator Military Academy, 245 Sukhe Bator Mongolian Pioneers Organization, 191 Sukhe Bator Publishing House, 216 Sun Yat-sen, 52 Supreme Court, 175, 180, 182-83, 214, 252-55

Syria, 19, 23, 27

Taiping Rebellion (1851-65), 222 Taiwan, xxxviii Tajik people, 59 Tamerlane. See Timur

Tang Dynasty, 10-11 Tangut people, 12, 15, 18, 19 Tannu Tuva, 41, 75 Tantrism, 101 Tardu (Turk ruler), 10 Tarim Basin, 8, 11, 13 Tatar people, xxviii, 12, 13, 19, 28, 30

tax system, 43 Technikimport and Supply Cooperative, 157 telecommunications system, 168-69

Telegrafnoye Agentstvo Sovetskovo Soy- uza (TASS), 216

telephones, 90, 168-69

television, xxxvi, 168, 215-16 Temujin {see also Chinggis Khan), 13, 15 Teregene, 21 Three-Year Plan (1958-60), 51, 120, 146

Tibet, 8, 20, 32, 33-34, 36 Tibetan Buddhism {see also Buddhism;

Lamaism; monasteries; monks; sha- manism), xxxi, 11, 80, 81, 100-2, 104, 222; control of educational system by

monks of, 107; Yellow Sect of, 100-102 315
Mongolia: A Country Study

Tibetan people, 59 timber enterprises, 134, 136 Timur (Timur Lenk), 30

tin deposits, 127, 142 Toba people, 8, 10 Tonkin, 22-23 Torgut Mongols {see also Kalmyk tribe), 32, 33, 34

tourism, 163 Tov Aymag, 122, 127

trade, foreign {see also exports; imports), 161-63; organizations handling, 156-

58; railroad transportation protocol for, 165, 167

trade, internal, 146-50

trade unions, 84, 90, 154-56

trading companies, 146

training: legal, 183; military, xxxiii, 47, 238, 245-46; technical and vocational, 151 Trans-Baykal Military District, 235

Trans-Siberian Railway. See railroads Transoxiana, 6

transportation {see also airports; Mongolian Airlines; railroads; roads): by

auto, truck, or motorcycle, 165; using

animals, 163-64, 165; by water and air, 163, 167

transportation system, 118, 122, 163-65, 167-68

Transylvania, 21 Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and

Mutual Assistance (1966) with Soviet Union, 52, 206, 239

Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assis- tance, Mongolia-Soviet Union (1946),

50, 233-34, 236-37

Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assis- tance (1960) with China, xxxviii, 52 Treaty of Kyakhta (1727), 36-37

Treaty of Kyakhta (1915), 38-39, 224-25 Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689), Sino- Russian, 35-36

treaty related to Mongolia-China border

(1988), 247

Treviso, 21 Tsagaan Sar (the White Month), 99

Tsedenbal, Yumjaagiyn, xxxv, 48, 51,

123, 175, 194-95, 200, 237, 239; expulsion from party of, xxxvii; proposed

trial of, xxxvi; replacement of, xxxiii- xxxiv, 54-55, 175, 197, 198

Tserendorj, Balingiyn, 42

Tsewang Rabdan, 36

Tsiyregdzen, B., 201 Tsogto Taji, 33 Tudeb, Lodongiyn, xxxvii, 190

Tului, 18-19 Turned clan, 32

tumen, 15, 16, 20, 21, 32 Tungusic speakers, 73 Tunguz people, 7 Turkestan, 11, 19, 30 Turkic people, xxix, 3, 33, 35 Turkic speakers, 73, 76 Turk people, 10, 12 Turks, 19 turnkey projects, 159-60 Turpan, 36 Tushetu tribe, 34 Tuul Gol (river), 66 Tuvin people, xxix, 73, 74 Tuvinskaya Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, 204

Uighur people, 11, 12-13, 59, 73 Ukraine, 17, 20 Ulaanbaatar: as autonomous city {hot), 175; average temperatures in, 66; elite living in, 86; industry and production

in, 117, 122, 138, 139; as location of

first national university, 48; as location of State Library, 216; physicians in, 106; population in, xxviii, 71; political

rallies in, xxxvi; renamed, 42 Ulaanbaatar Radio, 215-16

Ulaanbaatar Railroad. See railroads Uliastay area, 230 Union of Agricultural Associations, 152 Union of Artisans, 137 Union of Consumer Cooperatives, 146 Union of Mongolian Artists, 215 Union of Mongolian Believers, xl Union of Mongolian Journalists, 193 Union of Mongolian Senior Citizens, 193-94 Union of Mongolian Writers, 214, 215 United Nations (UN), xxxv; Education,

Scientific, and Cultural Organization

of, 212; membership in, 50, 52, 212 United States, xxx, xxxiv, 206, 210

Universal Military Service Law, 241 Universal Postal Union, 212

university, 109, 110 Ural Mountains, xxvii, 10, 31 316
Index

Uralo-Altaic people, 3 Urandosh strip mine, 127, 139 uranium mine, xxxv

Uriimqi, 36 Uvs Aymag, 72, 106, 122 Uzbek people, 31-32, 59, 72, 73 Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, 6

Venice, 21 veterinary medicine, 82 Vienna, 21 Vietnam, 104, 160, 161 Vladivostok, 234 Volga River, 20, 21 von Ungern-Sternberg, Roman Nicolaus,

39, 40, 154, 226

waterways, inland, 167 Western culture, xxxiv Western Liao Dynasty. See Karakitai state Western Xia (Xixia), 12, 15, 16, 18 White Guard (Russian): invasion of, xxx,

xxxii, 39, 154; Mongolian opposition

to, 40, 226; remnants in Mongolia of

(1920s), 228

William of Rubruck, 26

winter weather, 53, 54, 78-79 wolfram deposits, 127, 142 women: in armed forces, 242; in educational system, 95, 96, 109; equal rights

for, 249-50; in labor force, 69-70, 92-

93, 96; military training for, 246; in

politics, 186; role in society of, 94-96 working conditions, 152-53 World Bank, xxxix World Federation of Democratic Youth,

191 World Federation of Trade Unions, 155, 193, 212

World Health Organization (WHO): and AIDS policy, 107; Mongolian membership in, 106, 212 World Intellectual Property Organization, 212 World Meteorological Organization, 212 World Peace Council, 212 World War II: effect of, xxx, 133; neutrality in, 49

Writers' Union, 193 Wuhuan people, 8

Xianbei people, 7-8

Xinjiang, 7, 12, 34, 36, 37, 237 Xiongnu people, 3-4, 6-8, 10 Xizang Autonomous Region. See Tibet

Yalta Conference (1945), 52 Yangtze River. See Chang Jiang River Yanjing (Beijing), 16 Yarkand, 31

yasaq, 19, 21, 248

Yenisey River, 63

Yesugei, 13 Yihe Huree (see also Niyslel Huree), 38, 101, 102, 107, 226 Yondon, Daramyn, 248 Yondon, Jamsrangiyn, xxxv, 201, 241 Young Pioneers, 84 Yuan Dynasty (see also Khubilai Khan

[Zhiyuan]): end of, 31; influence of, 25-27, 248

Yiieh-chih people. See Yuezhi people

Yuezhi people, 3-4, 6-7

Yugoslavia, 163

Zhukov, Georgi, 49, 235 Zhu Yuanzhang, 27

317

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550-159 Chad 550-56 Kenya

550-77 Chile 550-81 Korea, North

550-60 China 550-41 Korea, South 550-26 Colombia 550-58 Laos

550-33 Commonwealth Caribbean, 550-24 Lebanon

Islands of the 550-91 Congo 550-38 Liberia 550-90 Costa Rica 550-85 Libya 550-69 Cote d'lvoire (Ivory Coast) 550-172 Malawi

550-152 Cuba 550-45 Malaysia 550-22 Cyprus 550-161 Mauritania 550-158 Czechoslovakia 550-79 Mexico

550-36 Dominican Republic and 550-76 Mongolia

Haiti 550-52 Ecuador 550-49 Morocco

550-43 Egypt 550-64 Mozambique

550-150 El Salvador 550-35 Nepal and Bhutan

550-28 Ethiopia 550-88 Nicaragua 550-167 Finland 550-157 Nigeria 550-155 Germany, East 550-94 Oceania

550-173 Germany, Fed. Rep. of 550-48 Pakistan 550-153 Ghana 550-46 Panama

319
550-156 Paraguay 550-53 Thailand 550-185 Persian Gulf States 550-89 Tunisia rem jju OU Turkey

c en 70 Philippines C C A 7 A U ganaa

c ca i en roiand c en Q7 Uruguay

550-181 Portugal 550-71 Venezuela 550-160 Romania 550-32 Vietnam

ODU-0

/

Rwanda and Burundi JJV— loo Yemens, The

J JU— Jl Saudi Arabia j j\j — r/ y Yugoslavia

JJU-/U Senegal £7 Zaire 550-180 Sierra Leone 550-75 Zambia

550-184 Singapore 550-171 Zimbabwe

DOU—od Somalia

c c a no South Africa CCA QS. Soviet Union

c en •) 7q oou-i /y Spain 550-96 Sri Lanka

550-27 Sudan

550-47 Syria 550-62 Tanzania

320



PIN: 004250-000