In December 1911 during the
Xinhai Revolution,
Outer Mongolia declared independence from the
Qing dynasty of China in the
Mongolian Revolution of 1911. Mongolia became a
de facto absolute theocratic monarchy led by the
Bogd Khan. However, the newly established
Republic of China claimed inheritance of all territories held by the Qing dynasty and considered Outer Mongolia a part of its territory. This claim was made in the
Imperial Edict of the Abdication of the Qing Emperor signed by the
Empress Dowager Longyu on behalf of the six-year-old
Xuantong Emperor: "[...] the continued territorial integrity of the lands of the five races,
Manchu,
Han,
Mongol,
Hui, and
Tibetan into one great Republic of China" ([...] ). The
Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China adopted in 1912 specifically established frontier regions of the new republic, including Outer Mongolia, as integral parts of the state. The new government under the Bogd Khan tried to seek international recognition, particularly from the Russian government. The Russian tsar however, rejected the Mongolian plea for recognition, due to a common Russian Imperial ambition at the time to take over the central Asian states, and Mongolia was planned for further expansion. However, the Russian Empire could not act on the ambition due to internal struggles, so they recognised the autonomy of the region, which allowed Russia to claim that Mongolia was under her protection. The ongoing struggle of Mongolian nationalists against the Chinese continued through the
First World War, until 1917 when Mongolian princes accepted Chinese control over the region.
Chinese and White Russian invasion In 1917, the
Russian Revolution began. During most of the war, Russian colonies in central Asia and along the Mongolian frontier fell under control of the
White movement. As more and more of the White Movement began to move east, like the
Czechoslovak Legion, Mongolia began to worry about a possible invasion by White Russian troops. The White high command did think that an invasion of Mongolia could be worthwhile. The region was largely unpopulated and had large reserves of iron and coal. These resources were vital to the White movement, especially as the western industrial bases like Moscow and Petrograd were taken by the Soviets. Within Mongolia, from October 1919 Chinese troops under command of
Xu Shuzheng nullified treaties and
began sending in troops to assert Chinese control over the region, under the pretext of protection from spillover from the Russian Civil War. This led to the creation of the
Mongolian People's Party as a revolutionary group fighting against the Chinese. As the Soviets began the hard push eastward against the White Russians, White high command demanded that the Chinese government do something about their struggle. After Chinese refusal of the plans, The Russian Asiatic cavalry under General
Roman von Ungern-Sternberg invaded in October 1920, pushing out undersupplied Beiyang troops in February 1921, who had mostly headed south, as the first stages of the
Chinese Civil War began playing out. Over the course of the three-month invasion, Sternberg pushed the Chinese out and declared Bogd Khan monarch of a once again independent Mongolia.
Sternberg government Sternberg began an immediate concentration of power around himself. Though de jure power was held by Bogd Khan, Sternberg acted as the true head of state and began insisting that he was the saviour of the lands of Mongolia and that he would bring the Mongols to justice. Sternberg began fusing traditional Mongolian beliefs with those of strong Russian nationalism, insisting that the Bolsheviks must be stamped out, due to their Jewish nature, and that the world was falling into "mad revolution". He created grand battle strategies of a new push westward, to crush the Bolshevik movement, and tried to centre White command around himself, trying to get the disparate commanders who were attempting defence against the Bolsheviks to unite and move east. These plans, however, failed, and the White movement began losing more and more ground to the Bolsheviks. ==Soviet invasion of Mongolia==