U469  Mongolia:  Theocracy, Communism, Democracy
    (formerly Mongols of the 20th Century)
    Week 11:  Tuesday
     
  1. The Terror (1936-1940): Four different issues
    1. Fending off Japan
    2. Destruction of the monasteries
    3. Gendün replaced by Choibalsang
    4. Blood purge of the party
  2. Fending off Japan
    1. Japanese advances
      1. Japanese conquer Manchuria, 1931-33
        1. Set up old Manchu emperor: rebuild the Qing?
      2. Japan’s Mongolia policy
        1. Khinggan provinces in Manchuria: sponsors education
        2. 1935 on: Japan gets support of Mongols in western IM
        3. July, 1937: invades China, has De Wang (Prince De) rule IM
        4. Japan’s Mongols riddled with spies; but Stalin feared Japan’s spies
    2. Moscow turns to United Front strategy, 1935
      1. Before: Social democrats bad; After: allies against fascists
      2. Before: secession good; After: bad (anti-fascist patriotism)
      3. Soviet Union and China reestablish diplomatic relations > ally
    3. Military conflict and Peace treaty
      1. Border clashes, January 1935 on
        1. Japanese & Manchoukuo troops clash with Mongolian troops
        2. Stalin to Genden: raise defense, crush lamas, accept troops
        3. March, 1936: Treaty signed, Gendün out, Choibalsang to Interior
      2. Soviet troops occupy eastern Mongolia
        1. Clashes continue to Khalkhyn Gol summer 1939: Japan crushed
        2. April 1941: Soviet-Japanese non-aggression pact
  3. Destruction of the monasteries
    1. Mongols, not Stalin, had eased up on the monasteries
    2. 1935: 86,000 lamas, 12% of population; legal measures toughened
      1. Heavy taxation on jasa: revenues more than doubled
      2. High lamas criticized, poor lamas encouraged to leave
    3. January 1936: Stalin demands liquidation policy
      1. October, 1936: massive arrests of lamas begin
      2. By Aug. 1938: 16,631 lamas charged, 615 of 771 temples destroyed
      3. Only 17,338 lamas left: Now to finally destroy counter-rev. lamas!
  4. Gendün replaced by Choibalsang
    1. 1921-1934: Choibalsang often involved in suspicious cases
      1. 1922: Almost involved in BodÇ case, Sükhebaatur saved him
      2. 1933-4: Almost involved in Lhümbe case (rescued by informing?)
      3. 1934-6: In disgrace in Ulaanbaatar and Moscow
      4. Creature of Stalin: Resented past slights, violent temper
    2. No previous record of radicalism
      1. Dambadorji’s army commander, low profile in 1928-1932 period
      2. Wife very religious, divorced him in 1935 to save his career
      3. Knew Russian, interpreted for Gendün
      4. ‘Never felt comfortable until he knew the Soviet advisers had approved’
    3. 1936-1939: Interior Minister (Amur as Prime Minister)
      1. Oversaw purges: most work done by Soviet advisers
      2. August, 1937: Demid dies (food poisoning) in Siberia
      3. August, 1938: Stalin: get Lubsangsharab to arrest Amur, then arrest L.
      4. Done at Party Plenum, March 7, 1939–Amur shot July 1941
      5. 1939: Prime Minister, head of a new party, 10th Party Congress
  5. Blood Purge of the Party
    1. Extension of Stalin’s blood purge; madness or method?
    2. Spy mania, ethnic resentments, settling old scores, free hand of investigators
      1. Investigators used torture to create "nests of spies"
      2. Promise of immunity for informing; routinely broken
      3. Show trials: public demonstration that Leader alone can be trusted
      4. Files on EVERYONE (even Choibalsang): many held in reserve
    3. July 1937: Soviet advisers, ambassadors, Mongolia’s spies–all close to Demid
    4. Sept. 10, 1937: 65 leading MPRP members arrested: Gendün-Demid spy nest
    5. Troika: Choibalsang, Lubsangsharab, and Tserendorji (Minister of Justice):
      1. Ordered 20,099 shot, 5,739 imprisoned
      2. Total recorded counter-rev. cases: 29,198 persons
      3. 1939: Amur & Lubsangsharab arrested, troika dismantled, purges over
    6. Effects
      1. Remaining 1921 revolutionaries DESTROYED
      2. Inner Mongols DESTROYED, Buriats terrorized.
      3. Khalkha intelligentsia less brutalized, dominated new intelligentsia
      4. New elite of Russian-trained & -married students
        1. Yu. Tsedenbal
        2. D. Damba
        3. B. Shirendew