|
Archeological digs have
uncovered human remains in the Gobi and other regions of Mongolia
dating back nearly 500,000 years. Despite Mongolia's short summers,
wheat growing has co-existed for thousands of years with nomadic
herding, which the Mongols took up after they tamed horses, yaks and
camels.
The name 'Mongol' was first recorded by the Chinese during the Tang
dynasty (618-907 AD). At that time Mongolia was dominated by a Turkic
people called the Uighurs. The Uighurs were influenced by Christianity
and, after taking control of Mongolia, went on to save the ailing Tang
rulers of China from an internal revolt. The Uighurs controlled most
of Mongolia until 840 AD, when they were defeated by the Kyrgyz, who
now live in the Chinese province of Xinjiang.
The Mongols had little inclination to ally with other nomadic peoples
of northern Asia. They remained little more than a loose confederation
of rival clans until the late 12th century, when a 20 year old Mongol
named Temujin emerged and managed to unite most of the Mongol tribes.
In 1189 he was given the honorary name of Genghis Khan, meaning
'universal king'. The Genghis Khan imprinted in the memory of the west
bears little relation to the Chinggis Khaan revered by Mongolians. Not
only is the spelling different: to Europeans, the name epitomizes
mercilessness and warmongering; to the Mongolians, it embodies
strength, unity, law and order. Genghis set up his capital in
present-day Kharkhorin, and launched his important cavalry - built on
Mongolia's prized takhi horses - against China and Russia. By
the time of his death in 1227, the Mongol empire extended from Beijing
to the Caspian Sea.
Genghis' grandson, Kublai Khan (circa 1216-94), completed the
subjugation of China, ending the Song dynasty (960-1279) and becoming
emperor of China's Yuan dynasty (1271-1368). Kublai soon realised,
though, that the Mongol empire had reached the limits of its
expansion. Instead of looking for more wars to fight, he concentrated
on keeping the vast empire together. This was the height of the
Mongols' glory: the empire stretched from Korea to Hungary and as far
south as Vietnam, making it the largest empire the world has ever
known.
After Kublai Khan's death in 1294, the Mongols became increasingly
dependent on the people they ruled. They were deeply resented as an
elite, privileged class exempt from taxation, and the empire became
ridden with factions vying for power. The Mongols were expelled from
Beijing by the first emperor of the Ming dynasty in the mid 14th
century. The collapse of the Yuan dynasty caused over 60,000 Mongols
to return to Mongolia. Their unity dissolved and frequent clan warfare
and a long period of decline followed.
Manchu rule over China was reasonably benign until around 1800;
thereafter the Qing emperors became increasingly corrupt and despotic.
In 1911 China's Qing dynasty crumbled. The Mongols quickly saw their
opportunity and independence from China was declared on 1 December
1911, with a theocratic government under the leadership of the 8th
Jebtzun Damba (Living Buddha). On 25 May 1915, the Treaty of Kyakhta,
which granted Mongolia limited autonomy, was signed by Mongolia, China
and Russia.
The Russian Revolution of 1917 shocked Mongolia's aristocracy. Taking
advantage of Russia's weakness, a Chinese warlord sent his troops into
Mongolia in 1919 and occupied the capital. In early 1921, retreating
White Russian anticommunist troops entered Mongolia and expelled the
Chinese. The brutality of both the Chinese and Russian forces inflamed
the Mongolians' desire for independence. As the Russian Bolsheviks
were steadily advancing against the White Russian forces in Siberia,
Mongolian nationalists asked the Bolsheviks for help. Together they
recaptured Ulaan Baatar in July 1921. The country's Buddhist leader
was retained as a figurehead and the newly formed Mongolian People's
Party (the first political party in the country's history, and the
only one for the next 69 years) took over the government. On 26
November 1924, the Mongolian People's Republic (MPR) was declared and
Mongolia became the world's second communist country.
Mongolian communism remained fairly independent of Moscow until Stalin
gained absolute power in the late 1920s. The Stalinist purges that
followed swept Mongolia into a totalitarian nightmare, with the
government's campaign against religion being particularly ruthless. In
1937 a reign of terror was launched against the monasteries in which
thousands of monks were executed. It's believed that by 1939 some
27,000 people had been executed, three per cent of Mongolia's
population at the time.
As the Soviet regime faltered in the early 1980s, Mongolia came under
the leadership of Jambyn Batmonkh, a decentraliser heartened by the
Soviet reforms under Mikhail Gorbachev. Batmonkh instigated a cautious
attempt at perestroika and glasnost in 1986. By 1989 full diplomatic
relations were established with China. The unravelling of the Soviet
Union resulted in decolonisation by default. Few in Mongolia were
ready for the speed of the collapse or prepared to seize the moment.
In March 1990, large pro-democracy protests erupted in the square in
front of the parliament building in Ulaan Baatar and hunger strikes
were held. Things then happened quickly: Batmonkh lost power; new
political parties sprang up; and hunger strikes and protests
continued. In May the government amended the constitution to permit
multiparty elections but, ironically, rural areas voted overwhelmingly
to stay under the protective shelter of the communist party. The
communist party were forced into making concessions that snowballed
into the election of the Mongolian Democratic Coalition on 30 June
1996, ending 75 years of unbroken communist rule.
Over the next few years, successive Mongolian governments pursued
western-style policies of reform and privatisation and courted foreign
investment but by 1998 poverty was still on the rise. Foreign aid
relieved some of the economic burden but Mongolia is still struggling
with the fiscal implications of its new-found freedom. Mongolia joined
the World Trade Organization in 1997 but even this was not enough to
avoid wide-scale poverty and famine. A couple of particularly harsh
winters impacted badly on the nomadic Mongolian way of life and
brought the country to its knees. |
Information provided by
the
Ministry of Tourism. Government of Mongolia.
