ABSTRACT
The systemic destabilisation of Mongolian society reached its peak by the end of 1924, at which point the power model introduced by the Soviet Union and the Comintern was adopted by the Mongolian elite. As a result the world’s second socialist state, after the USSR – the Mongolian People’s Republic – appeared on the world map. State institutions established by the first Constitution were a blurred copy of Soviet structures. On paper, it looked like supreme state power belonged to the people, who expressed it via the Great People’s Khural, the Bag Khural, and the Presidium of the Bag Khural and the government. In practice, however, real political power was in the hands of the MPP’s leaders, who exerted influence over the government’s course and prepared their cadres for the Bag and Great Khurals. The Comintern, meanwhile, manipulated, framed and supervised internal MPP politics. However, not everything in Mongolian socio-political life was under
Soviet control. General dissatisfaction with Comintern politics and party and government opposition to some active Soviet agents became particularly acute in the summer of 1924, after the USSR and China signed the 31 May treaty that determined the status of Outer Mongolia as an ‘integral part of the Chinese Republic’.1 The MPR government did not recognise this SovietChinese treaty, but had little choice but to ‘follow as usual the strategic course to ally with the USSR and the Comintern that happened to be the only guarantee of the Republic’s independence’ from China.2 Consequently, 1925-1927 was a period of fluctuation in the Mongolian elite’s allegiances – from the Comintern to Japanese agents, from pan-Mongolism to the Guomindang. At that time, nationalist tendencies within the party (the so-called right wing) intensified and the Buddhist sangha, which had been weakened by the Bogdo Gegen’s death, showed signs of restoration and counter-revolution. Despite crucial changes in the system of governance in 1924, conflicts
among elite groups did not diminish but rather rapidly intensified. The old political elite, represented by Buddhist hierarchs and the former noyon integrated into the new administrative apparatus, already realised the real and serious threat to its existence and began to fight for survival. They could be more persistent owing to a supportive party and government members.
