ABSTRACT
From independence to the treaty of Khiakta, I9II-IJ At the end of 191 I Mongolia proclaimed her independence from China as a monarchy under the Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, and so for the first time for over two hundred years re-entered the main stream of history. She was one of the first nations in modern times, outside Europe, to escape successfully from subjection to an alien power. Tibet, in contrast, though her legal \lOd factual status was very similar to Mongolia's, never managed to accomplish the same transition to nationhood, for want of a powerful protector. Mongolia's leaders were inexperienced, and to a very great extent naive in their approach to international realities, and there was at the time no acceptable pattern of decolonization for them to imitate. It is therefore not surprising that the decade which followed, in any case one of the most unquiet of modem times, saw Mongolia tossed about like a shuttlecock at the mercy of foreign interests. Independent Mongolia's immediate ambitions were grandiose, and encompassed the incorporation within her boundaries of huge areas, hitherto subject to the Manchus, where Mongols happened to dwell. Barga, Dariganga, Alashan, and most of the banners of Inner Mongolia, were to form part of the new state.
