Recent History

As China entered a period of upheaval in the early 20th century, Mongolians also proclaimed an independent theocracy under the Bogd, the supreme religious leader. The Russians and Chinese assumed control of the country and refused to recognize its independence.

In 1921 A. D., as a result of revolutionary changes, Mongolia restored its independence and formed a theocratic state. This time, the powers of the Bogd the 8th were largely limited by the government. Then in 1924, when the Bogd died, leaders of the revolution turned Mongolia into a republic and adopted the first Constitution. The heads of the state aided by Soviet counselors chose the Communist direction for Mongolia.

Mongolia became got caught between it’s two giant neighbors in a political and territorial struggle which lasted until the Russian communists prevailed as China was diverted by the Japanese occupation and it’s own civil strife. The Russians established the Peoples Republic of Mongolia in 1921 and the pain of being a soviet republic manifest itself in brutal repression religious and cultural practices as well as political persecution.

Border war with Japan in 1939 saw joint Mongolian and Russian armies turn back the Japanese. China recognized the independence of Outer Mongolia in 1945.

In December 1989 A. D as the Iron Curtain was falling in Europe the democracy movement in Mongolia engineered a bloodless constitutional change which saw the free elections of new governments and the beginning of economic revival. No longer under the yolk of the CCCP (and without its technical and economic support) Mongolia struggled to become a new nation. Since then elections have been held, governments changed and a gradual but inevitable change in the social fabric has emerged.

Today Mongolia attracts a great deal of international attention and has found its own legs in the international community.