Mongolia

Mongolia A landlocked country in central Asia which, since the collapse of Ghengis Khan's Mongol Empire in the thirteenth century, was effectively a Chinese fiefdom. During the Chinese Revolution of 1911 it declared its independence, and became a monarchy. Nevertheless, the country was occupied by the Chinese, and a revolutionary movement grew with pivotal help from the Russian Communist Party. During the Russian Civil War, this movement under Suhe Bator (b. 1893, d. 1923), with Red Army contingents, defeated occupying forces from China, as well as White Army units.

Practically independent from 11 July 1921, on 26 November 1924 an independent Mongolia was proclaimed, the first Communist People's Republic outside the Soviet Union. Subsequently it became dependent on the USSR, particularly in the face of Japanese expansion in Manchukuo. In response, its leader, Choibalsan, strengthened the Communist Party's hold over society, destroying the power of the Lamaist Church, and slaughtering thousands of monks (1937–9). During World War II it sided with the USSR, on whose side it remained in the era of Chinese–Soviet confrontation that developed in the 1960s. A member of Comecon, its underdeveloped economy was so dependent upon the USSR, that by 1985 over 95 per cent of its imports came from its Soviet neighbour, and 80 per cent of exports.

Mongolia suffered greatly from the collapse of the Soviet Union and Comecon, though the country's leadership reluctantly accepted the need for a transition to a market economy. In marked contrast to other Communist countries in this period of transition, however, the Communist Party remained unreformed, and in government. A new Constitution abolishing Mongolia's status as a People's Republic was proclaimed in 1992, with a guarantee of civil rights and a commitment towards a market economy. The following elections of 28 June 1992 were won by the Mongolian Revolutionary People's Party (MRRP), which with 57 per cent of the vote gained 70 out of 76 seats in the new unicameral legislature. However, in the elections of 30 June 1996, the opposition Democratic Union Coalition won a surprising landslide victory with its campaign for a quicker pace for reforms, supported mainly by younger generations. With 48 seats in the new legislature, it ended the 75 years of Communist rule. Under the leadership of the National Democratic Party, the Coalition tried to introduce far-reaching and controversial reforms, such as the privatization of the national bank in 1998. Popular protest at the social consequences of the government's economic programme led to the resignation of a succession of Prime Ministers, and in the 2000 elections the MRRP won a resounding victory, with 72 seats. The new government moderated (but continued) the programme of economic reform, while contending with an array of problems including social inequality, povery among the agricultural population, and the agricultural effects of successive harsh winters.