Today in Mongol Imperial History

On this day in 1307 Kulug Khan was enthroned as Emperor of the Mongols (Emperor Wuzong of the Great Yuan in China). An accomplished warrior, he ruled in the fashion of a traditional Mongol chieftain, making him very popular with the other Mongol princes but less popular with the Han people of China. He supported the major religions and the military, completing the seizure of Sakhalin Island during his reign.

Where Chinese Rule Is Wrong

The title of this may be a bit confusing. As a monarchist, I find everything about the rule of communist China (or “communist” China) wrong but what I am talking about here specifically is the controversy about certain areas that are currently ruled by the People’s Bandit Republic of China which that regime has absolutely no right to. The most prominent of these areas, certainly in the west and which probably has the highest profile worldwide, is Tibet. Why is there a dispute over the Chinese rule of Tibet? Why is this the only dispute most people have heard about? More people know about Tibet mostly because the Tibetan exile community has elements in many countries and because of the inspirational leadership of His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama who so many people around the world have come to respect and admire for his compassion and devotion to peace. The bandit regime in Peking has absolutely no right to Tibet but it also has no right to some other areas most people do not think about such as Manchuria (now called simply the northeast as part of the program, sadly mostly successful by this point, to eradicate Manchuria from existence) and Mongolia. Now, as most probably know, China does not rule Mongolia which is an independent country though teetering between dependence on China and Russia. However, the communists in Peking have claimed it in the past and the Republic of China, on Taiwan, which still maintains a claim to rule the whole of mainland China, also still, technically, include Mongolia in that claim. So, why all the confusion?

Song Empire

Basically, it all goes back to the last time China had a monarchy and the efforts by the republicans and communist bandits to claim the entire legacy of traditional, imperial China as their own. Save, perhaps, for the period when China was part of the Mongol Yuan Empire, the place most in the world think of as China reached its greatest height under the Manchu emperors of the Great Qing Dynasty. The borders that existed at the height of the Great Qing Empire are the borders the communists in Peking would most like to see restored. The problem with that is that those were the borders of the Great Qing Empire and not really the borders of China. Confused yet? It can seem quite complicated so pay close attention and we will try to take this one step at a time. What most of the world calls “China” is, of course, not a Chinese term but is a western term. The Chinese never called their country “China” in all of their multi-thousand year history prior to the revolution. This area was referred to as “the Middle Kingdom” which can itself be a bit confusing since this referred not only to China proper but actually meant the entire world; everything above the underworld and below Heaven -the “Middle Kingdom”. The ruler of China was considered, in traditional Chinese political philosophy, to be the ruler of the entire world it was only that some remote, barbarian peoples on the edges of the earth were too ignorant to understand this. It was a way of thinking which must be kept in mind when considering how China interacted with foreign powers and why the communists today seize on this interaction to justify their claims for more territory.

Traditionally, Chinese rulers would not deal with any outsider unless they presented themselves as a supplicant and recognized or at least pretended to recognize the Chinese Emperor as their superior. This attitude persisted for almost the entirety of Chinese history. For example, when China and Japan first established diplomatic relations things got off to a bad start as the message from the Emperor of Japan to the Emperor of China was addressed as ‘from the land where the sun rises to the land where the sun sets’ referring to Japan being to the east of China. However, the Chinese took this as being extremely rude and offensive as they saw it as implying that the Emperor of Japan was the equal of the Emperor of China. Move forward many, many centuries in time and we can see again the case of the first British diplomatic mission to China which ran into a considerable obstacle over the refusal of the British ambassador to present himself as a subject and kowtow before the Manchu Emperor, getting down on both knees and touching his forehead to the floor. Today, the Chinese Communist kleptocracy claims that any ruler or representative of a ruler who recognized the Chinese Emperor as his superior or overlord in this fashion was effectively making his country a part of China when, as we can see, this would apply to almost every foreign ruler or dignitary any Chinese Emperor ever met because they would not deal with anyone unless they assumed such a posture.

Viet envoys to Qing court in China

This situation is further complicated by the fact that not all such tributaries were of equal status. The Emperor in China might have more or less influence in one of the other but none were directly under Chinese rule or were considered a part of China. As early as the Tang Dynasty, for example, the kingdoms in what is now Korea were nominal vassals of the Tang Emperor but retained their own rulers. Under the Ming Dynasty, the unified Kingdom of Korea was likewise a vassal of the Ming Emperor or, in terms more familiar to westerners perhaps, a Chinese protectorate. So, when Japan invaded Korea in 1592 the Ming Emperor sent hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops to defend (or in this case re-take) Korea. However, the King of Korea was still the local authority and Korea was never considered a part of China itself. Similarly, there were periods when Chinese Emperors ruled Vietnam but they were invariably driven out. However, every time this occurred, almost immediately, the victorious Vietnamese dynasty would send envoys to Peking to present themselves as the vassals of the Emperor in China and to request his ‘seal of approval’ on their government. The Chinese did not rule Vietnam and, in fact, inside Vietnam the monarch was often referred to as the ‘Emperor’ while he was referred to as ‘King’ when dealing with the ruler of China. It was a way to keep the peace by allowing the Emperor in China to save face, being treated as the superior while in fact the local Vietnamese monarch actually ruled the country. Again, this was rather like a protectorate as when the last Le dynasty emperor was overthrown, he called on China to restore him and this situation endured until the Sino-French War.

Obviously, no one today would consider Korea or Vietnam to be a part of China nor any of the other neighboring countries which paid tribute to the Chinese Emperor. Problems, and confusion, arise partly because of the different understanding of what makes a country. As stated earlier, the Chinese did not view their country as “China” in the same way that foreigners viewed their own countries. When the Chinese referred to their country, when not referring to it as the broader “Middle Kingdom” the Chinese always referred to the dynasty so that the country was whatever territory the Emperor had under his direct control which might have included most, some or even relatively little of what is labeled as China on maps of today. So, rather than saying “China” the Chinese would refer to their country, under the Ming Dynasty for example, as the “Great Ming Empire” (Ta Ming Kuo) and then as the “Great Qing Empire” (Ta Qing Kuo) under the Manchurian dynasty. The Ming Empire, for example, included all of “China” which is to say the historic lands sometimes referred to (somewhat oddly) as “China proper” but did not include Tibet, Mongolia or Manchuria though parts of southern Manchuria and southern Mongolia were under Ming rule for a relatively short time. Today, what the Chinese government likes to claim is that territory which was part of the Great Qing Empire at its height, which included Tibet, Mongolia and Manchuria (obviously, as the Qing Dynasty was the native dynasty of Manchuria) as well as smaller parts of various neighboring powers.

Emperor Nurhaqi of Manchuria

The absurdity of this can, perhaps, best be illustrated by skipping backward, over the Ming Dynasty, to the Yuan Dynasty. As regular readers will know, the Yuan Dynasty was the Mongolian dynasty and refers to that period when China was part of the vast Mongol Empire founded by Genghis Khan with his grandson Kublai Khan being counted as the first Yuan Emperor as it was he who conquered the remainder of China itself; what had been the southern Song Dynasty. What was directly under the rule of the Yuan Emperors was restricted to basically the east Asian mainland north of Vietnam, extending all the way into Siberia. However, the wider Mongol Empire stretched all the way to well inside Eastern Europe. For China today to claim Tibet or Manchuria as being a part of China because all were part of the Qing Empire would be just as absurd as claiming that Siberia is a part of China because it was part of the Yuan Empire. Any claim to Mongolia is just as silly. No Chinese Emperor, meaning an Emperor of the Han nationality from “China proper” ever ruled all of Mongolia or Manchuria but under the Yuan and Qing Dynasties the Mongol and later Manchu Emperors did rule all of China. To put it another way, Mongolia nor Manchuria were ever a part of China but China was, in a manner of speaking, a part of Mongolia and Manchuria during those eras when the Mongol and Manchu Emperors ruled China.

This is the history: When the Ming Empire was in its final days the Qing Dynasty was already well established as the leaders of the Empire of Manchuria. The Manchu Emperor formed an alliance with the Mongols and was granted sovereignty over them when the son of Ligden Khan (last Mongol Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty that had previously ruled most of Asia) handed the imperial seal over to the Manchu Emperor Hong Taiji, who was himself the son of the first Qing Emperor Nurhaqi. Thus Hong Taiji became Emperor of Manchuria and Great Khan of Mongolia. Meanwhile, to the south, the Ming Empire was coming apart. In 1644 Peking was taken by the rebel army of Li Zicheng with the last Ming Emperor, Chongzhen, committing suicide. Li Zicheng proclaimed himself the master of a new Shun Dynasty but a combined force of Chinese, Manchu and Mongol troops ousted him and he disappeared, making the Manchu Emperor Shunzhi the ruler of China, having dispatched an illegitimate usurper and restoring peace and order to China, which became part of the Great Qing Empire -an empire that already existed in Manchuria and Mongolia. Emperor Shunzhi also received an official visit by His Holiness the “Great Fifth” Dalai Lama. The Qing emperors had been protectors of the Tibetan style of Buddhism since the reign of Nurhaqi and, of course, there were deep ties between Mongolia and Tibet with the Mongols having helped establish the Dalai Lamas in the first place and with the Dalai Lamas holding spiritual authority over Mongolia as well as Tibet.

Emperor KangXi of the Great Qing

As we have seen, Mongolia and Manchuria were independent countries which came to share a monarch and then that monarch was also recognized as the ruler of China, holding the Mandate of Heaven. China never conquered or annexed Manchuria and Mongolia, in fact, what happened was closer to the reverse of that. In the same way, it is important to note that when the Great Fifth visiting Peking it was as one sovereign visiting another. His successor, was overthrown and in the ensuing chaos the Qing Emperor Kangxi sent troops to see order restored and the legitimate Dalai Lama secured on his throne. It was at that point and only at that point that the Kingdom of Tibet was declared a protectorate of the Great Qing Empire. That, of course, did not make Tibet a part of China. The Dalai Lama remained the ruler of Tibet with the only change being that two Qing commissioners and a small military force were stationed there and, in the future, Tibet did call on the Qing Empire for assistance in times of crisis. For those who claim that Tibet has “always” been a part of China, one would have to ask why there were no representatives from Peking there in the first place. Why is mention made of the annexation of Tibetan border territories to Chinese provinces if Tibet was entirely part of China already? Obviously, this is nonsense. Tibet was an independent country and it was only when neighboring countries invaded Tibet and Qing troops were sent in to defend the place that Qing Imperial influence was most felt in the aftermath.

Hopefully, this has made clear the absurdity of the Republic of China (and more so the People’s Republic of China) claiming Tibet, Mongolia and Manchuria to have “always” been a part of China. When the revolution occurred, Manchuria naturally had no part in it and Mongolia and Tibet were both quick to make clear to the rest of the world that they were independent, issuing joint declarations to that effect. This was because their association with China was based solely on their relationship with the Qing Emperor and not the country of China itself. Once the Manchu Emperor was deprived of his throne, all deals were off. That independence was temporarily retained for Tibet, remaining independent until communist Chinese troops conquered the country in 1951. Mongolia (or at least Outer Mongolia) remains independent to this day though it was certainly not an easy achievement. Manchuria became, effectively, a warlord “monarchy” ruled by a warlord father and son in succession while they offered nominal allegiance to the Republic of China. All of that changed when the Japanese occupied Manchuria and in 1932 independence was declared for the State of Manchuria, later to be fully restored as the Empire of Manchuria. That, of course, is what should have happened from the beginning and some Chinese officials even admitted as much.

Empire of Manchuria

There was no justification for the Han Chinese to think they were somehow entitled to Manchuria just because China and Manchuria had been part of the same empire. As soon as the Qing Emperor was forced to abdicate in Peking, he should have been able to immediately withdraw to the old Qing Imperial Palace in Mukden and continue to rule over Manchuria as his ancestors had done before accepting the allegiance of the Chinese. For China to claim Manchuria as part of their own national territory would be as absurd as the United States, after winning the Revolutionary War, claiming Great Britain and Ireland to be American territory just because both had previously been part of the same empire. That being so, when the polyglot army of Baron von Ungern-Sternberg drove the Chinese out of Mongolia in 1921, he was expelling invaders and restoring the country to its only available legitimate leader. Likewise, when the Japanese restored the last Qing Emperor to the throne of Manchuria they were correcting a gross historical injustice and when the Soviets (in total violation of their pledged word) invaded and destroyed that empire and handed it over to China again, they were essentially giving recovered property back to the thieves. In the same way, if by some chance the Dalai Lama is ever restored to the Potala Palace in Tibet, it will be correcting a horrible injustice. When the republicans, and certainly the communists, took over China, they turned their back on and even attempted to destroy all that had gone before them and the legacy of the emperors in particular. It is the height of hypocrisy to then attempt to claim those borders which only existed because of the emperors as their own inheritance.

Story of Monarchy: The Ulus of Jochi

It seems to me that one of the most significant former powers that is all but forgotten today, at least in the western world, is the Ulus of Jochi. Presumably it is more well known in Eastern Europe and Central Asia where it was most dominant but it was a state that everyone should at least be aware of. The Ulus of Jochi (also later known in the west as the Golden Horde) was the dominant power of central Asia for quite some time and it had a significant impact on the course of history in Russia, Europe and the Middle East as well as Central Asia as various people banded together in opposition to the common threat of the dreaded Golden Horde. As the name implies, it has its origins in the career of Jochi Khan, eldest son of the great Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan (Ulus of Jochi simply means the ‘lands/state/realm/territory of Jochi’) who, during the reign of his father, had played a leading part in the Mongol conquest of Siberia, Central Asia and Persia. He was to inherit the westernmost portion of the Mongol Empire when Genghis Khan died but as Jochi predeceased his father the Ulus of Jochi went to his son Batu Khan who is generally regarded as the true founder of this khanate which was part of the wider Mongol Empire.

Batu Khan

Ogedei Khan succeeded his father as Great Khan (or Emperor) of the Mongols while the Ulus of Jochi were divided between Batu Khan (who received the Blue Horde) and his brother Orda (who received the White Horde). Before he could concentrate on “nation building”, however, Batu assisted Ogedei Khan in his conquest of the Jin Dynasty of Manchuria while his brother fought Bulgars, Cumens and other peoples in the west. After Manchuria was conquered (it would be left to Kublai Khan to conquer southern China), Batu Khan turned west and took on the formidable task of conquering the Russians. It was a brutal and bitter struggle but, in the end, Batu Khan was successful and the Russian states and all those in the area of modern Russia were devastated from Moscow to the Crimea. He conquered Ruthenia and drove the Cumens into the Kingdom of Hungary but when he demanded that these refugees be expelled, King Bela IV of Hungary not only refused but had the Mongol messengers killed (the Hungarians had a history of dealing with the Cumens, as we have covered previously, having earlier employed the Teutonic Knights against them). Batu Khan was outraged at this defiance and vowed to conquer Hungary and all the land to the Atlantic Ocean. Given that the man had just conquered Russia one can perhaps forgive him for being a bit arrogant.

The Mongols swept westward, conquering Poland, Hungary and Bohemia, besting the forces of the Holy Roman Empire, alarming all of Europe and prompting the Pope to call for a crusade against them. Fortunately for Europe, the Mongols were not to stay long. The death of Odegei Khan prompted a power struggle and Batu Khan, reluctantly, returned home to press his claim to become the next Mongol Emperor. However, that came to nothing with the throne going to Guyuk Khan and so Batu returned to the west to focus on expanding his own central Asian kingdom. He further consolidated his rule and established his capital at Sarai in what is now southern Russia (near what is now Selitrennoye). Batu became so powerful that some believed Guyuk Khan considered him a threat and was preparing to move against him when he died in what is now the western Chinese province of Xinjiang. Batu Khan had reached such a position of influence that he was in large part responsible for placing the next Mongol Emperor, Mongke Khan, on the throne. Batu Khan set up the Princes of Vladimir and St Alexander Nevsky was one of his tributaries. Batu Khan died in 1256 as the master of central Asia and none of his successors would ever be able to outshine him.

Eventually, leadership of the Ulus of Jochi fell to Batu’s younger brother Berke Khan. His reign lacked the smashing conquests of prior years but he still attacked with great ferocity against Lithuania, Poland, the Teutonic Knights and Hungary, even declaring war on the King of France. He is also most remembered for converting to Islam and allying with the Mamluks of Egypt against the Persian-centered Ilkhanate (another successor state of the empire of Genghis Khan). He died fighting his fellow Mongols for power while the overall state of the Golden Horde declined, though he did manage to force the Byzantine Emperor to pay him tribute. He also, just before his death, backed a winner in the person of Kublai Khan who would become Emperor of the Mongols, founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China and rule the largest land empire in history. However, after his death, the Ulus of Jochi was again paralyzed by infighting for power, eventually drawing in Kublai Khan himself. And, of course, in the meantime there were devastating raids into tributaries such as Lithuania and Bulgaria. There was even another invasion of Hungary which proved ruinous but which was a failure. During this time it was the Hungarians who most often proved to be the sentinels of Europe against Mongol invasion (or “Mongol” invasion as the vast majority of the troops were not Mongolians at all). There were also struggles between the Muslim and Buddhist members of the ruling family but eventually it was Islam that would dominate.

In 1313 Uzbeg came to the throne and made Islam the official, mandatory religion of the Ulus of Jochi, banning Buddhism and the traditional shamanism of the Mongols. Still maintaining the alliance with the Mamluks and even marrying into the Egyptian Royal Family, the Jochi were becoming further and further removed, in both blood and custom, from their Mongol roots. Uzbeg held Russia by setting the local princes against each other and kept his state running by periodic raids into Europe as far as Serbia and Greece. He involved himself in power disputes within the Muslim world and met with setbacks at the hands of the Poles and Hungarians before the spread of the Black Death brought ruin and an end to any dream of the Golden Horde expanding into central and western Europe. As the years past and the Golden Horde descended more and more into civil wars territory began to be steadily lost. The Lithuanians began to rebel and push back, the Russians began to rise in rebellion and it was only by an alliance with the emerging Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that the Golden Horde was able to hold Russia and reassert control over it.

Eventually, however, the Golden Horde was brought down by various powers chipping away at the periphery. The Russians began to unify and rise against them, the Moldavians fought back, the Turks were expanding from the south and by that time the last ties with China and the Mongolian homeland had long been cut. A last, desperate invasion of the Kingdom of Poland was mounted in 1491 but it was defeated and very soon what had once been the Golden Horde was reduced to being the Crimean Khanate, a vassal of the Ottoman Empire. The last Khan of the Ulus of Jochi was forced to flee to Lithuania and died in prison. Eventually, the Russians would unite and the last remnant of the Golden Horde would be annexed to the Russian Empire by Empress Catherine the Great.

Although not always given a high profile, the Ulus of Jochi had a profound impact on world history and the development of many countries we know today. It was the western frontier of the great Mongol Empire founded by Genghis Khan. Russia united and became the strong country we all know, famous for immense endurance, after being ruled for quite a long time by the Tartars. The effect this had on the history of Russia and the Russian national character cannot be dismissed. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed, in part, because of the shared threat they faced from the Golden Horde. The Hungarians proved themselves matchless warriors and gained the support of western Europe for standing on the frontline against Tartar expansion and much of the expansion of the Ottoman Empire came about because of the weakening of the Ulus of Jochi. As a monarchy, it was not terribly stable or effectively managed, but its life, though long past, left a legacy that is still felt even today by the peoples of central Asia and Eastern Europe.

Mongolia, Monarchy and Hope

Recently, NHK reported that Mongolia (independent Outer Mongolia) was seeking closer ties with the State of Japan as an alternative to the ever-encroaching pressure from Russia to their north and China to their south. This is not an altogether new position for Mongolia to be in and it is not the first time that Mongols have looked for support from Japan in the face of domination from their more immediate neighbors. In the past, monarchy played a key role in this drama and it is something worth considering as few people tend to be very familiar with the monarchial history of Mongolia, at least following the fall of the massive Mongol Empire that once dominated most of the known world. Many people seem to be under the mistaken belief that Mongolia was, at some point, conquered by Imperial China. Such is not the case. Mongolia was never a part of Imperial China but China could be said to have been part of Mongolia for a time. As most know, Genghis Khan conquered most of northern China and it was left to his grandson, Kublai Khan, to conquer the rest of China and establish the Great Yuan Empire, the Yuan Dynasty being one of the major imperial dynasties of Chinese history. Eventually, the Mongols were displaced and China came under the rule of the Ming Dynasty as the Great Ming Empire of which Mongolia was never a part.

Ligden Khan

Just because the Mongols were evicted from ruling China does not mean it all came to an end. They retreated to their Mongolian homeland and continued there as the “Northern Yuan Dynasty” until the reign of Ligden Khan. After his death many Mongols, and they were fractured at the time, allied with the rising power of the Manchus and the son of Ligden Khan handed over the dynastic seal to Hong Taiji, son of Nurhaci who was the founder of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The Manchus and the Mongols were then allies and the Mongols certainly saw themselves as partners with the Manchus in taking control of China and establishing the Great Qing Empire. Because of this, the monarchial tradition in Mongolia continued in the person of the Manchu Emperor who also held the title ‘Great Khan of the Mongols’. This continued up until the duplicitous overthrow of the Qing Dynasty in 1911/1912 with the abdication of the famous ‘last emperor’. Already, by that time, Mongolia was feeling pressure from the Russian Empire. In the agreements drawn up among the European powers, Mongolia and Manchuria were both considered to be part of the Russian sphere of influence. However, when the Qing Dynasty lost power, it happened with the Mongols (and the Manchus for that matter) having no say in the decision and they were not prepared to just accept being a part of the Republic of China when they had never been ruled by China.

It was at this time that the last monarch to hold power in Outer Mongolia came to prominence. In the absence of their former monarch, the Qing Emperor, the Mongols turned for leadership to their highest religious official, the Bogd Gegeen or “Holy Shining One” and invested him with secular power as the Bogd Khan of Mongolia. Long-time readers will remember the fate that befell him. He was first removed from power and placed under house arrest by a warlord of the Republic of China only to be liberated and restored in 1921 by the multi-national White Russian-led army of Baron von Ungern-Sternberg. When he was defeated and captured the Bogd Khan spent the rest of his life under house arrest as Outer Mongolia became the first satellite state of the Soviet Union, ruled with the most extreme brutality by a succession of Soviet stooges, the most infamous being the Stalin-worshipping Choibalsan. All the while, the Republic of China still claimed jurisdiction over all of Mongolia just as they did over all lands formerly a part of the Great Qing Empire even though these had never been part of China. So, Outer Mongolia was effectively being ruled by Soviet Russia and Inner Mongolia was being ruled (somewhat intermittently) by the Republic of China which also claimed Outer Mongolia as their own as well but were still fighting among themselves for control of what territory they actually occupied.

Prince De Wang

An obvious place to look to for help in this situation was the Empire of Japan. There had, in fact, been some elements in Japan working for some time on forging a pan-monarchist coalition across northeast Asia of Japanese, Manchus and Mongols. It was to further cement such an alliance that the tough, colorful Japanese-raised Manchu princess, Kawashima Yoshiko, was (briefly) married into one of the leading Mongol noble families. However, whereas Outer Mongolia had to be taken off the priority list after the ineffective border clashes with the Soviet Red Army and the subsequent Soviet-Japanese Non-Aggression Pact, Inner Mongolia remained a region of potential. In this area, the man looked to for leadership was Prince Demchugdongrub or Prince De Wang. He had been loyal to the Qing Emperor during his time in the Forbidden City and after his expulsion and exile to Tientsin. He also visited the Emperor after he was restored to the throne in Manchuria. The Japanese Kwantung Army, operating in Manchuria, supported Prince De Wang in establishing an autonomous government and while he controlled relatively little territory and his state consisted mostly of an army and a monarchy, he was a pan-Mongol visionary and his ultimate goal was no secret to anyone. That was to reunite all the Mongol peoples into a restored Mongol Empire or, perhaps, even another partnership with the restored Manchu Empire.

As Mengjiang (as it was called -the territory of the Mongols) did not survive the Japanese defeat in 1945 and was conquered by communist forces along with Manchuria, we will never know how it would have developed. Prince De Wang was certainly no puppet, despite what his detractors may say. The first Japanese advances made toward him were rejected and his first official alliance was with the restored Emperor of Manchuria (who may have been his cousin but I am not sure about that) who also bestowed on him a special title. When the Prince did come to an agreement with the Japanese Kwantung Army he remained very alert to any hint of a move that would infringe on his authority. Officially, his regime was autonomous, which it was, but also was seen as something temporary. Even the name, Mengjiang, suggested to all who saw it that the intention was to recover all the lands inhabited by the Mongol people. He always dealt with the Emperor of Manchuria as he would have (and did) in the pre-revolutionary days of the Qing Empire. However, after 1940, Inner Mongolia was listed as an autonomous region of the Reorganized National Government of China led by President Wang Jingwei. However, it was truly autonomous and no activities by the Kuomintang party were permitted there nor were any Han Chinese allowed to settle in Mengjiang.

It seems unlikely then that, even if the war had ended differently, Mengjiang would have remained a part of the Republic of China. The goal of Prince De Wang was always to revive the Mongol nation, reuniting Inner and Outer Mongolia, and most assume that this would have meant that Prince De Wang would have been the monarch of this new restored Mongolia. There was certainly a Royal Family on hand ready to take up the responsibility. However, given his own character and personal history, it is also possible that Mengjiang, somewhat enlarged, would have become a partner with Manchuria again under the reign of Emperor Kang Te (PuYi). It is also encouraging that, unlike the Manchu Emperor, after the war Prince De Wang remained fairly popular amongst the Mongol people despite the best efforts of the communist regimes in both China and Mongolia. He spent about 13 years in a Chinese prison of course as a “traitor” and “collaborator” but his own people still, to a large extent, viewed him as a visionary national leader who wanted to restore Mongol glory and make them a proud and united nation once again. That is something to be thankful for as we move forward.

The unfortunate thing is that Inner Mongolia today is mostly a lost cause. Mongol traditions are slowly going away and the Mongols themselves are being drowned out in a flood of Han Chinese settlers (particularly after the coal boom and other related mineral exploitation in the region). Today Mongols make up only 20% of the population of the “Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region” of the People’s Bandit Republic of China. The Chinese Communist Party is not about to change its ways and no other country or countries will do anything about it because China has the bomb -and if you have the bomb, no one can touch you (which is why so many of the worst regimes want it so badly). Outer, independent, Mongolia, while not encouraging, at least has room for hope. In the absence of a secular monarch, they had the Bogd Khan who ruled until the country became a Soviet client state. In 1926 the communist regime ruled that there would be no further reincarnations but, apparently, the spirit world paid them no heed and after the Soviet collapse it was announced that there had been a reincarnation who was enthroned in 1999 in Mongolia as the spiritual leader of Mongolian Buddhists by the Dalai Lama. That incarnation has since past away and, I presume, the search is continuing for his successor.

The (now) late Bogd Gegeen

If there is to be a royal restoration in Mongolia it seems most likely that the spiritual variety will be the most likely avenue. Of course, the Chinese bandit government has expressed their great displeasure at every kindness or courtesy shown to the Bogd Gegeen or the Dalai Lama in Mongolia and the Mongolian government still tends to be dominated by communists with a cosmetic make-over. However, a restored Bogd Khan would seem to be the least threatening to those in political power and the most likely, at this point, to be able to unite the Mongol people. In the past, some high ranking officials expressed that they were at least open to the idea of having another Bogd Khan as a ceremonial head of state. Unless a more dynamic secular figure comes along who could do better, I would hope that other countries, such as Japan if Mongolia is looking to the Japanese to offset the influence of the Russians and Chinese, would support and encourage the next Bogd Gegeen when his new incarnation is found and made public. I say “hope” because, unfortunately, too many in Japan these days take the monarchy for granted and tend to view things in purely economic or racial terms rather than in terms of politics. The past support for Prince De Wang should serve as an example. Just as in the past, Mongolia is becoming unhappy with their level of dependence on Russia or China and just as in the past, a revival of a traditional Mongol monarchy should be the solution that Japan (and hopefully other countries) unite in support of.

Monarch Profile: Yesun Temur Khan of Mongolia

The great Mongol emperors who ruled after Kublai Khan are often divided by historians into two groups; those who governed more in keeping with Chinese traditions and those who governed as more traditional Mongol conquerors. As all were Mongols, that influence was a constant but among them all, Yesun Temur Khan is usually regard as the farthest removed from any sort of Chinese influence at all. He was born in Outer Mongolia in 1293, the son of Kammala, the firstborn son of Zhen Jin who was a son of the great Kublai Khan. Kammala was granted the prestigious title of “Jinong” with control over the Gobi Desert and the final resting place of Genghis Khan. For a time, it was thought he might be a contender for the throne of the Mongol Empire but was passed over. Nonetheless, he had a prestigious position and upon his death in 1302 his son Yesun Temur succeeded him as Jinong. Throughout the reigns of Kulug Khan, Ayurbarwada Khan and Gegeen Khan, Yesun Temur built up a powerful position for himself, became quite successful and with his powerful army was acknowledged by other Mongol princes as their representative on the steppes of the north, particularly those who held to the traditional Mongol ways.

His great chance came in 1323 when Shidebala Khan was assassinated by a group of Mongol princes whose tribute he had cut in what was a more Sino-style Confucian reign. Empress Dowager Targi had placed him on the throne (though she later came to regret it) because of his connections with the Khunggirad clan and Yesun Temur was welcomed to take the throne because his mother likewise belonged to the same clan and because he could be counted on to rule in a more traditionally Mongolian fashion, essentially jumping over the two previous reigns to that of Khaishan Khan. Some historians have since speculated that Yesun Temur was himself one of the conspirators in the assassination of Shidebala Khan, yet other evidence suggests that he had tried to warn the Emperor of the plot against him but was too late. In any event, he was looked to for leadership and on October 4, 1323 on the banks of the Kherlen River in Mongolia he was handed the badges of office, the imperial seal and thus became Yesun Temur Khan, tenth Great Khan of the Mongols and Emperor Taiding of the Great Yuan (as he was known in China). Two of those who had instigated the downfall of Shidebala Khan were accorded high rank immediately with the Grand Censor Tegshi becoming effectively the Minister of War and Esen Temur appointed Grand Councilor.

No doubt they felt highly pleased with themselves but that didn’t last long. Once Yesun Temur Khan was told what these men had done and that by appointing them to high office he would appear to have been complicit in their crimes, Yesun Temur immediately had them dismissed and executed for treason. With that action, those loyal to Shidebala recognized Yesun Temur as a fair leader they could trust and called on him, likewise, to take the throne and to punish those who had murdered his predecessor. This, Yesun Temur did, sending troops to Dadu and Shangdu where the rebellious officers were executed and the princes who had supported the coup were all sent into exile. Regardless of the justice of this, Yesun Temur equally had in mind that if he left these men alive they would see him as their own creature and attempt to control him and would likely murder him as well if he failed to please them. Traitors can never be trusted. The Chinese tried to persuade him to go even farther and massacre anyone connected with those who had brought down the last Great Khan but Yesun Temur refused to do this, regarding the guilty as sufficiently punished, granting an amnesty to the rest and even returning the property of the guilty men to their families.

Still, if the plotters had wanted a “more Mongolian” Mongol Emperor, that is certainly what they achieved in Yesun Temur Khan. He reigned in the traditional style of a Mongol chieftain from the steppes. In the official history of the Yuan Dynasty he is quoted as saying, “The Empire is a family of which the Emperor is the father” and that is how he tended to rule. Chinese officials were dismissed and he appointed new ministers from Mongolia, from the ranks of those he trusted and who had proven themselves loyal to him. He also reverted to the traditional Mongol practice of religious freedom and impartiality. Where Shidebala Khan had been influenced by the Buddhist Lamas to restrict Islam, Yesun Temur Khan stopped all persecutions and extended religious benefits (such as exemption from conscript labor) to Muslims and Christians. This did not mean these were rewarded and others were punished though as he also continued to support Confucian and Buddhist temples and, like most, still showed favor to the Lama-Buddhist community.

In his rule of the Mongol Empire, he favored those who he knew best, the other princes and nobles of the Mongolian steppes though, unlike some others, he preferred to live more simply and objected to the wasteful spending he witnessed at the imperial court. Peking (as it would later be known) was still a cosmopolitan place, despite the change in leadership styles and it is believed that Yesun Temur was the Great Khan met by the Catholic friar Blessed Odoric of Pordenone during his extensive travels in the Far East. During his reign, one of the important acts of Yesun Temur was the division of the Mongol Empire into eighteen departments whose oversight was placed in the hands of an advisory council called the “Lords of the Provinces”. However, Yesun Temur did not have a great interest in day-to-day administration and like most Mongol princes, tended to dislike bureaucrats. The “Exalted and Decisive Emperor” lived only to the age of 34. He died quite suddenly and unexpectedly on August 15, 1328 in Shangdu (Xanadu). He was succeeded by his son Tugh Temur but as he was overthrown barely a month later he is seldom listed amongst the Mongol emperors.

Mad Motivation

MM Video: Prince De Wang of Mengjiang

Consort Profile: Empress Xiaozheyi of China

It seems that in Imperial China, many of the consorts we most remember are those who met a tragic or mysterious end. This was certainly the case with Empress Xiaozheyi (Xiao Che), consort of the Emperor Tongzhi, who remains the subject of one of the great unsolved mysteries of the Great Qing Dynasty. She was born on July 25, 1854 into the Alute clan of the Mongol Plain Blue Banner. Because of her background many works refer to her as Empress Alute. Her father, Chong Ji, was a highly respected mandarin, a professor at the Hanlin Academy and the Secretary of the Bureau of Revenue, probably the most esteemed and accomplished Mongol scholar of his time. Her mother was the daughter of a high-ranking Manchu prince, so she was well placed in the upper echelons of Qing society from the very beginning. Alute was noted for her exceptional intelligence, which is not surprising given the scholarly achievements of her father and he kept his daughter close to him when he was at court, personally seeing to her education. Because of this she had a far more developed intellect than was normally expected for a princess but her proximity to the halls of power also caused her to be noticed by the Empress Dowager Cixi as well as her son Emperor Tongzhi who was immediately taken with her.

Tongzhi had reigned as the “Son of Heaven” since he was five years old, coming to the Dragon Throne in 1861 but it was his mother who was the real power. When the time came for a bride to be chosen for the Emperor it was Tongzhi himself who insisted on the knock-out book-worm Alute as an ideal bride for himself and certainly few would have disputed the wisdom of such a choice. Alute was equally famous for her great intelligence, her great virtue and character as well as her great beauty. One would have been hard pressed to imagine someone better suited to be an empress. Empress Dowager Cixi, on the other hand, was not so impressed but, nonetheless, on September 15, 1872 Alute formally became Empress consort to Emperor Tongzhi while the other candidates, favored by the Empress Dowager, were given the consolation prize of becoming concubines. However, their lives were to be rather boring as Emperor Tongzhi favored Alute more than any other and spent almost every night with her, hardly, if ever, calling for any of his other concubines. Even as a youth, Tongzhi had a reputation for, shall we say, a great deal of diverse romantic experience, but all that seemed to change with his marriage to Alute and while his mother might have been pleased with that, she was not at all pleased that he was spending all his time with his wife to the neglect of the consorts she favored and he was soon taking some interest in actually ruling China. She didn’t like that either and was inclined to put the blame on his new wife.

Emperor Tongzhi

The Empress Dowager took Empress Alute aside and explained to her that she should not keep her husband all to herself, that whether she recognized it or not she was causing harm but making Tongzhi neglect his other consorts. Alute, of course, was intentionally doing nothing of the sort. She came when the Emperor called and could hardly be held to blame for him not calling others. Appealing to her famous intellect, the Empress Dowager also suggested that Alute and the Emperor devote more of their time to study rather than romance and, of course, to do so separately so that the lovely girl would not distract her lustful husband. Tongzhi, however, wanted nothing to do with anything that kept him apart from Alute for long and she was just as devoted to him, no matter how odd a couple they seemed, the playboy and the nerdy girl, so finally the Empress-Dowager acted on her own considerable authority to have the two kept apart. This was unfortunate as the Emperor, deprived of the companionship of his wife, soon returned to his former licentious ways with the help of his eunuchs who were eager to indulge his every whim. Soon he was being smuggled out of the palace to the various dens of iniquity around Peking where, by most accounts, his lifestyle led him to contract syphilis.

Emperor Tongzhi became increasingly bad tempered as well as increasingly ill because of this state of affairs and Empress Alute became more and more depressed, however, she had enough intellect and sufficient will to hold out hope. When she was allowed to tend to her husband her thoughts were always on his recovery and what changes they would make when that time came. Eunuchs reported to the Empress Dowager that Alute often complained about her dominance of the government and interference in her life and that of her husband. Needless to say, the Empress Dowager did not take kindly to this and began to view her daughter-in-law not only as a hindrance to her but as an actual threat and perhaps her son as well, though that was of course blamed on the influence of his over-intelligent wife. Reportedly, the Empress Dowager listened in on one such conversation and then burst into the room in a rage, attacked Alute and ordered her to stay away from the Emperor, having her eunuchs take the Empress away and keep her more or less under guard.

Empress Dowager Cixi

Empress Alute was despondent and her despair increased when Emperor Tongzhi died on January 12, 1875. The Empress was reportedly pregnant at the time but as the Emperor had no children it was up to the Empress Dowager to decide the succession and she chose her nephew who became the tragic Emperor GuangXu. Empress Alute was refused the title of Dowager Empress or any of the other traditional privileges of the widow of an Emperor of China. She was kept virtually in a state of arrest and her food allowance was drastically cut, weakening her considerably. Here is where the real mystery begins. The generally accepted story is that she wrote to her father asking for help and that he replied telling her, in so many words, that suicide was the only honorable way out. Not long after, on March 27, Alute was dead, the official verdict from the imperial court being that she succumbed to an illness.

Immediately though many believed she had killed herself in despair over her situation and on the advise of her father. However, there are some problems with this story which cause many to doubt it. For one thing, it would have been no small trick for her to get a message out of the Forbidden City to her father without the knowledge of the Empress-Dowager, to say nothing of him being able to freely reply back. If this did happen, was his response authentic? Given how he had always been so close to his daughter it seems at least slightly questionable that he would advise her to take her own life. Likewise, the sudden onset of so terrible an illness has caused some to believe that she had been poisoned, probably on orders from the Empress Dowager who was certainly not above such tactics. The angry reaction of the Empress Dowager to any kind words about Alute would seem to support this theory. Additionally, even if it was simply a death from natural causes, the fact that her food allowance had been cut so dramatically would have weakened her health and made her more susceptible to illness, so the Empress Dowager would still not be totally free from blame in that case. So, what was it? Did she die of natural causes as the court claimed, did she commit suicide or was she poisoned by a spiteful mother-in-law. We may never know for sure and so the true fate of the tragic Empress Alute will likely remain one more of the many secrets held within the massive walls of the Great Within.

The IX Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Passes Away

It was just brought to my attention that on Thursday, March 1, His Eminence the Ninth Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Dorjee Chang Jampel Namdrol Choekyi Gyaltsen, spiritual head of the Janang tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and the spiritual Buddhist head of Mongolia, spiritual successor of the last Holy Khan of the Mongols, passed away at the age of 80 at 5.58am (IST) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. A special prayer service was held by HH the XIV Dalai Lama in his memory. You can read his obituary here. Although his passing is a sad occasion, it is perhaps fortunate that it came at such a time when the Dalai Lama will be able to preside over the search for his reincarnation. Had this sad event happened later, I could imagine a great deal of division and discord over the selection of his successor.

Readers interested in learning more about this remarkable man and his situation can look back at posts on How the Revolution Came to Mongolia and The IX Bogd Gegeen and Monarchism in Mongolia. It is unfortunate that a full restoration was not possible in his lifetime, though some progress was made with some political and military officials favoring at least some sort of official, ceremonial role for the "Holy Shining One". Although little remembered, Mongolia suffered horribly at the hands of the communists (it was the first Soviet satellite state) and a cultural, spiritual, national and political revival is badly needed in that still suffering country which was once the center of the largest empire in history. We remember the man who should have been Bogd Khan and renew ourselves in the effort to see his successor recognized as such.
-MM

HH the Dalai Lama presiding at a prayer service
on Saturday for the late Bogd Gegeen

MM Video: 9th Jetsun Dhampa

MM Video: The Bogd Khan

MM Video: Baron von Ungern "Mahakala"

MM Video: Five Minute History of Mongolia

MM Video: The Great Yuan Empire

The Mad Baron: Savior of Mongolia

It was 90 years ago today that a Bolshevik firing squad dispatched from this mortal coil Lt. General Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg and I had planned to post, for your viewing pleasure, an old Russian movie about the Baron (from the Soviet era so needless to say it was a rather negative portrayal) but, whoever put it on YouTube must not have had all their ducks in a row as it has since been removed. So, I shall instead address a pertinent topic concerning the impact of the mad monarchist of Mongolia on the current state of affairs in the far northeast. I don’t think I have mentioned it here before, but I have elsewhere, that I have a very low opinion of the fairly recent work by James Palmer titled, “The Bloody White Baron: The Extraordinary Story of the Russian Nobleman Who Became The Last Khan of Mongolia”. The title itself is rather misleading but, given how little coverage there is of the Baron, I had eagerly awaited the release of the book and was immensely disappointed with the result.

When you boil it down there was not actually a great deal of information about the Baron in the book, and certainly nothing new of any substance. Many pages were taken up detailing information about various related topics, interesting to some I am sure, but not dealing with the subject matter. What did was often vague, always negative, and most annoyingly inconsistent in regard to sources. For example, Mr. Palmer would quote one source to provide something outlandish the Baron had said yet, when that same source spoke positively of the Baron, would then discount it as an unreliable source! However, this overall very negative portrayal of the Baron did lean toward giving him grudging credit for at least one thing, and that is one thing I agree with the book on and I would call it nothing to shrug off when evaluating the lasting legacy of Baron von Ungern-Sternberg on present-day Mongolia. That is the basic fact that there would most likely not be a Mongolia at all today where it not for the actions of the Baron in 1921.

To understand that legacy, a little historical review is in order. Prior to 1912 Mongolia had been part of the Great Qing Empire, in fact it had been even before China proper was under the rule of the Manchu Emperor. However, when the last Emperor was obliged to abdicate and the Republic of China was declared, the Bogd Khan (like the Dalai Lama of Tibet) basically said that ‘all bets are off’ and declared independence. However, the Republic of China was not willing to let Mongolia go and in due time Mongolia was occupied by Chinese republican troops who dethroned the Bogd Khan and placed him under house arrest. That situation endured until the arrival of the Baron and his army when he defeated the Chinese, drove them out of Mongolia and restored the Bogd Khan to his throne. One must also keep in mind that, although Mongolia had been an associated state of Imperial China, it had also been in the Russian sphere of influence at a time when all of China outside the region around Peking was part of the sphere of influence of Britain, France, Japan, Germany or Russia. So, the Russians had long had an interest in the region and the Mongol authorities had tried to keep on good terms with both Moscow and Peking.

Mongolian independence was, obviously, the ideal goal of the Bogd Khan and most Mongols, however, once the Baron drove out the Chinese it was the Russians who came to dominate the country. The Baron and his White Russian forces always recognized the authority of the Bogd Khan but the local communist revolutionaries were solidly in the Soviet camp and once the Baron was defeated Mongolia became the first Soviet satellite state in the world -with horrific consequences. In fact, Mongolia was often known as the “16th Soviet Republic”. However, as horrific and blood-soaked as the communist regime of the Soviet puppet Choibalsan was, one must consider the alternative. That alternative was, of course, China, first under the nationalists and later under the Chinese Communist Party. It is truly sad how Mongol culture, history, religion, even the written language, was suppressed and all but annihilated by the pro-Soviet dictatorship but what would the consequences have been if the Baron had not driven out the Chinese to open the door to Russia?

With the benefit of hindsight we can see that the Republic of China would have been succeeded by the People’s Republic of China and, while the Soviet Union did finally collapse and allow Mongolia to start restoring what had been lost, the PRC is still going strong today. If the Baron and his pan-monarchist forces had not driven out the Chinese, Outer Mongolia would still be a part of China today and would look a lot like Inner Mongolia or, in an even clearer example, the former Kingdom of Tibet. The Mongols would be reduced to the status of a minority in their own country, their culture would be preserved only in museums and their religion would still be suppressed (as we have talked about before the Red Chinese were extremely upset when the Dalai Lama came to Mongolia to formally enthrone the reincarnation of the last Bogd Khan). In short, as bad as their association with Soviet Russia was it did ultimately prove to be only temporary whereas had the Baron not driven out the Chinese when he did, they probably never would have been dislodged and Mongolia would be in a much worse position today with the Mongol people swamped by Chinese immigrants to the point that they disappear as the Manchurians have and as the Tibetans are set to.

Baron Ungern von Sternberg was naturally portrayed as the blackest of villains in Mongolia during the communist era and his image is still not a positive one (aided no doubt by the fact that the old communist party has still remained in power for the most part since the country became a democracy). Some do regard him well and so they should. Not everyone will approve of his methods certainly or even his goals but the fact remains that were it not for the intervention of the Baron and his White Russian and multi-national army there would effectively be no Mongolia at all today.

Monarchist Profile: Baron Ungern-Sternberg Part II

Continued from Part I

By 1920 the motley collection of Siberian Cossacks, Kalmuks, Buriats and Japanese mercenaries clustered around the Baron had almost been totally pushed out of Russia by the massive Soviet forces, but the Baron hatched another plan. He would go into the heartland of the Mongols, gather the forces loyal to the Khan and the deposed Emperor of China and forge a massive, revived Asian empire under the Manchu dynasty that would take in Mongolia, Manchuria and Tibet which was spiritually linked to the Mongols. Setting out, the Baron and his private army rode into Mongolia in 1920 with the Red Army nipping at their heels. This move, however, was not simply an invasion on his part. The Baron had been invited in by the displaced Bogd Khan of Mongolia who had ruled as Emperor and Living Buddha of the country in a Buddhist theocracy since the Chinese Revolution. By this time, however, the Chinese republicans had returned and the Khan was anxious for help from any quarter to restore his country. This was fairly common practice at the time as the deposed Emperor of China was also in constant contact with various White Russian warlords in the hope of enlisting them in the service of the restoration of the Manchu dynasty. Ungern-Sternberg was more than willing to comply. A committed monarchist, he viewed all republicanism with disgust and felt that only monarchy possessed the secular and spiritual purity to save civilization from chaos.

He immersed himself in his surroundings, donning native robes, learning at least passable Mongolian and studying Buddhist mysticism. This was to be the heartland of the Eurasian empire he planned to build. The Baron succeeded in restoring the Bogd Khan to his throne but at this time the Manchu Emperor has to be wary of his actions for fear of upsetting the republic and endangering the “Articles of Favorable Treatment”. The Baron had taken the capital of Mongolia (then called Urga) after intimidating the Chinese republicans by setting fires on all the surrounding hillsides to give the impression of an immense host waiting to slaughter them. He led his men in the attack with reckless abandon, on a white horse, even if his only weapon was often his bamboo stick he constantly carried. Prior to taking the city he had liberated the Khan with the help of 300 Tibetan cavalrymen sent by the Dalai Lama to aid in the rescue of his deputy. The Chinese republicans were totally defeated though they were not all dealt with as harshly as some say as the Baron hoped to recruit Chinese forces into his army for the restoration of the monarchy in that country.

On March 13m 1921 Mongolia was officially proclaimed independent of Chinese control once again as the Bogd Khan was ceremoniously restored to his throne amidst much rejoicing by the local populace. However, for the Baron, this was just to be the beginning. The first step in his grand plan to forge a massive Mongol-Manchu Empire had been accomplished but further progress proved more difficult. Aside from restoring the Qing dynasty, he wished to make an alliance with the Japanese so that all could join forces in invading Russia, wiping out the Bolsheviks and restoring the Romanov dynasty to the throne. Most would agree that was not about to happen but most would also not dare to say so to the Baron who, for the moment, was the man of the hour. A grateful Khan lavished titles and honors on him and the XIIIth Dalai Lama in Tibet declared him to be an incarnation of the wrathful, protecting deity Mahakala. However, Buddhist incantations aside, the enemies of the Baron were organizing, on both the Russian and Mongol sides of the border.

The Soviets had already set their sights on Mongolia becoming their first satellite state and had already begun grooming a new set of Mongol communists to be puppet dictators on their behalf. They were also not prepared to tolerate the growing number of White Russians taking refuge in Mongolia and Manchuria. Baron von Ungern-Sternberg was a priority. Others, they felt, were all talk, but the Baron was just crazy enough to make good on his threats to return. Ungern was convinced that the great mass of the Russian peasantry were loyal to the Tsar and had only been misled by deceitful agents into supporting the revolution. Once he and his army rode back on to Russian soil, he was sure, they would rush to his colors and together they wash their motherland clean of the Marxist infection. Meanwhile, in Mongolia, the Baron was forced to deal with domestic issues.

Although most sources speak of atrocities committed by his forces, the Baron was actually a strict disciplinarian who meted out harsh punishments for those who committed crimes or who were drunk on duty. His troops cleaned up the city, established a wireless station, telephone network, public transportation, built bridges, printed a newspaper, established a veterinary clinic, hospitals, re-opened the schools and reestablished commerce -which is another reason for his safeguarding the Chinese community as most were merchants. He was, at all times though, adamant that the Bogd Khan was the final authority and he no more than commander of the army. His headquarters was a simple Mongol yurt set up in the courtyard of a Chinese house and very sparsely furnished. His habits were Spartan and he tried (ultimately without success) to enlist the support of the Japanese government and the exiled Qing Emperor.

In the meantime, across the border, his enemies were gathering. A Mongol cavalryman named Damdin Suhbaatar had earlier been sent to Russia to seek aid against the Chinese. He would become the preeminent “hero” of the communist revolution, known as the “Lenin of Mongolia” while other men such as Soliin Danzin and Khorloogin Choibalsan (the “Stalin of Mongolia”) would lead the political struggle into a nightmarishly bloody future. The communists would later portray these men, Suhbaatar in particular, as their liberators from the monarchical-religious despotism of the Bogd Khan and the Baron. In truth, this campaign would mark the beginning of decades of Mongolian oppression at the hands of the Soviet Union as the country became the first communist dictatorship in Asia and the first Soviet satellite state. Finally, frustrating with politics and diplomacy as his enemies continued to strengthen, the Baron determined to ride out with his army as it was and seek a climactic confrontation with the Reds that would determine the future of the Far East and whether there was any hope for a future counter-revolution in Russia.

However, his two divisions were almost totally mounted cavalry, with few machine guns or modern artillery. The Red Army, on the other hand, possessed no shortage of trucks, weapons, airplanes or manpower and they concentrated all against him as the two forces maneuvered for advantage along the Russo-Mongolian border, crossing back and forth as the situation dictated. Ungern-Sternberg threw himself into battle with his usual zeal but while the local revolutionaries were never a serious problem, everyone knew his relative handful of Cossacks, Mongols, Japanese, Chinese, Manchus and Tibetans could never be a match for the hordes of the Russian Red Army. After scattering the local forces opposing him, in May of 1921 the Baron marched his small army back into Russia near modern Kyakhta. He let loose his fury on the communists who had not been expecting the Baron to take the offensive in such an aggressive fashion. It was truly a case of the prey becoming the predator.

However, it was only a matter of time before the Soviets brought their full strength to bear and after about a month of successful raids the communist offensive came in July of 1921. Red Army patrols were everywhere, combing the countryside in search of the Mad Baron and his renegade army. Finally, on August 21, 1921, the end came. As usual, Ungern-Sternberg did not intend to go quietly. He and his men, in a wild-eyed rage, charged with maniacal fury straight into the Soviet forces. As would be expected, his troops were decimated and at that point the Baron lost control. After announcing that they would ride to Tibet to regroup and continue the fight, a portion of his bloodied troops mutinied and tried to kill the Baron themselves, but he survived and they were too intimidated by him to try again. Instead, he was bound and abandoned on the steppe, half naked with his talismans still hanging about his neck. A Red Army patrol finally came upon him and took him into custody though some witnesses were afraid to even look at him, so fearsome was his appearance. The reign of the mad monarchist of Mongolia had come to an end and with him his dreams of a restored Asian empire.

Lieutenant-General Roman Freiherr von Ungern-Sternberg was taken to Novosibirsk in Siberia with his train stopping at every station to display him as if he were an exhibit at a freak circus. Undoubtedly this is where many of his more heinous deeds were dreamed up as the communists shocked the locals with tales of the bloodthirsty former Tsarist general they saw before them who had tried to revive the empire of Genghis Khan. He was the last monarchist general in the field to bedevil the new Russian dictator Vladimir Lenin and with his capture and execution the Soviet chiftain was eager to finally put the civil war and any threats to his new state to rest. In September a military tribunal was convened, though in typical communist fashion it was more for appearances than anything else. The prosecutor was known, even by Bolshevik standards, as a fanatical atheist and he used the trial and the Baron to preach at length about the evils of religious devotion, be it Christian, Buddhist or of any other variety. The Baron said very little, accepting his situation as the fate of the defeated, though he did object to state that his forces had never harmed women. However, he knew the expected outcome as well as anyone else.

The fate of Ungern-Sternberg was a forgone conclusion. To the surprise of everyone, when he did speak, he spoke quite eloquently and coherently, perhaps causing a little confusion for those who portrayed him as a mindless, raving, bloodthirsty beast. Nonetheless, he was swiftly found guilty and sentenced to death by firing squad on September 17, 1921. Even in death, however, the Mad Baron could not simply die easily. He chewed up his prized Cross of St George so as to keep it from falling into the hands of the godless communists and when the executioners shot him in the chest (we are told because his head was too small a target) a piece of shrapnel from one of his many talismans still hanging around his neck flew back and seriously injured one of the Red soldiers. That would officially mark the last blood to be shed by Baron von Ungern-Sternberg. The mad monarchist of Mongolia, the man who thought to revive the glories of Genghis Khan and wanted a united Asian monarchy that would wipe the scourge of Bolshevism from the earth was no more.

In Mongolia, the again powerless Bogd Khan ordered Buddhist prayers to be said for the Baron in all the temples of the country. In Moscow the politburo breathed a sigh of relief and doctors dissected him to try to find some scientific explanation for his bizarre behavior. Most of the world has forgotten him, but his name, his image, reappears just often enough to remind everyone that he still haunts the dreams of Marxist revolutionaries. Wherever his soul now rests, that fact alone, I think, would make the Baron smile. He had ultimately been defeated, but he had gone down fighting for what he considered the most holy and righteous cause possible.

Monarchist Profile: Baron Ungern-Sternberg Part I

Everyone knows the saying that truth is stranger than fiction but few stories illustrate this as well as that of Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg. He is proof that colorful characters abound on the frontiers of civilization, be they in the west or the east. His life story reads like “Apocalypse Now” set in northeast rather than Southeast Asia. Like the fictitious Colonel Kurtz, Ungern had been a decorated warrior, legendary for his skill and courage who lost all he had been fighting for and became overwhelmed with death and destruction until (it seems) he suffered some sort of mental breakdown; going rogue, going native and going insane by most accounts. His commander in the Imperial Russian Army and compatriot in the monarchist White Russian faction, General Pyotr Wrangel, described him as, "the type that is invaluable in wartime and impossible in times of peace". Some noble hopes rode on his shoulders but a great deal of cruelty, death and destruction followed in his wake. A combination of Russian general, Mongol warlord, Asian mystic and pan-monarchist; the story of Baron von Ungern-Sternberg is certainly one of the most bizarre to come out of World War I. A misunderstood visionary, a conqueror, a liberator, a sadistic killer, or a Buddhist living god; Ungern-Sternberg has been called them all.

Despite the fact that he lived not so very long ago there is a great deal of legend surrounding the story of the man known (by his enemies) as the “Bloody Baron”. Despite the many detailed accounts of his life and career there are still conflicting reports about such basic information as when he was born, what color his hair was or what color were his eyes. He was probably born on December 29, 1885 in Graz, Austria, the first son of Theodor Freiherr von Ungern-Sternberg and Freiin Sophie von Wimpffen and was named Robert Maximilian Friedrich von Ungern-Sternberg. His parents divorced before he was six years old and being of the Baltic German stock at an early age he was sent to be raised by his stepfather in Estonia, taking the name Roman Fedorovich von Ungern-Sternberg. By the end of his life he would go by Ungern von Sternberg but was better known by his various nicknames such as the Mad or the Bloody Baron. According to the Baron himself he came from a long military tradition, claimed to be descended from Attila the Hun, crusaders and pirates. Many stories were later circulated claiming that the villainous baron was descended from a long line of unspeakably villainous characters in every age of history. Needless to say, such accounts should probably be taken with a grain of salt.

As a young man he set his sights on a military career and graduated from the Pavlovsk Military Academy in St Petersburg. However, the impetuous youth, eager for combat, dropped out once to join a Cossack unit when the Russo-Japanese War broke out after having been refused a transfer to Siberia because he had not completed his cadet training. Once in combat, however, he proved himself bold to the point of recklessness. He was wounded several times but it never seemed to phase him. He was often in trouble with his superiors but always managed to escape unscathed because of his value on the battlefield as well as his aristocratic connections. During this service, the Japanese greatly impressed him, particularly their warrior culture, fearless bravery and devotion to their divine emperor. While in Siberia he gained generally an early fascination with the Russian Far East, the Mongols (to whom the Russians were closest) and other native peoples and their culture. The young baron got his chance to prove his military ability when Russia entered World War I amidst a frenzy of nationalist pan-Slavism. He served in the Nerchinsk Cossacks under the command of General Wrangel and fought alongside future White Russian leader Grigori Semenov. Fighting on the Galician front and in the Carpathians against the Germans and Austro-Hungarians he soon earned a reputation as a fearsome soldier. He was extremely skilled but became most known for his fanatical temperament and do-or-die tactics.

Semenov, his superior, said the Baron was one of his most effective but also most ruthless officers. General Wrangel was impressed with his abilities but was afraid to promote him, worried about giving greater responsibilities to a man who was often so ferocious as to seem unhinged. His actions did merit him the award of the prestigious Cross of St George. He was very proud of this decoration and wore it constantly for the rest of his life. Ungern-Sternberg was also a zealous nationalist (though he was by blood a Baltic German and not a Russian Slav at all) and he was fanatically loyal to the Tsar, something which caused him to stand out all the more following the outbreak of the Russian Revolution in 1917. The temporary and more moderate government that took power in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Tsar Nicholas II sent Semenov to the Far East to secure the eastern frontier of Russia for their government. This was the beginning of an extremely chaotic period in Russian history and power was rapidly being lost to the Bolsheviks. Two groups formed as the situation degenerated into civil war; the communists (or reds) and the anti-communists (or whites) who included a variety of monarchists, anti-communist nationalists and moderate socialists. Everyone seemed to have an iron in the fire, even the allies who were not all so upset at the loss of the Tsar but who became very much alarmed at the prospect of the Bolsheviks making peace with Germany and Austria.

Soon the allies also dispatched troops to Russia, even to the Far East, to ensure that supplies and war materials they had sent to Tsarist Russia and later the moderate republican government did not end up in Bolshevik hands. This led to the colorful campaign of the American Expeditionary Force Siberia under General William S. Graves and the harrowing odyssey of the Czech Legion. General Semenov and his forces eventually mastered the Trans-Siberia region; aided in no small part by the effective and ruthless actions of the man many were calling the Mad Baron. However, even with Semenov in command this was no velvet glove occupation as his troops were forced to live off the land and pillaging was standard procedure for Russian forces in both the red and the white camps. Lack of unity was also a particularly serious problem among the white forces and Semenov and his command illustrate this. Semenov soon broke from the White Russian government of Admiral Kolchak and went rogue.

Negotiations were soon taking place between Semenov and the Japanese, who had landed far more troops than they were legally allowed to, for the creation of new country to be led by Semenov and propped up by the Japanese. This was no wild fantasy, but a real possibility and one that US General Graves had warned about. This also effectively broke Semenov and his men from the coalition of White Russian forces under Kolchak (Ungern would eventually break with Semenov as well). Semenov and Ungern-Sternberg raided Bolshevik supply trains and did as much damage as they could in this fierce and bitter war where mercy was unknown to both sides. In time they recruited a motley collection of soldiers as well as receiving money and guns from the Japanese. Ungern-Sternberg soon began growing apart from Semenov and in 1918 issued his own manifesto which stated his intention to overthrow the Bolsheviks and restore Grand Duke Mikhail Romanov to the Russian throne. He did not know that the Grand Duke had already been killed by the communists but this would only have reinforced his thirst for vengeance.

The final break came in 1920 when the “Mad Baron” broke from Semenov and went out on his own to the land he had earlier become infatuated with; the Mongol frontier. The leader of this column certainly cut an odd figure. Those who knew the Baron described him as fair, skinny, rather frail looking with a distinctly unmilitary bearing. He had a small head and uneven eyes and a rather high-pitched voice. Yet he had a boundless energy in his skeletal frame and endurance and iron constitution that surprised many. He was shy, witty, brutal and increasingly religious. Although a fearsome reputation preceded him, he did have a very simple sort of moral clarity. The communist revolutionaries were not just political enemies, by the enemy of God, in fact the enemies of the very concept of the divine in any form, a plague upon the soul as well as the body of mankind. As a result, he had no reservations about wiping them out without mercy. His style of warfare had a very “Old Testament” feel to it. Undoubtedly, he was a hard man, both before the revolution and civil war and certainly after, and he was not alone in that. Such surroundings tended to make many people quite merciless. However, he also had a clear sense of a greater right and wrong and to his mind, when dealing with Bolshevik revolutionaries, atheists and such political and spiritual sinners, the only righteous thing to do was to annihilate them without mercy. He was also extremely taken by his new surroundings and loved the bleak, Mongol steppes.

Ungern-Sternberg went native, as the saying goes, and poured over the history of the Mongols, their tactics and their former glory. He was impressed by their awesome accomplishments and even took up a version of their religion according to some sources. The religious beliefs of the Baron have been much speculated about. Most usually describe it as a mix and match assortment of Buddhism and his own personal brand of mysticism. However, he was born a Protestant Christian (Lutheran) and even at the end of his life never claimed to be anything else. He was certainly far from the mainstream and he didn’t have much time for religious arguments. Having a religion was the important thing to him and the rest were disputes over names and titles as far as he was concerned. He paid due respect to the Buddhist lamas in Mongolia, consulted local shamans and fortune-tellers and had great respect for the Confucian vision of an ordered, hierarchical society. He wore a huge number of religious charms, medals and amulets on a yellow cord underneath his uniform. He accepted eastern viewpoints on fate, karma and even somewhat on reincarnation though this certainly did not make him peaceful or passive. The full depths of his spiritual side could probably only be understood by the Baron himself.

Although some claimed he never showed any interest in women, there is evidence that he also married during this period, though he never settled down for a family life. On July 30, 1919 he married Zsi Helene Pavlovna, a 19-year-old girl from Peking but the two would not spend a great deal of time together. Even before the Baron embarked on this new chapter in his life he had a fearsome reputation among his Russian comrades that none could match with some even then suggesting that he suffered some sort of mental or nervous breakdown. Some judged that all of the death and destruction he had witnessed during the World War and the Russian Civil War, along with the power he held and the lives he himself had taken finally caused him to snap. Others hinted that the saber wound he received across his head did something to his mind. Tales are told of his troops assaulting citizens, hanging those they considered guilty of some offense, beheading others, disemboweling some and a whole list of other tortures. Those who felt his wrath left onlookers stunned and claiming it was impossible to tell by looking that the body of the victim before them could have once been human. His own physician described him as bloodthirsty and mentally unhinged. However, it is important to keep in mind when considering the worst and most lurid tales of the Mad Baron; the majority of these come from Soviet sources who were the sworn enemies of the fanatically monarchist Baron and it is highly likely that they embellished them or encouraged witnesses to stretch the truth as much as possible to make a villain and an imperialist bogey man out of Ungern-Sternberg. That being said, it was a very brutal time and place as has been established. In any case, even for those who marveled at the actions of the ‘bad boy’ of the Russian Civil War, the most bizarre period in the life of Ungern-Sternberg was only just beginning.

Concluded in Part II