Inner Mongolia, 1945-1948: From unification to autonomy to joint management
In August 1945, when the Soviet Army occupied Manchuria and Inner Mongolia, for a short time there was the possibility of unifying the Mongolia Peoples Republic and Inner Mongolia. As previous studies have shown, because of international considerations, this plan was quickly replaced with supporting Inner Mongolian autonomy under the rule of the Chinese Communists. The role of the Soviet Union and the Mongolian People’s Republic in this process, however, is often ignored.
Relying on military and intelligence documents from the Republic of China, the speaker argues that the establishment of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region in 1947 was made not because of the Chinese Communists’ success, but because of their failure: In 1946, after the Chengde Conference of April, the Chinese Communists entered eastern Inner Mongolian and unleashed a bloody revolution.
By October 1946, this revolution caused a rift between the Chinese Communists and the leaders of the Eastern Mongolian movement. That rift in turn led the Soviet Union and the Mongolian People’s Republic to intervene directly in Inner Mongolian affairs, condemning the Chinese Communists’ actions, and providing security assurances to the Inner Mongols, which continued even after the establishment of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region.
About the speaker
Tomer Nisimov is a PhD candidate in history at Princeton University. He studies the history of twentieth century Northeast Asia. Geographically, he works on Soviet, Chinese, Korean and Mongolian history, with particular interest in politics, ethnopolitics, geopolitics, military affairs, and international relations. His PhD dissertation concentrates on the creation of the ethnic minorities’ autonomous regions of Inner Mongolia and Yanbian during the Civil War in China (1945-1949), emphasising the role of the Soviet Union, Mongolia, and North Korea in the process.