Today in History

It was on this day in 1936 that the autonomous state of Mengjiang was formed in Inner Mongolia with the support of the Imperial Japanese Army. This is something everyone should familiarize themselves with more because it is relevant to events today in northeast Asia. For many years, with republican chaos in China and the growing threat of expansionist communism from Russia, important people in the Empire of Japan had been working for forge closer ties and build a pan-monarchist alliance between Japan, Manchuria and Mongolia. It was only natural for Japan to support Prince Teh and the loyal people of Inner Mongolia in their hope of reunited the Mongol people. This matters to Japan today, whether many people realize it or not. There has been, lately, an increasing outcry by aggressive elements in China to occupy and absorb Mongolia (which is to say, Outer Mongolia, the independent republic, as Inner Mongolia has already been absorbed). Right now the people of Inner Mongolia are in danger of losing their culture and eventually their existence as they are being drowned out in a sea of Han Chinese moving into Inner Mongolia. Outer Mongolia is next on the menu of many Chinese expansionists. If and when this happens, Mongolia will have to make its case for independence and that will go back to the fall of the Great Qing Empire and the start of revolutionary republicanism in East Asia.

Mongolia had never been a part of China, both were, however, part of the Great Qing Empire. This came about when the last Yuan Dynasty Emperor, Ligden Khan, handed over his authority to the Qing Dynasty Emperor of Manchuria. So, Manchuria and Mongolia were joined in a personal union as the Emperor of Manchuria was also the Great Khan of the Mongols. Later, the Qing Emperor became the ruler of all of China so that China and Mongolia were both included in his imperial realms but Mongolia did not belong to China. When the 1911 Revolution broke out that ended the Qing Dynasty reign, none of the countries outside of China had any part in it. If China wanted to become a republic, it should have had no bearing on any other countries. That is why Tibet and Mongolia both reacted quickly to reassert their independence. The last Qing Emperor was still, legitimately, the Great Khan of the Mongols but, of course, he was a child being held in the Forbidden City in Peking and neither he nor anyone in Mongolia could do anything about that. That is why, in the absence of the Great Khan, the Mongols looked to their supreme religious figure for leadership and made the Bogd Gegeen the Bogd Khan or 'Holy King' of Mongolia and he ruled until being suppressed by the Soviet-backed communist takeover.

The Soviet-backed regime of Choibalsan in Outer Mongolia, just like the Chinese rule over Manchuria, was illegitimate. In 1931 the Japanese Kwantung Army occupied Manchuria in the wake of the incident near Mukden and eventually the Empire of Manchuria was restored under the legitimate monarch. This had meaning for the Mongols as well and gave them hope. Mongolian was one of the officially recognized languages of Manchukuo and the Emperor was titled as Emperor of Manchuria and Mongolia, showing that the Mongols had not been forgotten and that, ultimately, their independence was to be restored (if Japan had won the Greater East Asian War). Prince Teh and the Emperor were close friends (possibly distant relatives) and Imperial Japanese forces were quick to assist him in setting up the autonomous government for Mengjiang as a prelude to reuniting all the Mongols into their own state, either together with Manchukuo or as a separate state in personal union with the Emperor who was, at the same time, Emperor of Manchukuo and Great Khan of the Mongols.

Today, as Communist China casts a hungry eye on Outer Mongolia, this history becomes extremely relevant and Japan can help make the case. It is likely an issue that the Chinese government does not want to bring up because the truth of history clearly shows that, not only do they have no legitimate right to Mongolia but the same could be said for Manchuria and Tibet as well (the case could also be made for Xinjiang but that is a more complex situation). Japan and all free countries should support the independence of the Mongols in the face of Red Chinese aggression and all loyal monarchists should also unite in support of the restoration of traditional, legitimate governments in northeast Asia. Only then can ideological hatreds (all of which have foreign origins) be put to an end and East Asia come into balance, peace and tranquility.