Cold War politics (1945–85) Mongolian People's Republic

yumjaagiin tsedenbal

secure in relations moscow, mongolian government shifted postwar development, focusing on civilian enterprise. mongolia @ time 1 of world s isolated countries, having no contact nation outside of soviet union. after war, international ties expanded , mongolia established relations north korea , new communist states in eastern europe. mongolia , people s republic of china (prc) recognized each other in 1949, , prc relinquished claims outer mongolia. however, mao zedong privately hoped mongolia s reintegration china. raised question before soviet leadership 1949 (in meeting anastas mikoyan @ xibaipo), , then, having been firmly rebuffed stalin, in 1954, year after death. in 1956, following nikita khrushchev s denunciation of stalin, chinese leaders attempted present mongolia s independence 1 of stalin s mistakes in meetings mikoyan. soviet response mongols free decide own fate.

in 1952, choibalsan died in moscow had been undergoing treatment cancer. succeeded prime minister yumjaagiin tsedenbal. unlike predecessor, tsedenbal enthusiastic incorporating mongolia constituent republic of soviet union. idea met strenuous opposition other mprp members , abandoned.

in 1950s relations between mpr , prc improved considerably. china provided needed economic aid, building entire industries in ulaanbaatar, apartment blocks. thousands of chinese laborers involved in these projects until china withdrew them after 1962 in bid pressure mongolia break moscow @ time of worsening sino-soviet relations.

after beginning of sino-soviet dispute, mongolia briefly vacillated, took sharply pro-soviet stand, being 1 of first socialist countries endorse soviet position in quarrel china. military build-up on sino-mongolian border began 1963; in december 1965 mongolian politburo requested soviet union station military forces in mongolia. in january 1966, leonid brezhnev s visit mongolia, 2 countries signed mutual assistance treaty, paving way soviet military presence in mpr. in february 1967, following weeks of worsening sino-soviet tensions, moscow officially approved stationing of reorganised 39th soviet army in mongolia.

with soviet encouragement, mongolia increased participation in communist-sponsored conferences , international organizations. in 1955, mongolia attempted join united nations, request vetoed republic of china (now based on taiwan) maintained renewed claim on mongolia. mongolia became member of un in 1961 after soviet union threatened veto admission of of newly decolonized states of africa if republic of china again used veto. diplomatic relations united states not established until end of cold war. mongolia became bone of contention between soviet union , china following sino-soviet split because of presence of soviet nuclear arms.

by beginning of 1980s, tsedenbal became increasingly authoritarian , erratic. following series of party purges, expelled office in august 1984 on pretext of old age , mental incapacity . removal of tsedenbal had full soviet backing, , retired moscow lived until death cancer in 1991. jambyn batmönkh took on general secretary , enthusiastically plunged reforms implemented in soviet union mikhail gorbachev.