How the USSR paid Mongolia with people for 300 kg of gold earrings and 52 tanks to help the front

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Mongolia was half-jokingly called the sixteenth republic of the USSR, and for good reason: the interaction of cultures and economies in these two countries was very dense. While the man in the street joked about “Mongolia is not abroad,” the Soviet Union did everything to ensure that the most loyal ally in the East - the buffer between it and other Far Eastern countries - developed and grew stronger. Mongolia responded with assistance in critical situations.

The first contacts of the future Russia with the Mongols were not very pleasant: Subeidei, fulfilling the behests of the Great Genghis Khan “to reach Kiev”, brought his troops and conquered Russian cities in the bloodiest way or wiped them off the face of the earth. When Russia, involuntarily entering the Mongol ulus, known as the Golden Horde, was pacified for a long time, relations became calmer: the princes and khans constantly provided military assistance to each other, and during the split of the Horde, many noble Horde left to serve with the Russians (and not only) rulers.

After the fall of the empire of Genghis Khan, there was literally nothing to talk about Russian-Mongolian relations. Until in 1915 Russia pushed China to sign an agreement on the recognition of Mongolian autonomy. This is how the history of Mongolia's independence began after long years of living only on the outskirts of the southern neighbor (however, the southern neighbor once lived under the heel of the Mongols - everything was mutual).

Contacts were temporarily interrupted by revolutions and the Civil War in the USSR; China took advantage of them to immediately retake the territories. It all ended in an uprising led by Buddhist clergy and retired Mongolian officers - the rebels not only expelled the Chinese, but also severely limited the rights of the Bogdykhan, the ruler of their country. After that, the revolutionaries of the two countries shook hands, and the countries established diplomatic relations - which in the future greatly helped both of them.

War

In the forty-first year, many things happened. Among them - the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in the USSR and the adoption of the Cyrillic alphabet (similar to Russian) in Mongolia. And yet - Mongolia has acted as an unequivocal ally of its western neighbor. It is not surprising: when the Japanese invaded Mongolia in 1939, Soviet troops under the leadership of Georgy Zhukov (yes, the same one) joined the Mongol army to repulse the attempted capture.

Mongolia could not help with troops in 1941, this would mean exposing the same USSR from Japan, Germany's ally. Instead, the Mongols focused on material aid, producing and dispatching at an astonishing speed what the country of pastoralists could provide: warm winter uniforms and canned meat. In addition, Mongolia transferred a large sum of money to the USSR.

Other gifts from a country that mainly breed horses, camels and sheep were unexpected. The Mongols raised money to build fifty tanks, which were then delivered to the Moscow region - despite the fact that Mongolia was still under constant threat of Japanese attack. Marshal Choibalsan personally handed over the tanks to the 112th Red Banner Tank Brigade. The Mongols also took over the clothing and food supply of the convoy crews until the end of the war.

The misfortunes that Soviet citizens endured in the occupied territories touched the hearts of both urban and nomadic residents, and people voluntarily brought gold for the transfer to the USSR, as well as - whoever had - dollars. In total, three hundred kilograms of gold were collected to help the Soviet Union! Mostly - female jewelry, passed down from generation to generation.

Half a million horses of the most enduring, perfectly pulling loaded carts of the Mongolian breed were purchased by the Mongolian government from cattle breeders and sold to the Soviet Union at a discounted price. In the Soviet army, they could not get enough of the tiny horses: they were hardy, meek, smart and unpretentious, and, moreover, they did not forget to feed at any stop.

Mongolian troops took part in military operations, but when the battles were fought in the east - for example, in the Manchurian operation. Also, after the war, some Mongols witnessed an analogue of the Nuremberg Trials arranged by the USSR for Asia - many Mongols were brutally killed in the occupied Chinese territories, for example, in the course of medical experiments with knives. When the films with the experiments were shown in the courtroom, the doctors on duty had to endure the elderly women who had fainted. Other viewers could not hold back tears and lines of horror.

And peace

After the war, the USSR sent many specialists in order to improve and establish production and education in Mongolia, including higher education. In addition, the Soviet institutes accepted Mongolian students, preparing new cadres for the independent work of the Mongols on the development of the country. Among the visiting Soviet specialists in Mongolia were, for example, the parents of the brilliant artist Nadya Rusheva - the famous Tuvan ballerina Natalya Azhikmaa, who taught ballet in Ulan Bator, and the theater designer Nikolai Rushev.

Mongolia, which by habit continues to be considered a wild country, really stands on its own in Asia, preserving its pastoral culture. But over the twentieth century - and with the help of Soviet specialists and former students who returned from the USSR - it has reached a standard of living that is difficult to imagine for other countries and regions with a predominantly pastoral population.

First of all, the Mongols learned from the USSR that the main thing is not so much to build cities everywhere, but everywhere, regardless of whether there is a city or not, to install hospitals and paramedic points, as well as schools (often in Mongolia these are seasonal boarding schools).

Although many Mongols still live in yurts and wander from place to place, in these yurts the norm of life is the Internet and children attending various courses remotely; many people buy gadgets that are designed to make life easier for tourists on hikes, and as a result, they enjoy quite comfortable modern life, without changing their habits in other everyday relationships.

Mongolia has a surprisingly large number of girls getting higher education (although, given the entire dynamics of the country's development, this is not surprising). Mongols, who prefer the urban lifestyle and are a bit cramped, moreover, in the capital, calmly find work abroad, in Japan (for example, there are Mongolian sumo stars acting under pseudonyms, for example, Dolgorsurengiin Dagvadorj, known as Asashoryu Akinori) or in Russia (many learn Russian at school, watch Russian television in yurts).

Several young opera singers have achieved international fame - in Russia, Britain, the USA - as you know, the opera school in Ulan Bator was founded by Soviet singers.

But, what is more indicative, people come to Mongolia from Russia for a good salary and a good career. As a rule, we are talking about the outflow of teachers from Buryatia: the conditions provided by the Mongols, given the quite modern quality of life in the country, make Mongolia very attractive, and the phenotypic similarity of the Mongols and Buryats prevents the feeling of “alone among strangers”.

The only thing that sometimes confuses Russians in Mongolia is the cult of Genghis Khan, including his bequeathed march to the west. So, in Ulan Bator, President Putin was met by cavalry in outfits from the times of Genghis Khan, and they say briefly about the cities of Ancient Russia destroyed to the foundation in history lessons: “they resisted”.

The history of the Golden Horde is associated with a constant question for Russia: Why not all who are called Tatars are one people.