Modern Mongolia : A Concise History

Contents: Preface. Acknowledgement. 1. Introduction. 2. Pre-twentieth century Mongolia. 3. The beginning of the modern era. 4. The birth of the People's Republic. 5. The wave of modernization. 6. The suppression of Buddhism. 7. Red terror in Mongolia. 8. Stalin and Choibalsan. 9. New revolutionary culture and education. 10. Mongolia between Moscow and Beijing. 11. Tsedenval and his era. 12. Social changes in the Soviet period. 13. Democratic revolution of 1990. 14. Political parties and reform process. 15. Foreign policy of new Mongolia. 16. Revival of history, culture and religion. Index.

"The history of the twentieth century Mongolia beginning from 1911 until the democratic revolution of 1990 unfolds a series of events that led the country to finally break its economic and political dependence on the former Soviet Union. In 1990, the first free elections were held which witnessed the formation of a new Parliament, followed by the adoption of a new constitution in 1992, which changed the country's name from Mongolian People's Republic to simply Mongolia. In a concise form the book highlights important landmarks in modern Mongolia and also examines the prevailing situation in the Mongol land in the period preceding the twentieth century. Revival of nationalism has been a new phenomenon in Mongolia, which was a direct result of the 1990 pro-democracy and Nationalist Movement, and therefore, this issue has also been dealt with in the context of re-emergence of Chinggis Khan as a national hero in the post-Soviet Mongolia. A brief scenario of changes in Mongolia's domestic and foreign policy after collapse of the former Soviet Union has also been presented, apart from highlighting the evolution of a new democratic civilian society and the overall political scenario in the country. While drawing attention to the revival of history, culture and religion the book throws fresh light on issues concerning the nomadic identity of Mongols in the twenty first century."