Chronography of Mongolia
Page last modified 5 August
2023
See also Central Asia
See also China
See also Russia
MPRP = Mongolian People�s Revolutionary Party, see 1924.
12/2016, Mongolia agreed not to
allow any more visits by the Dalai Lama. China had objected to a visit by him
in November 2016.
6/2016, The Mongolian People�s Party was
elected to government in a landslide victory, winning 65 out of 76 seats.
8/2013, Economic concerns after Rio Tinto
Zing threatened to lay off 1,700 workers at the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine,
following a dispute with the Mongolian Government.
6/2012, The Democratic Party won the most
seats, but not a majority; it formed a coaltion with the Mongolian People�s
Party.
4/2012, Mongolia delayed the Tavan Tolgoi
coal project, considering whether to develop it alone without international
partners.
10/2011, Mongolia and Rio Tinto�s Ivanhoe
Mines agreed that Mongolia would retain a 34% share of the large Oyu Tolgoi
copper mine, not the 50% share that Mongolia had been claiming.
7/2011, Mongolia invited an international
partnership of Peabody Energy (USA), Shenhua (China) and a Russian-Mongolian consortium
to mine coal deposits at Tavan Tolgoi.
11/2020, The Mongolian People�s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) reverted to its
pre-1924 name of Mongolian People�s Party, a move which sparked great
controversy.
2/2010, Another severe winter hit Mongolia. The UN again sent aid, assisting in
the clearance of dead livestock which could spread disease.
Post-Soviet
Communist rule
10/2009, MPRP Prime Minister Sanjagiin Bayar
resigned for health reasons. He was succeeded by the Foreign Minister, Sukhbaataryn
Batbold.
5/2009, Opposition Democratic Party
candidate Tsakhiagiin
Elbegdjord won the Presidential Elections, defeating the incumbent Nambaryn
Enkhbayar, MPRP, by a narrow margin. The govermning MPRP
accepted this result.
7/2008, President Enkhbayar declared a
State of Emergency after rioting in the capital resulted in 5 deaths.
Disturbances began when the Government was accused of rigging elections.
11/2007, Miyeegombo Enkhbold resigned; he
was replaced by Sanjagiin
Bayar, also MPRP.
2006, Mongolia passed the 2006 Minerals Law, reintroducing a role
for the State in minerals extraction.
1/2006, The coalition administration fell
after the MPRP pulled out, blaming the government for slow economic growth.
Parliament chose Miyeegombo Enkhbold, MPRP, as the new Prime Minister.
5/2005, Nambaryn Enkhbayar, MPRP,
was elected President.
2004, Non-Communist Parties did well in
Mongolian elections, resulting in a hung Parliament. There were popular
protests at alleged Government corruption.
12 June 2003, In Mongolia a mass grave containing the bodies of some
1,000 Buddhist monks was uncovered. This dated from the period 1924-40, when
around 36,000 Buddhists were murdered by the pro-USSR Government.
2002, The Dalai Lama visited Mongolia. China
protested, and attempted to deter Mongolian Government officials from meeting
him.
5/2001, Bagabandi was re-elected as
President.
2/2001, The UN sent aid to Mongolia as its
herders suffered the
worst winter for over 50 years.
1997, Bagabandi, MPRP member, was elected
President of Mongolia.
1997, Mongolia passed the 1997 Minerals Law, further opening up
its mining industry to foreign investment and restricting the role of the State
in this sector.
1996, The National and Social Democrats
made gains in elections, but the MPRP obstructed reforms.
1994, Mongolia passed the 1994 Minerals Law, liberalising the
mining sector.
Soviet domination
30 December 1992. All Soviet troops had left Mongolia.
12 February 1992, Mongolia adopted a new
Constitution, cementing new human rights and freedoms. The new Constitution
also created a single legislative chamber, the Great State Khural (GSKh). In
the first free democratic elections in Mongolia, the MPRP won 71 of the 76 seats
on the GSKh.
10 December 1989, In Mongolia, Tsakhiagiyn Elbegdorj
announced the establishment of a democratic movement within the country.
1986, Gorbachev announced that
Russian troops were to be withdrawn from Mongolia; Mongolian-Chinese relations
began to improve.
1966, Russia signed a Treaty of
Friendship with Mongolia, and began posting Russian troops there.
30 March 1963, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, President
of Mongolia 2009-2017, was born in Zereg
1952, Choybalsan died. Tsedenbal
became Prime Minister.
25 June 1946, Mongolia applied to become
a member of the United Nations.
1945, At the post-World War Two
Yalta Conference, the USSR retained
control of Mongolia. This was despite Mongolians having voted for independence
in a UN-organised
plebiscite, and China�s recognition of the independent Republic of Mongolia.
1939, Battle of Halhyn Gol. Mongolian and Soviet forces turned back an
attempted invasion by the Japanese Army. Choybalsan, the Interior Minister and latterly
Minister foir war, known as �Mongolia�s Stalin�, became Prime Minister.
1937, Soviet Russian troops were deployed in
Mongolia, in response to Japanese military advances. The Mongolian
leader, Khorloogiin
Choybalsan, a staunch Stalinist, ordered a major purge of the
Buddhist faith across the Army and the Party. The Mongolain Prime Minister, Genden,
was arrested and shot on charges of spying for Japan. Lamaism was obliterated,
lamas were murdered, and 30,000 people, about 5% of the population, were
killed.
1928, The Mongolian People�s Republic began confiscating property from the
nobility, and from organised religion, and it prohibited private enterprise.
The Mongolian economy suffered, and there was unrest in the south and west of
the country.
26/11/1925, The Republic of Mongolia was proclaimed,
formally ending the feudal monarchy.
1924, Leninism was confirmed as state doctrine in Mongolia. The country
announced that it would �by-pass capitalism and move straight to Communism�.The
Mongolian People�s Party renamed itself the Mongolian People�s Revoliutionary
Party (MPRP).
10 July 1921. Mongolia declared its
independence as a People�s Republic, becoming the world�s second Communist
state after Russia. The Soviet Red Army assisted Mongolian revolutionaries in
evicting the Chinese from Mongolia. Sukhe Bator was instrumental in leading the
Communist Revolution in Mongolia; he sent a secret plea to Lenin for aid in 1920. He died
in 1932, allegedly poisoned by a doctor
sent to care for him by the Supreme Lama.
1920, The Mongolian People�s Party (Communist) was founded. It formed links
with Bolsheviks in Siberia.
Chinese
rule
1919, China occupied Outer
Mongolia.
5/11/1913 A joint declaration by Russia and China
recognising the autonomy of Outer Mongolia (Mongolia) under Chinese suzerainty.
9 July 1913, China's National Assembly ratified a treaty
with Russia, relinquishing its claims on Mongolia.
1911, As the Manchu Qing Dynasty
fell in China,
Outer Mongolia declared its independence. China reoccupied the Republic in
1919.
8 February 1902, Demchugdongrub, Mongolian
politician was born (died 1966)
1727, The border between Russia
and China was fixed by the Treaty of Kyakhta. Chinese rule over Mongolia and
Tuva was confirmed.
1697, Death of Galdan, Chief of the Western Mongols. He resisted the encroachment of
the Manchu Qing Dynasty and after the Qing subjugated the Eastern Mongols in
1675, Galdan took the offensive against them. He took from the Chinese significant oasis towns such as Kashgar
and Turfan. The Qing Emperor Kangxi undertook three major campaigns before
defeating Galdan at the Battle of Jao Modo in Outer Mongolia; Galdan
was forced to
commit suicide.
1636, The Manchus conquered Inner Mongolia.
Outer Mongolia was offered Manchu �protection� in 1691.
17 February 1405, Deatb of the Mongol leader Tamerlane (Timur-i-Leng) at Otrar, east of
the Syr Darya River, whilst en-route to conquer China. He became leader in
1369, and went on to conquer Persia, the Caucasus, and the Tartars (in 1390).
In 1398 he subdued northern India.
1400, The Mongols under Tamerlane
destroyed Damascus and in 1401 went on to sack Baghdad. However Christian Europeans were
disappointed when Tamerlane decided he had been insulted by the Chinese
Emperor and took his forces back eastwards.
8 September 1380. The Russians under Prince Dmitri Donskoi won a major victory over the Mongols at the
Battle of Kulikovo. This prevented the Mongols from reaching Moscow, although
they made several further attempts in future years.
12 February 1294. Kublai Khan died, aged 80.
3 September 1260, The Mamluks defeated the Mongols
at the Battle of Ain Jalut (Goliath�s Spring) in Galilee, marking their first
decisive defeat and the point of maximum expansion of the Mongol Empire.
Damascus had fallen to the Mongols in 1259 and Hulegu, Mongol leader, now
turned on Egypt, the major military power in the region. The Mongols now ruled
an area from the Pacific to the Mediterranean, The Mameluke rulers of Egypt
responded to Hulegu�s demands for capitulation by killing Hulegu�s envoys and marching
into Palestine to fight. Mameluke cavalry was crucial in the Mongol defeat.
11 August 1259, Death of Genghiz Khan�s grandson, Mongke
(born 1209), ruler of the Mongols. His brother Hulagu attacked the Iran and
Iraq area.
10 February 1258. The Siege of Baghdad
ended with a battle in which Hulagu Khan's Mongol forces overran Baghdad, then the leading
centre of Islamic culture and learning and capital of the Abbasid Caliphate.
They burned the imperial city to the ground, killing as many as 1,000,000
citizens.
1 July 1251, Mangu, eldest son of Tule
and nephew of Ogodei,
was elected Khan.
26 June 1243. The Mongols routed the Seljuk Turkish army.
11 December 1241, Ogodei
died, and the Mongols abandoned their raids into Europe. The Mongol princes
were summomned to a kuriltai to elect a new Khakhan. There was rivalry between
Batu and Kuguk, the eldest sons of Ogodei, and this delayed the election decision
until January 1246, when Kuguk was elected Khakhan. Batu
became Khan of the western regions, now becoming known as the Khanate of the
Golden Horde because of the opulence of his camp.
9 April 1241. The Mongols defeated an army of Teutonic Knights.
6 December 1240. The Mongols took Kiev, in the Ukraine.
4 March 1238, Mongol invasion of
Rus � Battle of the Sit River: The Mongol Hordes of Batu Khan
defeated the
Rus' under Yuri Vsevolodovich
21 December 1237, Mongols invading
Russia under Batu Khan sacked Ryazan.
1234, The Chinese Song
Emperor proposed an alliance with the Mongols against the Jurchen. As
before, this resulted in the Mongols taking over the Jurchen Empire and
bringing China to its knees. However China was saved from total annihilation
because Genghiz
Khan had died in 1227, replaced by his son Ogodei. Other family members
feared that allowing Ogodei to take over China would make him too powerful, so
the Mongol chiefs launched major raids into Europe, to distract from the China
adventure.
1233, Mongol forces defeated the Rus State at the Battle of Kalka
River.
Genghiz Khan
18 August 1227. Genghis Khan, Mongol emperor who conquered more than a
million square miles, died aged 65 after falling from his horse. Ogodei Khan
was his chosen
successor.
31 May 1222, A Mongol
army overran the Russians and Cumans on the Kalka, near the Sea of Azov.
1207, Jochi, eldest son of Genghis Khan, conquered the
Buryat people to his north.
1162, Temujin, Genghiz Khan (=Great Leader) was
born.
957, End of the Chandra Hindu Dynasty in
Mongolia; a period of chaos began.