introduction
In the history of Mongolia, if there is one person with the greatest influence, it is Genghis Khan.
He almost became a spiritual totem of the Mongolia.
But who would have thought that such a great figure who unified the steppe and conquered Eurasia was actually "cursed" in Outer Mongolia for nearly 70 years.
Why should Outer Mongolia be so disrespectful to its ancestors?
Genghis Khan: From national beliefs to class enemies
Genghis Khan's Mongolia Empire once spanned Europe and Asia, and the Mongolia led by him fought all the way from Asia to Europe, almost conquering the world.
However, such a great national hero was regarded as a "class enemy" at a specific stage of Outer Mongolia's history.
In 1924, the Qing Dynasty had collapsed. The wheels of time turn mercilessly, and the glory of the past is gone.
In the chaos of warlord division, China faces a dilemma. Instigated by the Soviet Union, Outer Mongolia seceded from the Republic of China and established the so-called "People's Republic of Mongolia."
However, the so-called "Republic of Mongolia" is actually a puppet, and in fact, the real master of the fate of Outer Mongolia is the Soviet Union.
With the assistance and instigation of the Soviet Union, the Mongolia People's Revolutionary Party was able to successfully govern, and after coming to power, it quickly implemented a series of reform measures.
One of the important reforms was to bring the ideology into line with the Soviet Union.
Genghis Khan began to be regarded by the new government as the spokesman of the feudal landlord class, and began to be degraded as a feudal tyrant who oppressed the people.
This shift is lamentable and unfair, and highlights the complexity and fickleness of historical evaluation.
In the process of this in-depth reform, Mongolia's history was arbitrarily tampered with by the Soviets, and Genghis Khan's achievements were deliberately diluted or even maliciously smeared.
The Mongolia worship of Genghis Khan has been going on for hundreds of years, with annual rituals, and this folk worship is even more fanatical than religion.
But under the iron-fisted rule of the Soviet Union, it became taboo to worship Genghis Khan.
Genghis Khan's portraits and statues were destroyed, and any public worship of him was strictly curbed and suppressed.
The Soviet Union's intentions: why suppress Genghis Khan?
So why did the Soviet Union have to attack Genghis Khan? What good did this do for the Soviet Union?
To answer these questions, we have to go back in time to the 13th century.
At that time, Genghis Khan led the Mongolia iron cavalry, sweeping almost the entire Eurasian continent like a wind and clouds, and even reached the territory of present-day Russia.
In 1237, Genghis Khan's eldest grandson, Batu, conquered Kievan Rus' and ruled the Slavs for more than two hundred years. Its influence is far-reaching, and it has left a strong mark in the long history.
This history is heart-wrenching for Russia.
The Soviet Union, as the successor of Russia, hated Genghis Khan, the "aggressor", never disappeared.
Therefore, the Soviet Union tried its best to curb the heroic image of Genghis Khan, and even more reluctant for the Mongolia people to promote Genghis Khan.
If the positive image of Genghis Khan is not distorted, it will provoke nationalist sentiments among the Mongolian people, thus posing a threat to Soviet control of Mongolia.
Therefore, the Soviet Union used all kinds of means to discredit Genghis Khan as much as it could.
It is extremely unjust and malicious to portray him as a brutal feudal lord in an attempt to erase his high position in the hearts of the Mongolia people.
Moreover, the Soviet Union also had a practical political mindset. Their considerations were based on the realities of the time and had a certain impact on the development of the Soviet Union.
When the Mongolia People's Republic was first established, nationalist sentiment was high in the country.
Continued excessive promotion of Genghis Khan's heroic image would inevitably lead to resistance among the Mongolian people to Soviet intervention.
For this reason, the USSR simply directly ordered a ban on any public praise of Genghis Khan.
Genghis Khan, who was once deified, is now the object of criticism in textbooks.
The Soviet Union not only tried to make Mongolia forget this hero, but also tried in vain to force the Mongolians to remember that he was an "aggressor" and that his act of conquest was an oppression of other peoples.
Silence under high pressure: Mongolia's taboo against Genghis Khan
However, the inertia of human thinking is difficult to change, and the high-pressure policy of the Soviet Union cannot completely cut off the worship of Genghis Khan by the Mongolia nation.
Ostensibly, official Mongolia has abandoned this old ancestor.
But among the people, faith in Genghis Khan has never really disappeared.
In 1962, Genghis Khan celebrated the 800th anniversary of his birth. Despite a long period of official repression, the community spontaneously organized events to celebrate.
However, before the celebration could begin, it was urgently halted by the Soviet Union.
At that time, Mongolia leader Zedenbar was forced to issue an order to stop relevant activities due to pressure from the Soviet Union.
And began to propagandize and distort Genghis Khan among the people, saying that Genghis Khan was a "terrorist" and not a national hero at all.
After the incident, the Soviet side, in order to liquidate the organizers of the event, did not hesitate to dispatch the KGB to investigate.
Once the organizers of the civil commemoration were discovered, they were exiled to the Gulag to dig potatoes if they were lucky, and they were almost executed outright.
The revival of Genghis Khan
Under the high-pressure policies of the Soviet Union, Genghis Khan should have been nailed to the pillar of shame in history forever.
But in 1985, things took a turn for the better.
At this time, the Soviet Union entered the Gorbachev era.
After Brezhnev's reckless militarism, the Soviet Union's national strength was much lower than before, and its control over its neighbors weakened.
Moreover, Gorbachev was a dove, and his policy of "new thinking" further loosened the Soviet Union's control over Mongolia.
At this time, Genghis Khan's faith began to slowly revive in Outer Mongolia.
Especially after the Mongolia People's Republic abandoned socialism in 1990 and implemented the reform of the multi-party system, the cult of Genghis Khan completely returned.
What was once a "class enemy" has become a great national hero.
A year later, the Soviet Union collapsed, and Genghis Khan became even more fanatical than ever.
The government no longer smeared Genghis Khan in textbooks, but instead made the Soviet Union a target of criticism.
When the Soviet Union was still there, the ideology of Outer Mongolia was to completely turn to the Soviet Union.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, in order to fill the ideological gap and also to boost national self-confidence, the Mongolia government once again pushed Genghis Khan onto the stage of history.
In 1992, Mongolia formulated a new constitution, and the government decided to worship Genghis Khan again as a way to promote the national spirit.
Since then, statues of Genghis Khan have been erected in many places, and squares and airports named after him have also been completed.
In 2008, Mongolia built the world's largest statue of Genghis Khan.
It stands majestically outside the city of Ulaanbaatar and symbolizes the return of the spiritual leader of Mongolia.
However, the return of Genghis Khan also brought new problems.
Although he regained his rightful place as a national symbol, Mongolia's own economic problems were not alleviated.
Many people feel that instead of spending huge sums of money to build a memorial site for Genghis Khan, it is better to use the money to improve people's livelihood and well-being.
After all, no matter how great Genghis Khan is, he cannot directly solve the poverty problem faced by the Mongolia people.
National self-confidence and the dilemma of reality
Today, Genghis Khan has become the symbol of Mongolia.
Every year, countless tourists flock to visit the statue and memorial of Genghis Khan. Through him, the Mongolian people have once again regained their national self-confidence.
The Mongolia government has constantly promoted Genghis Khan's historical exploits in an attempt to unite the people and strengthen their sense of national identity in this way.
However, along the way, there are also some controversies.
The return of Genghis Khan undoubtedly boosted the morale of the Mongolian people to some extent, but the reality is that the economy of Mongolia is still weak.
In 2023, Mongolia's per capita GDP will only be 5,867 US dollars, which is only equivalent to more than 40,000 yuan.
In contrast, China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has experienced rapid economic development after reform and opening up, with a per capita GDP of more than 100,000 yuan in 2023.
The gap in economic development has even affected the marriage market.
Because they belong to the same ethnic group, the inner and Mongolia outer Mongolia often intermarry.
In the past, there were many women who were Mongolia to marry outside Mongolia, but now they are basically married to Mongolia outside Mongolia.
After all, human nature dictates that no one would want to marry into a poor place and suffer.
The economic development of Inner Mongolia has made many Outer Mongolia people feel inferior.
Originally, with the assistance of the Soviet Union, the economy of Outer Mongolia far exceeded that of Inner Mongolia, but after losing the aid of the Soviet Union, the economy of Outer Mongolia collapsed.
There is a lack of pillar industries, and the reform of the domestic market economy has not brought about the expected prosperity.
In this context, can over-reliance on Genghis Khan, a national symbol, really help Mongolia out of its predicament?
This is a question that many Mongolia economists and officials are reflecting on.
Genghis Khan is certainly a great historical figure, but the rise of a country depends on the construction of economy, science and technology, and modern institutions after all.
Resources:
Sina Finance "How did Mongolia become the country with the least sense of existence? |National Economy Series》