Balingiin Tserendorj

Balingiin Tserendorj Балингийн Цэрэндорж
Prime Minister of Mongolia
In office September 18, 1923 – February 13, 1928
General Secretary	Ajvaagiin Danzan Tseren-Ochiryn Dambadorj
Preceded by	Jalkhanz Khutagt Sodnomyn Damdinbazar
Succeeded by	Anandyn Amar
Personal details
Born	May 25, 1868 Khentii Province, Mongolia
Died	February 13, 1928 Ulaanbaatar

Balingiin Tserendorj (Mongolian: Балингийн Цэрэндорж; May 25, 1868 – February 13, 1928) was a prominent Mongolian political figure of the early 20th century who served as the first Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Mongolia from 1924 until his death in 1928. Between 1913 and 1924 he held several high-ranking positions within a succession of Mongolian governments including; the Bogd Khaanate, the Chinese occupation, and the puppet regime under Roman Ungern von Sternberg.

Early life and career

Tseredorj was part of Prime Minister Namnansüren's delegation to St. Petersburg to negotiate the Kyakhta treaty

Tserendorj was born in 1868 as a subject to the Great Shabi (the estate of the personal retainers of the Jebtsundamba Khutuktu) in Kherlen Bayan Ulaan in present-day Khentii Province.^[1] He spoke Mongolian, Manchu, Chinese and Russian and worked as a scribe and translator in the local Manchu litigation office from 1885 to 1911. After the establishment the Bogd Khaanate in 1911, Tserendorj joined the Foreign Ministry of Autonomous Mongolia where he rose to become deputy foreign minister in 1913 and then minister of foreign affairs.^[2] From 1914 to 1915 he accompanied Prime Minister Tögs-Ochiryn Namnansüren as part of the Mongolian delegation to the 8-month long Kyakhta treaty conference between Czarist Russia and the Republic of China that sought to clarify, among other things, the Russian-Chinese border in East Asia and Mongolia’s geopolitical status. Ultimately, Mongolian hopes for international recognition of its independence were dashed when Russia and China agreed that Mongolia was an autonomous region within China.^[3]

Chinese occupation

Tserendorj maintained his position as minister of foreign affairs after the occupation of Niislel Khüree (present day Ulaanbaatar) by troops under the Chinese warlord Xu Shuzheng in late 1919.^[4] Xu installed a dictatorial regime, imprisoned leaders of Mongolia's independence movement such as Khatanbaatar Magsarjav and Manlaibaatar Damdinsüren, and placed the Bogd Khan under house arrest. In the face of Chinese threats to exile the Bogd Khan, Tserendorj, Prime Minister Gonchigjalzangiin Badamdorj and the Bogd Khan acquiesced and signed a document “voluntarily” abdicating Mongolia's autonomy to Chinese rule. Although Badamdorj's career and reputation suffered irreparable damage as a result of his caving to Chinese pressure, Tserendorj escaped blame despite reports from the first American Consul in Kalgan, Samuel Sokobin, that Tserendorj had opted for reconciliation with the Chinese if negotiations could not produce independence.^[5]

The Mad Baron

Tserendorj continued to work within the government even after forces commanded by "The Mad Baron" Roman Ungern von Sternberg captured Niislel Khüree and ejected the Chinese in February 1921.^[6] Ungern, an anti-Bolshevik warlord who had been routed during the Russian Civil War, entered Mongolia in late 1920 with the intent of freeing the Bogd Khan from Chinese domination and establishing a new Mongolian Empire.^[7] Tserendorj made up part of his short-lived puppet government that lasted until July 11, 1921 when Mongolian partisans (commanded by Damdin Sükhbaatar) and Red Army units defeated Ungern's forces and recaptured the Mongolian capital.^[8] Tserendorj was named deputy minister of foreign affairs in the newly proclaimed revolutionary government headed by Prime MinisterDogsomyn Bodoo.^[9]

The Outer Mongolian Revolution of 1921

Soviet-Mongolian friendship talks

Prime Minister Tserendorj

As under previous governments, Tserendorj focused on securing broader international recognition of Mongolia’s independence. Following signals that the Soviets planned to nullify obnoxious international treaties concluded under the Czarist government, a group of high-ranking Mongolians that included Sükhbaatar and Tserendorj traveled to the Soviet Union to initiate Soviet-Mongolia friendship talks and convince Moscow to throw out the 1915 Kyakhta treaty for one that more firmly confirmed Mongolia's independence. There they both allegedly met with Vladimir Lenin.^[10] Nevertheless, the resulting "Friendship" agreement, signed on November 5, 1921, failed to secure Moscow's firm recognition of Mongolia’s independence from Chinese rule. Moscow did, however, recognize the Mongolian People's government as “the sole legitimate government" of the Mongolian people.

International reputation

During this period, Tserendorj slowly gained an international reputation as one of Mongolian’s most pragmatic, durable, and widely respected government leaders. A Russian participant to the Soviet-Mongolian friendship talks noted “he is an old Mongolian official…a prose writer, a poet and knows Mongolian and Chinese. Without him no legal or foreign affairs document is drafted.” ^[11] Later, Samuel Sokobin, the U.S. Consul to Kalgan who traveled to Mongolia in 1924, reported that Tserendorj was "highly intelligent, head and shoulders above his colleagues in common sense and a man who exercised a restraining influence on other members of the government".^[12]

Prime minister

From 1922 to 1923 Tserendorj served as minister of foreign affairs. He was appointed prime minister upon the death of Sodnomyn Damdinbazar on September 18, 1923 and was elected to the Presidium (or Politburo) of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) Central Committee. After the death of the Bogd Khan in April 1924, Tserendorj was made head of the draft constitution commission established by the government after a previous commission had “made wrong turns” by incorporating European and international law concepts. Pressured by the Soviets, his commission produced a ready-made, pre-approved constitution within one day of its first meeting. The new constitution disposed of the limited monarchy altogether and formally established the Mongolian People's Republic (MPR).

During the first session of the Mongolian Great Hural (parliament) in 1924, Tserendorj was appointed first prime minister of the MPR and was subsequently re-elected in 1926 and 1927. It was during this first session of parliament that Tserendorj took notice of an obscure delegate from Övörkhangai, Peljidiin Genden, and suggested he be appointed head of the Small Hural, the small assembly that controlled day-to-day matters of state Genden would later be prime minister during a critical period in Mongolian history.

Soviet control increases

Tserendorj's monument in Ulan Bator

Following the 1921 Revolution and the subsequent friendship agreement with the Soviet Union, soviet troops were stationed in Mongolia exercising significant influence on the new government's political and ideological development. From 1926 to 1928 as Moscow tightened its control over the Mongolian political process, Tserendorj was pressured to include Russians in high-ranking positions within his government. The minister of finance, chairman of the economic council, head of Mongolian construction, head of the domestic trading organization, chairman of the military council, and minister of war were all Russian nationals. A Russian also headed the secret police along with six Russian advisers.

To offset the growing influence of the Soviets in internal affairs, Tserendorj pursued international recognition of Mongolian independence, not only from Russia but from other nations as well. He also hoped to see Mongolia become a neutral state, akin to an Asian Switzerland. Outreach efforts to Europe, Japan, and the United States were eventually stifled by Moscow and Comintern agents within the Mongolian government. Later Tserendorj and his allies came under heavy criticism from pro-Soviet members of the MPRP who felt such efforts were counterrevolutionary and a betrayal of the special relationship that had developed between Mongolia and its chief benefactor.

Tserendorj rejected such criticism while also resisting what he saw as heavy-handed Soviet pressure to rapidly abolish private property in Mongolia, implement cooperatives and state industries, and persecute the Buddhist Church. He believed these policies conflicted with the country’s nomadic culture and Buddhist traditions. He also became increasing uncomfortable with Comintern efforts to "divide and control" the MPRP by supporting the radicalized Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League and promoting younger, more hard-line party members, particularly from rural areas, to challenge the authority of the "old guard" leadership whom the Soviets suspected were overly conservative.

Death

Weary of the Comintern’s growing influence and activities, Tserendorj attempted to resign his position in 1927 saying he was too “old and sick” to continue. Nevertheless, both the Central Committee of the MPRP and the Soviets felt the respected Prime Minister was a useful tool and forced him to remain in his post. Tserendorj’s health continued to decline and he died on February 13, 1928. Deputy Prime Minister Anandyn Amar was appointed as the Prime Minister of Mongolia on February 21, 1928.

References