The Territorial Issue of Independent ‘Mongolia’: An Analysis of the Russo-Mongolian Agreement of 1912

The Russo-Mongolian Agreement, signed on 3 November 1912, stipulated its coverage as ‘Монголия’ (in the Russian text) and ‘Монгол улс’ (in the Mongolian text). Conventional studies of this agreement have mainly discussed the differences between the Russian and Mongolian texts – these studies have focused on the use of the word ‘улс’ (state) in the Mongolian text, which means ‘political status’. Furthermore, regarding the stipulated coverage of this agreement, these studies have merely explained that the Russian government conceded to the Mongols and used an ambiguous word. <BR>After the Xinhai Revolution, the political scenario in East Asia changed. In the wake of these changes, the Russian government planned to single-handedly negotiate an agreement with the Mongols and determined the extent of the territories as the ‘four aimag of Khalkha’. Initially, all the Mongolian ministers except Tserenchimed gave their consent to the Russian draft; however, gradually, they began insisting on including Inner Mongolia and Barga in the agreement. Since both parties had discordant demands, the Russian special envoy, Korostovets, declared the termination of the negotiations. The Mongols then proposed to use an ambiguous word — ‘Mongolia’ — in the text and planned to sign the agreement, thereby reserving the possibility of unifying Inner Mongolia. The Russian government realized that this word could pose an overt threat to China if the agreement were to extend to include other territories that might join Khalkha. (As a result of the third Russo-Japanese secret convention that began ­negotiations by discussing the problem of using the word ‘Mongolia’, Russia is accountable to Japan with regard to Inner Mongolia.) Russia gave its consent to the Mongolian proposal. However, Korostovets declared to the Mongolian government that the Russian government would reserve the right to determine the territories of ‘Mongolia’. <BR>After signing the agreement, as per the hidden agenda of the Russian government, it was necessary for the Chinese government to take up the Russian proposal. On the other hand, the Mongolian government began to actively propagate its own agenda toward Inner Mongolia, aiming to expand the territory that would be a part of ‘Mongolia’ and successfully made all factions of the Shiliin Gol League pledge allegiance to the Mongolian government. In addition, at the negotiations in St Petersburg, the Mongolian government asked the Russian government to protect Inner Mongolia. However, the Russian government refused this Mongolian ­demand on the basis of Korostovets’s declaration. <BR>Finally, the issue regarding the word ‘Mongolia’ was resolved by the Russian government and influenced the decision regarding the territorial extent of ‘Mongolia’. The failure of the Mongolian government to establish control over Inner Mongolia caused ‘Mongolia’ to be limited to ‘Outer Mongolia’. The Russo-Chinese declaration, signed on 5 November 1913, also recognized ‘Mongolia’ as ‘Outer Mongolia’. Moreover, the Tripartite Treaty of Kiakhta between Russia, China, and Mongolia, signed on 7 June 1915, granted ‘autonomy’ only to ‘Outer Mongolia’. Thus, the word ‘Mongolia’ in the Russo-Mongolia agreement was limited to ‘Outer Mongolia’, and it became what is present-day Mongolia. Therefore, the inclusion of the word ‘Mongolia’ in the Russo-Mongolia agreement had extremely important implications.