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The Mongolian People's Army (, ), also known as the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army () or the Mongolian Red Army (), was an institution of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party constituting as the armed forces of the
Mongolian People's Republic The Mongolian People's Republic (MPR) was a socialist state that existed from 1924 to 1992, located in the historical region of Outer Mongolia. Its independence was officially recognized by the Nationalist government of Republic of China (1912� ...
. It was established on 18 March 1921 as a secondary army under
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
command during the 1920s and during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. In 1992, the army's structure changed and then reorganized and renamed as the
Mongolian Armed Forces The Mongolian Armed Forces () is the collective name for the Mongolian military and the joint forces that comprise it. It is tasked with protecting the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Mongolia. Defined as the peacetime co ...
.


History


Creation of the army

One of the first actions of the new Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party authorities was the creation of a native
communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
army in 1921 under the leadership of adept cavalry commander
Damdin Sükhbaatar Damdin Sükhbaatar (2 February 1893 – 20 February 1923) was a Mongolian revolutionary, founding member of the Mongolian People's Party, and leader of the Mongolian partisan army that took Khüree during the Mongolian Revolution of 19 ...
in order to fight against
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n troops from the
White movement The White movement,. The old spelling was retained by the Whites to differentiate from the Reds. also known as the Whites, was one of the main factions of the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. It was led mainly by the Right-wing politics, right- ...
and Chinese forces. The decision to create an army was made on 9 February 1921.Пятьдесят героических лет // «Советский воин», № 5 (1169), март 1971. стр. 15–16 On 13 March 1921, four cavalry regiments were formed from partisan detachments. The MPRA was aided by the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
of the
Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...
, which helped to secure the
Mongolian People's Republic The Mongolian People's Republic (MPR) was a socialist state that existed from 1924 to 1992, located in the historical region of Outer Mongolia. Its independence was officially recognized by the Nationalist government of Republic of China (1912� ...
and remained in its territory until at least 1925. A Military Council was formed soon after among the military leadership, while the
General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...
was led by Soviet specialists. In September 1923,Н. С. Соркин. В начале пути (записки инструктора монгольской народной армии). М., «Наука», главная редакция восточной литературы, 1970. стр. 24–37 on the outskirts of Urga, the first cavalry school and an artillery school were opened, and a year later, the publication of the army newspaper began.История Монгольской Народной Республики. / редколл., гл. ред. А. П. Окладников, Ш. Бира. 3-е изд., пер. и доп. М., «Наука», издательство восточной литературы, 1983. стр. 414 On October 16, 1925, Mongolia adopted a law on universal conscription, and in 1926, the creation of temporary detachments of the people's militia began.История Монгольской Народной Республики. / редколл., гл. ред. А. П. Окладников, Ш. Бира. 3-е изд., пер. и доп. М., «Наука», издательство восточной литературы, 1983. стр. 351


1930s conflicts and WWII

Initially during the native revolts of the early 1930s and the Japanese border probes beginning in the mid-1930s, Soviet Red Army troops in Mongolia amounted to little more than instructors for the native army and as guards for diplomatic and trading installations. Domestically, it took part in the suppression of the 1932 armed uprising. It also involved in many border conflicts against
Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...
and the
Kwantung Army The Kwantung Army (Japanese language, Japanese: 関東軍, ''Kantō-gun'') was a Armies of the Imperial Japanese Army, general army of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1919 to 1945. The Kwantung Army was formed in 1906 as a security force for th ...
(one of the largest parts of the
Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...
) and the Chinese
National Revolutionary Army The National Revolutionary Army (NRA; zh, labels=no, t=國民革命軍) served as the military arm of the Kuomintang, Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, or KMT) from 1924 until 1947. From 1928, it functioned as the regular army, de facto ...
. The
Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...
recorded 152 minor incidents on the border of Manchuria between 1932 and 1934. The number of incidents increased to over 150 per year in 1935 and 1936, and the scale of incidents became larger. In January 1935, the first armed battle, occurred on the border between
Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
and Manchukuo. Scores of Mongolian cavalry units engaged with a Manchukuo army patrol unit near the
Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhism, Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat, khurul and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in B ...
of Halhamiao. The Manchukuo Army incurred slight casualties, including a Japanese
military advisor Military advisors or combat advisors are military Military personnel, personnel deployed to advise on military matters. The term is often used for soldiers sent to foreign countries to aid such countries' militaries with their military education ...
. Between December 1935 and March 1936, the ( ja) and the ( ja) occurred. In these battles, both the Japanese and Mongolian Armies use a small number of
armoured fighting vehicle An armoured fighting vehicle (British English) or armored fighting vehicle (American English) (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by vehicle armour, armour, generally combining operational mobility with Offensive (military), offensive a ...
s and
military aircraft A military aircraft is any Fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing or rotorcraft, rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary military of any type. Some military aircraft engage directly in aerial warfare, while others take on su ...
. In the 1939
Battles of Khalkhin Gol The Battles of Khalkhin Gol (; ) were the decisive engagements of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese border conflicts involving the Soviet Union, Mongolian People's Republic, Mongolia, Empire of Japan, Japan and Manchukuo in 1939. The conflict wa ...
(or Nomonhan) heavily armed
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
forces under
Georgy Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov ( 189618 June 1974) was a Soviet military leader who served as a top commander during World War II and achieved the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. During World War II, Zhukov served as deputy commander-in-ch ...
assisted by Mongolian troops under Khorloogiin Choibalsan decisively defeated
Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...
forces under Michitarō Komatsubara. During a meeting with
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
in Moscow in early 1944, Choibalsan requested military assistance to the MPRA for border protection. Units of Mongolian People's Army were also supported and allied with the Soviet Red Army on the western flank of the
Soviet invasion of Manchuria The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, formally known as the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation or simply the Manchurian Operation () and sometimes Operation August Storm, began on 9 August 1945 with the Soviet Union, Soviet invasion of the Emp ...
in 1945. As part of the Cavalry mechanized group of the Transbaikal Front under General Issa Pliyev, Mongolian troops under General D. Lhagwasuren comprised the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Cavalry Divisions, the 7th Motorized Armored Brigade, the 3rd Tank Regiment, and the 3rd Artillery Regiment. File:Khalkhin Gol George Zhukov and Khorloogiin Choibalsan 1939.jpg,
Georgy Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov ( 189618 June 1974) was a Soviet military leader who served as a top commander during World War II and achieved the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. During World War II, Zhukov served as deputy commander-in-ch ...
and Khorloogiin Choibalsan (left) consult during the Battle of Khalkhin Gol. File:Battle of Khalkhin Gol-Mongolian cavalry.jpg, Mongolian cavalry in the Khalkhin Gol (1939). File:MNRA soldiers 1939.jpg, Mongolian troops defend against a Japanese counterattack on the western beach of river the Khalkhin Gol, 1939.


Stalinist repressions against Mongolian People's Army

During the 18 months of violence, Monks who were not executed were forcibly conscripted into the MPA. At the same time, 187 persons from the military leadership were killed on the orders of Marshal Choibalsan.Baabar 1999, p. 362 The army stayed linked to
Soviet Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of Peop ...
intelligence groups and the
NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...
.


Cold war era

During the Pei-ta-shan Incident, elite
Qinghai Qinghai is an inland Provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. It is the largest provinces of China, province of China (excluding autonomous regions) by area and has the third smallest population. Its capital and largest city is Xin ...
Chinese Muslim cavalry were sent by the Chinese
Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...
to destroy the Mongols and the Russians positions in 1947. The military of Mongolia's purpose was national defense, protection of local
communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
establishments, and collaboration with
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
forces in future military actions against exterior enemies, up until the 1990 Democratic Revolution in Mongolia. In February 1957, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the MPRP passed a resolution on the establishment of a voluntary association to assist the People's Army. In 1961, the Defense and Labor Association was established by the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Mongolia. The first civil defense in the country was established in 1964 as the 122nd Civil Defense Battalion of the MPA. Moreover, all Mongolian citizens were obliged to participate in civil defense training organized by the Civil Defense Office of the Ministry of Defense. In 1971–72, Mongolian forces were listed as two infantry divisions; 40 T-34 and 100 T-54/55 tanks; 10
SU-100 The SU-100 ( Russian: самоходная установка-100, СУ-100 romanized: '' Samokhodnaya Ustanovka-''100) is a Soviet tank destroyer armed with the D-10S 100 mm anti-tank gun in a casemate superstructure. It was used extens ...
tank destroyers, BTRs, and Air Force of 1,000 men with no combat aircraft. The Air Force has transports, trainers, and 10 Mil Mi-1 and Mil Mi-4 helicopters.


Education


Political indoctrination

The central Political Administration Unit was established in the army in 1921 to supervise the work of political commissars ( Politruk) and party cells in all army units and to provide a political link with the Central Committee of the MPRP in the army. The unit served to raise morale and to prevent enemy political propaganda. Up to one third of army units were members of the party and others were in the Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League. The Red Mongol Army received sixty percent of the government budget in early years and it was expanded from 2,560 men in 1923 to 4,000 in 1924 and to 7,000 in 1927. The native armed forces stayed linked to Soviet
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
intelligence groups and
NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...
, Mongolian
secret police image:Putin-Stasi-Ausweis.png, 300px, Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German Stasi while he was working as a Soviet KGB liaison officer from 1985 to 1989. Both organizations used similar forms of repression. Secre ...
, and Buryat Mongol
Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...
agents acted as administrators and represented the real power in the country albeit under direct Soviet guidance.


Training

By 1926 the government planned to train 10,000 conscripts annually and to increase the training period to six months. Chinese intelligence reports in 1927 indicated that between 40,000 and 50,000 reservists could be mustered at short notice. In 1929 a general mobilization was called to test the training and reserve system. The expected turnout was to have been 30,000 troops but only 2,000 men presented. This failure initiated serious reforms in recruiting and training systems.


Organization


Strength

In 1921–1927, the land forces, almost exclusively horsemen, numbered about 17,000 mounted troops and boasted more than 200 heavy machine guns, 50 mountain
howitzer The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...
s, 30
field gun A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances (field artillery ...
s, seven armored cars, and a maximum of up to 20 light
tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...
s.


Basic units and motorization

The basic unit was the 2,000-man cavalry
regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...
consisting of three squadrons. Each 600-plus-man squadron was divided into five companies: a machine gun company, and an
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...
unit. Cavalry regiments were organized into larger units--
brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...
s or divisions—which included
artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...
and service support units. The chief advantage of this force was mobility over the great distances in Mongolia: small units were able to cover more than 160 km in 24 hours.


Branches


Special troops of the Ground Forces


Armoured corps

Under Soviet support campaign for mechanization, the army formed its first mechanized unit in 1922. Also it was by structure in the ground force half-
mechanization Mechanization (or mechanisation) is the process of changing from working largely or exclusively by hand or with animals to doing that work with machinery. In an early engineering text, a machine is defined as follows: In every fields, mechan ...
cavalry in the other units distributed to light armored vehicles until 1943. It began to process to motorised since 1943. This is a list of Mongolian People's Army tanks and armour during the 1922s-World War II period.


Anti-aircraft forces

Although little attention was paid to anti-aircraft weaponry in the Mongolian People's Army, a few dozen units of Soviet origin were known to be distributed to light armored outfits.


Mongolian People's Army Air Force

The Mongolian People's Army Aviation drastically improved with Soviet training and vastly ameliorated within a time span of several years. In May 1925, a Junkers F.13 entered service as the first aircraft in Mongolian civil and military-related aviation. In March 1931, the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
donated three Polikarpov R-1s to the Mongolian People's Army, with Mongolia further purchasing three R-1s.Walg ''Air Enthusiast'' November/December 1996, pp. 18–19. In 1932, an uprising broke out against
Collectivization Collective farming and communal farming are various types of "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...
, which saw both
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and
Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
n-operated R-1s taking part in actions against the rebellion. The aircraft carried out reconnaissance, leaflet dropping, and bombing missions.Walg ''Air Enthusiast'' November/December 1996, pp. 19–20. Chinese intelligence reports that in 1945 the Mongolian People's Air Force had been with a three-fighter and three-bomber aviation-
regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...
, and one flight training school and greater air squadrons. It was reported that headquartered in the Mukden Manchukuo spy-section in October 1944 air force whole units had been 180 aircraft and 1231 airmen. The Mongolian People's Army Aviation demonstrated its full potential during the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, which was its largest engagement. Apart from intercepting intruding aircraft, People's Aviation was used heavily to repress domestic rebel movements. The
Mongolian People's Air Force The Mongolian Air Force () is the air force service branch of the Mongolian Armed Forces . History Early years and WWII On 25 May 1925, a Junkers F.13 piloted by Lieutenant Colonel D. Shatarragchaa entered service as the first aircraft in Mon ...
has operated a variety of aircraft types.


Army ranks and uniform

*Conscript soldiers **Private **Lance Corporal **Corporal **Senior Corporal *NCO's **Junior Sergeant **Sergeant **Senior Sergeant **Training Sergeant **Lead Sergeant *Officers **2nd Lieutenant **1st Lieutenant **Captain **Major **Lieutenant Colonel **Colonel **Brigadier General **Major General **Lieutenant General **General On 28 April 1944, the Council of Ministers promoted the 11 officers to the rank of general, a rank that was never crossed before up until then. This date has been remembered as “Mongolian Generals' Day”. The highest military ranks in the MPA army general, but in 2006 the Law on the Legal Status of Military Servicemen was amended to make it more developed to a Western model. Because establishment of the Armed Forces was based on a Soviet military system in the 1920s, the Mongolian People's Army used similar uniforms with the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
, only with Mongolian distinctions. Until 1924, People's Army personnel wore traditional deel, which had their respective shoulder insignias. In the mid-1930s, the army adopted Soviet Gymnasterka and developed its true rank and distinction system. All personnel were distinct by their sleeve and collar insignias from the general population when the gymnastyorka was rather popular. After the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, slight modifications were made. In 1944 all uniforms and insignia were significantly changed to include shoulder insignia and camouflage cloaks, similar to Soviet uniform modifications but on olive green. From the 1960s, the equipment and uniforms of the Mongolian People's Army were modernized. As before, the Mongolian People's Army (a
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
ally) was similar to the
Soviet Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, the Red Army (1918–1946) and the Soviet Army (1946–1991), were the armed forces of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republi ...
in appearance and structure.


Equipment


Ground Forces (1950–1990)


Air Force (1950–1990)


See also

* 17th Army * 39th Army * Tuvan People's Revolutionary Army


References

* * * {{cite magazine, last=Walg, first=A.J, title=Wings Over the Steppes: Aerial warfare in Mongolia 1930–1945: Part Three, magazine= Air Enthusiast, issue= 68, March–April 1997, issn=0143-5450, pages=70–73 Military history of Mongolia Mongolian People's Republic Disbanded armies Disbanded armed forces Military units and formations established in 1921 Military units and formations disestablished in 1992 1921 establishments in Mongolia 1992 disestablishments in Mongolia Mongolia (1911–1924) Mongolia–Soviet Union relations