| Summary: | The thesis examines the history of the MPR between 1924 and 1928, establishes a chronology of events and identifies the personalities involved. It describes the creation of political structures after Soviet models; the transfer of the Mongolian economy from the Chinese to the Soviet system; the growth of secular education; and the attempt to subject the organization and economic power of the Buddhist church to state control. These developments were strongly influenced by the Mongols' desire to remain independent of China and to assume the form and characteristics of powerful nation-states. However the heavy demands of allegiance to the USSR and the Comintern distorted native aspirations and compelled Mongols to give up ideas of Pan-Mongolism, Buddhist reform and an independent foreign policy. Until the end of 1926 modernization and the integration of the MPR into the Soviet system was gradual but from 1927 the Comintern ordered stricter measures of class discrimination, harsher religious policies and a more rapid construction of state capitalism. Some Mongolian leaders believed the demands unsuitable to Mongolian conditions. The Comintern fomented differences among the leadership and in 1928 most former MPRP leaders were ousted on the charge of Right Deviation. The USSR's deteriorating foreign relationships and Stalin's plan for the rapid industrialization of the USSR were root causes of this development. Unquestioning loyalty of the MPR to the USSR was required for strategic reasons. Cooperative and state forms of capitalism would facilitate the transfer of more Mongolian products to the Siberian industries. The thesis draws the conclusion that the MPRP submitted to Comintern demands in 1928 through conviction, coercion and because there was no alternative ally prepared to guarantee Mongolian independence. It also points to the experience of the MPR as a suitable development model for nomadic, pre-industrial societies. The MPR may also be compared with other states traditionally linked with China but now closely associated with the USSR.
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