Occupation of Mongolia - Causes

Causes

The invasion of Mongolia was the brainchild of Premier Duan Qirui. When Duan engineered China's entry into the First World War he took out several large loans from the Japanese government including the Nishihara Loans. He used the money to create the War Participation Army ostensibly to battle the Central Powers. His rivals knew the purpose of this army was to crush internal dissent. It existed outside of the Ministry of the Army and was controlled by the War Participation Bureau which the premier led. The Bureau was staffed entirely by Duan's Anhui clique. President Feng Guozhang, Duan's rival, had no control despite constitutionally being commander-in-chief. When the war ended without a soldier stepping foot abroad, his critics demanded the disbanding of the War Participation Army. Duan had to find a new purpose for his army. Mongolia was chosen for several reasons:

• • Duan's envoys to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference were unable to prevent the German concession Shandong being transferred to Japan thereby causing the nationalist May Fourth Movement to target his policies. His reputation as a patriot was discredited. Reintegrating Mongolia would reverse that.
  • The Constitutional Protection War was fought to a bloody standstill in Hunan. Using his army for another risky attempt to retake southern China from the rebels was undesirable.
  • The Russian Civil War left Mongolia without a foreign protector. An easy victory would boost Duan's stature.
  • Mongolia's long running prime minister, Tögs-Ochiryn Namnansüren, died in April 1919 leaving the country's ruling elite deeply divided over a successor. Some of Mongolia's princes as well as the ethnic Han community longed reunification.