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Referendum on the independence of the Mongolian People's Republic from China | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Politicsportal |
An independence referendum was held in the Mongolian People's Republic on 20 October 1945. [1] It was approved by 100% of voters, with no votes against, according to official statistics. Voter turnout was 98%. [2]
Mongolia gained de facto independence from the Manchu Great Qing Empire in 1911, when a Chinese liberation uprising ended the empire and China became an independent state. The Chinese militaristic government was interested in incorporating other parts of the former empire into China (Tibet, East Turkestan, Manchuria), including Outer Mongolia, although it had been conquered by the Manchu separately from China. In 1919 Chinese troops entered Mongolia, beginning a two-year occupation.
On 18 March 1921 Chinese troops in Urga were routed by Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg's White Russian (Buryats, [3] Russians etc.) and Mongolian forces. [4] These, in turn, were defeated by the Red Army and its Mongolian allies by June 1921.
The Mongolian People's Republic was effectively an unrecognized satellite state of the Soviet Union (USSR). Towards the end of World War II, the USSR pushed China for formal recognition of the status quo, threatening to stir up Mongolian nationalism within China. In the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance signed on 14 August 1945, China agreed to recognize Mongolian independence after a successful referendum.
| Choice | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| For | 487,409 | 100.00 | |
| Against | 0 | 0.00 | |
| Total | 487,409 | 100.00 | |
| Valid votes | 487,409 | 100.00 | |
| Invalid/blank votes | 0 | 0.00 | |
| Total votes | 487,409 | 100.00 | |
| Registered voters/turnout | 494,960 | 98.47 | |
| Source: Nohlen et al. | |||
In January 1946 the Nationalist government of China officially recognized the "independence of Outer Mongolia" based on the referendum results. [5]
At the scientific conference dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the referendum, Zandaakhüügiin Enkhbold, speaker of the State Great Khural, said that the referendum in 1945 was the first democratic vote in Mongolia, and was of great historical significance to the independence of the country. [6]
Sergey Radchenko, a professor of East China Normal University noted that the "referendum was regarded by both sides as political theatre, due to the peculiarity of a supposed unanimous 100% vote in favour." [7]
