Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a small section of China's border with Russia. Its capital is Hohhot; other major cities include Baotou, Chifeng, Tongliao, and Ordos.
A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government is a state that is de jure independent but de facto completely dependent upon an outside power and subject to its orders. Puppet states have nominal sovereignty, except that a foreign power effectively exercises control through economic or military support. By leaving a local government in existence the outside power evades all responsibility, while at the same time successfully paralysing the local government they tolerate.
Suiyuan was a historical province of China. Suiyuan's capital was Guisui. The abbreviation was 綏. The area Suiyuan covered is approximated today by the prefecture-level cities of Hohhot, Baotou, Wuhai, Ordos, Bayan Nur, and parts of Ulanqab, all today part of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Suiyuan was named after a district in the capital established in the Qing Dynasty.
Mengjiang, also known as Mengkiang or the Mongol Border Land, officially the Mengjiang United Autonomous Government, was an autonomous zone in Inner Mongolia, formed in 1939 as a puppet state of the Empire of Japan, then from 1940 being under the nominal sovereignty of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China. It consisted of the previously Chinese provinces of Chahar and Suiyuan, corresponding to the central part of modern Inner Mongolia. It has also been called Mongukuo or Mengguguo. The capital was Kalgan, from where it was under the nominal rule of Mongol nobleman Demchugdongrub. The territory returned to Chinese control after the defeat of the Japanese Empire in 1945.
Demchugdongrub, also known as Prince De, courtesy name Xixian, was a Qing dynasty Chinese Mongol prince descended from the Borjigin imperial clan who lived during the 20th century and became the leader of an independence movement in Inner Mongolia. He was most notable for being the chairman of the pro-Japanese Mongol Military Government (1938–39) and later of the puppet state of Mengjiang (1939–45), during the Second Sino-Japanese War. In the modern day, some see Demchugdongrub as a Mongol nationalist promoting Pan-Mongolism, while others view him as a traitor and a pawn of the Japanese during World War II.
Chahar, also known as Chaha'er, Chakhar or Qahar, was a province of the Republic of China in existence from 1912 to 1936, mostly covering territory in what is part of Eastern Inner Mongolia. It was named after the Chahar Mongols.
The Mongolian People's Republic was a socialist state that existed from 1924 to 1992, located in the historical region of Outer Mongolia in China. It was officially recognized by the Nationalist government as independent from the Republic of China in 1946. Until 1990, it was a one-party state ruled by the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, and maintained close political and economic ties with the Soviet Union, as part of the Eastern Bloc.
The Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact, also known as the Japanese–Soviet Non-aggression Pact, was a non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan signed on April 13, 1941, two years after the conclusion of the Soviet-Japanese Border War. The agreement meant that for most of World War II, the two nations fought against each other's allies but not against each other. In 1945, late in the war, the Soviets scrapped the pact and joined the Allied campaign against Japan.
Ulanhu or Ulanfu, born Yun Ze, was the founding Chairman of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, serving from 1947 to 1966.
The Inner Mongolian Army, also sometimes called the Mengjiang National Army, referred to the Inner Mongolian military units in service of Imperial Japan and its puppet state of Mengjiang during the Second Sino-Japanese War, particularly those led by Prince Demchugdongrub. It was primarily a force of cavalry units, which mostly consisted of ethnic Mongols, with some Han Chinese infantry formations.
Pan-Mongolism is an irredentist idea that advocates cultural and political solidarity of Mongols. The proposed territory, called "Greater Mongolia" or "Whole Mongolia" usually includes the independent state of Mongolia, the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia, and the Russian region of Buryatia. Sometimes the autonomous republic Tuva, the Altai Republic and parts of Xinjiang, Zabaykalsky Krai, and Irkutsk Oblast are included as well. As of 2006, all areas in Greater Mongolia except Mongolia have non-Mongol majorities.
Li Shouxin was a pro-Japanese commander in the Manchukuo Imperial Army and later the Mengjiang National Army.
The occupation of Outer Mongolia by the Beiyang government of the Republic of China after the revocation of Outer Mongolian autonomy began in October 1919 and lasted until 18 March 1921, when Chinese troops in Urga were routed by Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg's White Russian and Mongolian forces. These, in turn, were defeated by the Red Army and its Mongolian allies by June 1921.
Altanochir, also known under the Chinese name of Jin Yongchang, was an Inner Mongolian politician under the Republic of China and the Mengjiang government.
The Soviet occupation of Manchuria took place after the Red Army invaded the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in August 1945; the occupation would continue until Soviet forces withdrew in May 1946.
The administrative divisions of China between 1912 and 1949 were established under the regime of the Republic of China government.
Outer Mongolia — officially the Mongolian People's Republic — was ruled by the communist government of Khorloogiin Choibalsan during the period of World War II and had close links with the Soviet Union. Most countries regarded Mongolia, with its fewer than a million inhabitants, as a breakaway province of the Republic of China. Throughout the 1941–1945 war between Germany and the Soviet Union, Mongolia provided the Soviets with economic support—such as livestock, raw materials, money, food and military clothing—violating Mongolian neutrality in favor of the Allies. Mongolia was one of two Soviet satellite states not generally recognised as sovereign states at the time, along with the Tuvan People's Republic; both of these republics participated in World War II.
The Yuan of Mengjiang is the monetary unit that was issued in 1937–1945 by several governments of Mengjiang.
The North Shanxi Autonomous Government was an administratively autonomous component of Mengjiang from its creation in 1937 to its complete merger into Mengjiang in 1939. Following the Japanese invasion of China in July 1937, regional governments were established in Japanese-occupied territories. After Operation Chahar in September 1937, which extended Japanese control to northern Shanxi region, more formal control of the area was established through the creation of the North Shanxi Autonomous Government, as well as the South Chahar Autonomous Government to the east of Shanxi.
The South Chahar Autonomous Government was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan, as well as an administratively autonomous component of Mengjiang from its creation in 1937 to its complete merger in 1939. Following the Japanese invasion of China in July 1937, regional governments were established in Japanese-occupied territories. After Operation Chahar in September 1937, which extended Japanese control to northern Shanxi region, more formal control of the area was established through the creation of the North Shanxi Autonomous Government, as well as the South Chahar Autonomous Government to the east of Shanxi.
