Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Soviet Withdrawal from Mongolia, 1986–1992: A Reassessment

2012; Routledge; Volume: 25; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13518046.2012.676484

1556-3006

Sergey Radchenko,

Soviet and Russian History

Abstract This article details Soviet military withdrawal from Mongolia between July 1986, when the first announcement was made of a partial withdrawal and December 1992, when the last detachment of Soviet servicemen crossed the Russian-Mongolian border. The author shows that the decision to withdraw forces from Mongolia was made in Moscow, part and parcel of Mikhail Gorbachev's policy aimed at achieving rapprochement with the People's Republic of China. The Mongols only grudgingly went along, fearful of being left defenseless before China. It was not until 1989 that the Mongolian leadership evidenced serious interest in the departure of Soviet troops; when they did, it was partly a response to the build-up of nationalist sentiment prompted by greater openness and democratization, as well as a function of Mongolia's efforts to find for itself a new role on the international stage. The author argues that the Soviet departure was hasty, ideologically charged, and poorly thought out. Maintaining a token force in Mongolia would have allowed Russia to retain a degree of influence in the country over the long term without serious negative consequences for Russian-Mongolian relations. Notes 1Forum entry by 'Deka,' 13 December 2007, 14:49:40. Unofficial forum of the Zabaikal Military District. http://mongol.su/index.php?topic=215.0 (accessed 1 May 2012). Sergey Radchenko is Lecturer at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. He is the author of Two Suns in the Heavens: the Sino-Soviet Struggle for Supremacy (Woodrow Wilson Center Press & Stanford University Press, 2009), the co-author (with Campbell Craig) of The Atomic Bomb and the Origins of the Cold War (Yale UP, 2008), and the co-editor (with Artemy Kalinovsky) of The End of the Cold War in the Third World: New Perspectives on Regional Conflict (London: Taylor and Francis, 2011). 2On Soviet-Mongolian relations see Sergey Radchenko, 'Choibalsan's Great Mongolia Dream,' Inner Asia 11, 2 (Fall 2009) pp. 305-332; on Chinese irredentism see Sergey Radchenko, 'New Documents on Mongolia and the Cold War', Cold War International History Project Bulletin 16 (Fall 2007/Winter 2008) pp. 341-366. 3Resolution of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee Politburo, December 1, 1965. Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party Documents Center, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (MAKhNBT): fond 4, dans 26, kh/n 306b, khuu. 40-41. On the Polish and Romanian reaction, and Khrushchev's subsequent change of mind, see Sergey Radchenko, Two Suns in the Heavens (Washington D.C. and Stanford, CA: Woodrow Wilson Press & Stanford UP 2009) pp. 84-86. 4Resolution of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee Politburo, 1 December 1965. MAKhNBT: fond 4, dans 28, kh/n 173b, khuu. 35-37. 5List of questions discussed and adopted by the CPSU Politburo in the first 5 months of 1967 (undated). Russian State Archive of Current History, Moscow, Russia (RGANI): fond 2, opis 3, delo 67, listy. 150-151. A month later the two militaries concluded an agreement to this end. Sh. Jadambaa et al., Mongol Tsergiin Tuukhiin Tovchoon, Vol. 2 (Ulaanbaatar: Mongol Ulsyn Batlan Khamgaalakh Yaamny Erdem Shinjilgeenii Khureelen 1996) p. 491. 6Sh. Jadambaa et al., Mongol Tsergiin Tuukhiin Tovchoon, Vol. 2, pp. 435, 494. 7Stanislav Postnikov, V Dalekikh Garnizonakh (Moscow: Polygon-press 2004) p. 354. A detailed list of all Soviet military units stationed in the MPR can be viewed at http://zabvo.ru/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?53508.0 (accessed 1 May 2012). 8Stanislav Postnikov, V Dalekikh Garnizonakh, pp. 380–381. 9I have not seen any documentary evidence or statistics of criminal misbehavior by the Soviet military personnel in Mongolia but several oral history interviews as well as memoirs suggest that the public knowledge of such misbehavior was fairly common. See also Oleg Troyanovskii, Cherez Gody i Rasstoianiia (Moscow: Vagrius 1997), p. 361. Waste disposal conflicts, on the other hand, are very well documented – in particular, the conflict over the lack of proper wastewater disposal at the Soviet military installation in Nalaikh, just east of Ulaanbaatar, and the resulting seepage of Soviet military refuse into the Tuul River, the city's chief water supply source. See Mongolian Foreign Ministry Archive, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (MGYaYaA): fond 2, dans 1, kh/n 538, khuu. 109-100. Such conflicts were not infrequent and involved other Soviet military facilities across the country. 10Sh. Jadambaa et al., Mongol Tsergiin Tuukhiin Tovchoon, Vol. 2, p. 494. For examples of civilian projects the Soviet military was involved in, see 'Daichin Nukhurluliin Uulzalt, Nairamdlyn Tsuglalt', Ulaan Od, 18 April 1987. 11Niederschrift über das Treffen des Genossen Erich Honecker mit Genossen Leonid Iljitsch Breshnew auf der Krim, 11 August 1982. Foundation Archives of Parties and Mass Organisations of the GDR in the Federal Archives, Berlin, Germany (SAPMO): DY30/11854, s. 24. 12Minutes of a Politburo meeting, 31 May 1983, Cold War International History Project Bulletin 4, Fall 1994, p. 79. 13Conversation between D. Yondon and Mikhail Kapitsa, 28 October 1983. MGYaYaA: fond 2, dans 2, kh/n 476, khuu 23. 14On the purge of Tsedenbal see, in particular, Sh. Nadirov, Tsedenbal: 1984 god (Moscow: Vostochna'ia Literatura 1995) and Jambyn Batmunkh, Khuch Khereglej Kherkhevch Bolokhgui (Ulaanbaatar: Bidnii Mongolchuud 2001) pp. 169—192. 15Anatolii Cherniaev et al, V Politbiuro TsK KPSS (Moscow: Al'pina Biznes Buks 2006) p. 75. 16A. Cherniaev et al., V Politbiuro TsK KPSS, p. 71. 17Mikhail Gorbachev's speech in Vladivostok, 28 July 1986, in Mikhail Gorbachev, Sobranie Sochinenii, Vol. 4 (Moscow: Ves' Mir 2008) p. 369. 18Iurii Kruchkin, who accompanied the Soviet Ambassador to a meeting with Batmunkh, recalls Batmunkh's consternation at not having been consulted before Gorbachev's Vladivostok announcement. Interview with Iurii Kruchkin, 4 August 2009, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. 19Stanislav Postnikov, V Dalekikh Garnizonakh, p. 407. 20Ts. Gurbadam, Yu. Tsedenbal: Tuukhen Unenii Tukhai Bodrol (Ulaanbaatar: Ungut Khevlel 1994) p. 102—103. 21Author's interview with Ts. Gurbadam, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. 9 July 2009. 22Vadim Medvedev, Raspad: Kak on Nazreval v Mirovoi Sisteme Sotsializma (Moscow: Mezhdunarodnye Otnosheni'ia 1994) pp. 347—348. 23Author's interview with Eduard Shevardnadze, Tbilisi, Georgia, 7 May 2008. 24Anna Christensen, 'Soviets to withdraw some troops from Mongolia,' United Press International, 15 January 1987; 'BNMAU-yn Zasgiin Gazryn Medegdel,' Ulaan Od, 17 January 1987. 25Soviet troops return from Mongolia, BBC Summary of News Broadcasts, 15 April 1987. 26'Daichin Nukhurluliin Uulzalt, Nairamdlyn Tsuglalt', Ulaan Od, 18 April 1987. 27Péter Vámos, "'Only a handshake but no embrace": Sino-Soviet Normalization in the 1980s,' in Thomas P. Bernstein and Hua-Yu Li (eds.), China Learns From the Soviet, 1949-Present (Plymouth: Lexington Books 2010) p. 102. 28'Soviets to reduce troops, not withdraw from Mongolia, says Mongolian minister,' Xinhua General New Service, 4 September 1986. 29Conversation between Mikhail Gorbachev and Alvaro Cunhal, 29 December 1986, National Security Archive, Washington, D.C.: Russian and Eastern European Archive Document Database (REEADD): Box 15. As early as January 1986 Eduard Shevardnadze complained of excessive zeal on the part of East European countries to mend fences with China. MGYaYaA: fond 2, dans 1, kh/n 504, khuu 146. 30Conversation between Jambyn Batmunkh and Eduard Shevardnadze, 24 January 1986. MGYaYaA: fond 2, dans 1, kh/n 504, khuu. 134. 311987 Work Report of the Foreign Relations Department of the MPRP Central Committee, 29 December 1987. MAKhNBT: fond 4, dans 37, kh/n 62, khuu. 22. 32Conversation between M. Dugersuren and Mikhail Kapitsa, 29 March 1984. MGYaYaA: fond 2, dans 1, kh/n 489, khuu 59. 33For example, in the matter of the timing of the Mongolian Foreign Minister's visit to China. Conversation between Jambyn Batmunkh and Igor Rogachev, 19 January 1987. MGYaYaA: fond 2, dans 1, kh/n 526, khuu. 35. 34Conversation between D. Yondon and Igor Rogachev, 17 January 1987. MGYaYaA: fond 2, dans 1, kh/n 526, khuu. 24. 35Vladimir Lukin's personal archive, kindly provided to the author by Alexander Lukin. 36Nikolai Shaskolskii and Vladimir Khlynov, 'O merakh po sozdani'iu obstanovki dobrososedstva v sovetsko-kitaiskikh otnosheni'iakh', 4 September 1986, Archive of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Moscow, Russia (no further archival location is identifiable). 37The number was quoted by Dmitrii Iazov in a later interview. See 'Iazov on reductions and configuration of troops', Pravda, 28 May 1989, p. 1. 38Record of conversation between Peres de Cuellar and Deng Xiaoping, 11 May 1987. Yale University Library, Manuscripts and Archives, Peres de Cuellar Papers. 39V khode 12-go raunda sovetsko-kitaiskikh konsultatsyi … (1988). National Archieves of Hungary, Budapest, Hungary (Mol): XIX-J-1-j-S2U-14-003513/1988. Provided to the author by Péter Vámos. 40Conversation between B. Baasansuren and Iu. Fadeev, 13 January 1988. MGYaYaA: fond 5, dans 2, kh/n 581, khuu. 131. 41Conversation between V.I. Trifonov and Ts. Gurbadam, 27 January 1988. Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia (AVPRF): fond 100, opis 75, delo 3, listy 9-10. 42Conversation between Ts. Gombosuren and Eduard Shevardnadze, 17 September 1988. MGYaYaA: fond 2, dans 1, kh/n 530, khuu. 62, 65. 43O vizite Tsian Tsichenia v SSSR (1988), MOL: XIX-J-1-j-Kína-135-004674/1-1988. Provided to the author by Péter Vámos. 44At least, this was how the Chinese reported the conversation to the Mongols soon after Qian Qichen's visit. Conversation between Yo. Ochir and Zhang Delin, 9 December 1988. MGYaYaA: fond 5, dans 2, kh/n 579, khuu. 147—149. 45Conversation between Eduard Shevardnadze and Qian Qichen, 2 December 1988. Hoover Institution Archive, Stanford, CA: Teimuraz Stepanov Papers, notebook 28 November 1988. 46Conversation between Yo. Ochir and Zhang Delin, 9 December 1988. MGYaYaA: fond 5, dans 2, kh/n 579, khuu. 147-149. 47Qian Qichen, Waijiao Shiji (Beijing: Shijie 2hishi Chubanshe, 2003) p. 33. 48Resolution of the Politburo December 30, 1988. MAKhNBT: fond 4, dans 37, kh/n 147, khuu 551. 49'Excerpts from speech to the UN,' The Associated Press, 7 December 1988. 50'USSR starts troop withdrawal from Mongolia', Xinhua General News Service, 15 May 1989. 51O polnom vyvode sovetskikh voisk iz Mongolii, 21 December 1989. Hoover Institution Archive, Stanford, CA: Vitalii Kataev Papers, Box 13, Folder 16. 52'Gorbachev's Press Conference in Peking, 17 May 1989', BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 19 May 1989. 53Letter from J. Enkhsaikhan to D. Yondon, August 1989. MGYaYaA: fond 2, dans 1, kh/n 538, khuu. 53. 54Conversation between Mikhail Gorbachev and Jambyn Batmunkh, 26 July 1989. Archive of the Gorbachev Foundation, Moscow, Russia: fond 1, opis 1. 55Conversation between Tsedenpilyn Gombosuren and Vasilii Sitnikov, 21 November 1989. MGYaYaA: fond 2, dans 1, kh/n 541, khuu. 7. 56Conversation between Tsedenpilyn Gombosuren and Eduard Shevardnadze, 21 December 1989. MGYaYaA: fond 2, dans 1, kh/n 541, khuu. 25, 31. 57O polnom vyvode sovetskikh voisk iz Mongolii, 21 December 1989. Hoover Institution Archive: Vitalii Kataev Papers, Box 13, Folder 16. 58Conversation between Tsedenpilyn Gombosuren and Eduard Shevardnadze, 21 December 1989. MGYaYaA: fond 2, dans 1, kh/n 541, khuu. 32. 59O polnom vyvode sovetskikh voisk iz Mongolii, 21 December 1989. Hoover Institution Archives, Vitalii Kataev Papers, Box 13, Folder 16. 60Conversation between Tsedenpilyn Gombosuren and Eduard Shevardnadze, 22 December 1989. MGYaYaA: fond 2, dans 1, kh/n 541, khuu. 51. 61Author's interview with Tsedenpilyn Gombosuren. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, 5 August 2009. 62Author's interview with Vadim Medvedev, Moscow, 1 April 2008. 63'USSR to withdraw troops from Mongolia', TASS, 2 March 1990. 64'Report: Last Russian Troops Leave Mongolia,' The Associated Press, 30 December 1992. 65Vladimir Khamutaev, Natsionalnyi vopros v Buriatii, 1980-2000e gg. (Ulan-Ude: BNTs SO RAN 2008), p. 99. 66'Perechen' ob'ektov, peredavaemykh mongol'skoi storone bezvozmezdno' (1392 zdanii i sooruzhenii), 1993. http://infopravo.by.ru/fed1993/ch03/akt14081. (accessed 1 May 2012)