The Battle of Baitag Bogd Mountain () or Beitashan Incident (; alternatively Baitak Bogdo incident) was a border conflict between the Republic of China, the Mongolian People's Republic, and the Soviet Union. The Mongolian People's Republic became involved in a border dispute with the Republic of China, as a Hui (Tungan) cavalry regiment was sent by the Chinese government to attack Mongolian and Soviet positions.
Background The Soviets carried out a genocide in Xinjiang, eliminating dissidents and exiling many in the Gulags of Siberia. Four hundred and thirty-five men, including President Khoja Niyaz, were arrested and executed in 1937. This resulted in a split in the government dominated by Uyghurs and the Kazakh minority that settled in Altai, which ultimately resulted in a revolt. In an effort to support their activities in Xinjiang, the Soviets instructed the Mongols to establish separate administrative units for the Kazakhs and the Altai Uriankhais. In 1940, Bayan – Ölgy province, where the Kazakhs and Uriankhais congregated, was erected from a division of the western province of Khovd. Prime Minister Choibalsan personally supervised this operation and founded the administrative center of the province. In 1942, the Kuomintang party ousted the Soviet government from Xinjiang, and after its official establishment as an autonomous province of China, the minority revolt turned into a full-blown civil war that lasted until 1945.
From this period began a large-scale exodus of Kazakhs from Xinjiang to Mongolia. At the end of the 19th century, a few families left their native Xinjiang, due to natural disasters, and migrated east from the Altai Mountains. Then, during the proclamation of the theocracy of Bogd Khaan, some Kazakhs from Mongolia pledged allegiance to him. From 1921, the refugee movement received the new name of "class struggle". For example, a certain Dabidbai, the leader of the Kazakhs in 1925, informed the Lower House of Parliament that about 340 families influenced by Communist propaganda wanted to settle in Mongolia.Баруун хязгаарын урианхай, хасаг ард түмэн түмний тухай хоёр захидал (Үг сонин 1990) [The two leters about the Uriankhai and Kazakh people of the far western border ] The civil war, rebellions, and revolts of the 1930s and 1950s thus provoked the increasing influx of refugees into Mongolia. The province of Bayan – Ölgy was built for the Kazakh exiles. Three hundred and fifteen people from sixty-nine families fled to Mongolia in July 1942. They said they were being looted and robbed and were applying for Mongolian citizenship.Амьдрах нутгаа сонгосон нь (Үг сонин 1991) No.5 [Choosing the palace where they wanted to live]
Many tribes like Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tajiks, Uyghurs, Hui (Dunganes), and Mongols lived in Xinjiang, but Uyghurs and Kazakhs were in the majority, with over three million and one million, respectively, and half of the people. General Sheng Shicai, the new governor of Xinjiang, had been deeply pro-Soviet before, but later harbored a stubborn hatred towards them and began to lead a miserable life to the Soviet consul and other Soviet nationals in Xinjiang, and to develop their ideology. Stalin was very "unhappy" with this.Foreign Relations, 1944, China; Vice President Wallace to President Roosevelt (Washington 1944) He, therefore, chose to enlist the Kazakh rebels against the Kuomintang party and General Sheng. He realized that Chiang Kai-shek would be furious if he got “hands-on” straight away, so he decided to use the Mongols as camouflage.
The leader of the insurgents was a man called Ospan (Osman Batyr), nicknamed "tökhör ogaz" or the "yellow lame". Colonel Pakhomov, the head of the NKVD spy office, Mr. P. Kovalyov *, the commander of the Baikal front, and Ivanov, the plenipotentiary representative in Mongolia, directly contacted and assisted Ospan, which indicated the importance of this man for the Soviets. Ospan, who occasionally fled to Mongolia to escape the members of the Kuomintang, eventually sought asylum there for his own family.
The first meeting between Ospan and the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Duinkhorjav, took place at the border in October 1943 and resulted in the signing of an agreement. In this agreement, Mongolia undertook to support the national liberation struggle of the Kazakhs by providing them with arms and goods, welcoming the rebels if necessary, sending 40 to 50 Mongols to the insurgent headquarters, and keeping this pact confidential. The rebels first received twenty-seven vintov [automatic] rifles, ten Mauser pistols, and six hundred yards of cloth, while Ospan was awarded a British automatic pistol with a thousand bullets.Өлзийбаатар, Д. Коминтери-Оспан-Монгол (Ардчилал сонин 1992)No.5 [Ulziibaatar, D. Comintern – Ospan - Mongolia] But, when Ospan, regularly pursued by the Chinese, migrated to Mongolia, violations of the Mongolian border by the Chinese became more and more frequent. In a few months, more than 2,200 people from 330 families also fled to Mongolia and settled in different areas.
Choibalsan asked Molotov how to handle the issue of constant Chinese border violations and offered to send a protest note to the Chinese government. But, Soviet Ambassador Ivanov said: "Comrade Molotov suggests not to send this note to China, but instead asks you to come to Moscow immediately with the plenipotentiary representative ... for further discussions.'". The latter therefore left for the Kremlin at the end of 1943. Molotov immediately asked: "When it comes to Xinjiang, sending a protest note may be superfluous. It seems preferable for Xinjiang to file a complaint with you. In other words, if we complain about immigrants from Xinjiang, the Chinese will eventually protest against us. Can you try to make this happen?" Бат-Очир, Л. Сталин, Чойбалсан нарын 1940-өөд оны уулзалтууд (Ардын эрх сонин 1995) No.145-152 [Bat-Ochir, L. The meetings between Stalin and Choibalsan in the 1940s]
The Mongolian leader then replied: "If the Soviet leaders agree and with their help, it seems possible." Stalin accused the Soviet scapegoat, Choibalsan, of being intimidated by the Chinese and asked him to deliver in his name to Ospan what he gave him: 200 Vintov rifles, 200 automatic machine guns, 6 heavy machine guns, 30 machine guns manual, 2,000 hand grenades and 400,000 bullets.
Immediately after his return, Choibalsan left for the Western Region and met Ospan personally. Commander Sukhbaatar's son Galsan delivered these weapons on behalf of Mongolia, which was a symbolic event.Өлзийбаатар, Д. Коминтери-Оспан-Монгол (Ардчилал сонин 1991)No.5 [Ulziibaatar, D. Comintern – Ospan - Mongolia] v On March 11, 1944, the Chinese pursuing Ospan suffered a serious setback against the Soviet Air Squadron and Ospan's Cavalry Battalion. Soon after, the "military unit to support the insurgents" was formed and quickly expanded into a "military council", later renamed "Provisional Government of the Free Kazakhs of Altai". According to nomadic traditions, Ospan was given the title of "Ospan hero" and many insurgents joined him, including those from Il Tarvagatai.
After taking state power in 1949, the Chinese Communisits began to befriend the Soviet Union more than ever, promoting the entry into a "golden age" of domestic politics and of Mongolia. It seemed natural to establish socialism in this small country situated between two communist empires.
Before the Chinese Communists came to power, Mongolia had no direct relations with the Kuomintang government, especially during the quarrel over the Baitag Bogd border in the summer of 1947. Obeying Stalin's orders, the Mongols got involved in the case of the Kazakhs in Xinjiang. However, a few years later, they were forced to welcome a large number of Kazakh refugees, among whom some bandits then revolted and started a riot on the western border. Since the fall of the Qing Dynasty, Manchuria and Xinjiang have passed from one warlord to another. None of the generals who partially conquered Xinjiang were obeying Beijing or Nanking (Nanjing). The Ma clique, which dominated in Ningxia, and that of Sheng Shicai, who reigned in Ürümqi, were the most successful. White people who had lost the civil war in Russia fled there in large numbers. The local commands juggled between Beijing and Moscow and thus managed to ensure their independence. Having conquered West Turkestan and having established a Soviet government there, the Soviets projected their interest on East Turkestan where they sought to create at least an independent Soviet state, Communist East Turkestan. Nevertheless, since 1944, Sheng had recognized Beijing and its possessions as an integral part of Chiang Kai-shek's China.
However, a little later the Kazakhs and other peoples of Xinjiang went on the offensive. Led by Uyghur Akhmedjan Kasym, the rebels conquered Ghulja (Yining) and in 1945 proclaimed the Republic of East Turkestan. Uzbek Ali Khan Tore became the President of the new state, while the people of Osman Batour (Ospan Batyr), having taken Chuguchag [Tacheng, an autonomous city of Xingjiang], united with them. Thus collapsed the colonization of the Chinese nation in Xinjiang. Then, on October 10, 1945, in Ürümqi, Beijing and Moscow began talks on this subject, at the initiative of the Soviets.
During the summer of 1945, the Sino-Soviet negotiations concerned all four issues. Stalin showed skill in dividing them and turning them into two groups of two questions. He said he would not help Mao in the civil war in China and interfere in the Xinjiang problem, in return the belligerents pledged to recognize the independence of Outer Mongolia and resolve the conflict. Question of the special powers of the Soviet Union in Manchuria. In fact, under these agreements, the Soviets adopted a neutral or ambiguous posture vis-а-vis the founders of the new state. On January 21, 1946, after much debate, an "11 article" treaty that recognized the cultural independence of the peoples of Xinjiang was signed and, subsequently, local governments were created. Chiang Kai-shek recognized this treaty and appointed the Tatar Burhan Shahidi * and Uyghur Akhmedjan Kasymov became his deputies.Bai Shouyi An outline history of China 1919-1949 (Foreign language Press Beijing 1993) p-272 But soon word spread that the Chinese had violated the treaty, and from August 1947 the "coalition" government was overthrown and riots began. As the negotiations were conducted under Soviet mediation, the Soviets now sided with the Chinese, not with the insurgents. In mid-1949, the Chinese Red Army, under the command of General Peng Dehuai, entered Xinjiang, and from then on, new propaganda was circulated explaining that the purpose of the uprising was not "separation from China", but "opposition to feudal lords". In August 1949, the separatists were brought to Frunze (now Bishkek) and then to Almaty, and were forced to erect an autonomous power integrated into China.Султаан Т. И.Оспаны амьдрал, үйл ажиллагаатай холбоотой зүйлүүд (гар бичмэл) [Sultaan, T. Documents related to life an
activity of the Ospan] Kasymov, the national leader of Xinjiang who led the delegation to conclude negotiations with the Communists in Beijing, died on the way in a plane crash. On the way to Beijing, the mission passed through Almaty and Irkutsk in order to meet with the Soviets beforehand and ask them to protect the Republic of East Turkestan in its present state. But, the Il-12 plane he took fell in the Buryat rocky mountains called Khamar davaa. Some say that Kasymov and his compatriots were arrested and killed in Irkutsk and that the plane crash was a lie, which seems likely. Indeed, the Soviet Union then needed Mao's allies, the great propagators of the world revolution, more than the small revolutionaries of Xinjiang. Those in charge, Saifuddin Aziz, and Burhan Shahidi, did not have an accident but fell into the anonymity of political exile.