Khorloogiin Choibalsan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Khorloogiin Choibalsan (Mongolian: Хорлоогийн Чойбалсан; February 8, 1895–January 26, 1952) was the Communist leader of Mongolia from the 1930s until his death.

Choibalsan originally trained as a lamaist monk. He made contact with Russian revolutionaries when he travelled to Siberia. He founded his first revolutionary organisation in 1919 and in 1921 joined up with Sukhe Bator to form the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party. After Soviet Red Army forces entered Urga in 1921 and promoted the establishment of a pro-Soviet government, Choibalsan became deputy war minister.

In following years Choibalsan came to dominate his country's leadership and by about 1940 his position was unrivalled in his own country. He served both as head of state (Chairman of the Presidium of the State Little Hural, 1929 - 1930) and head of government (Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, 1939 - 1952). He is sometimes accorded the military rank of Marshal.

Choibalsan was a close follower of the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and emulated his policies in many ways including the ruthless elimination of rivals for power and harsh treatment of landowners. Choibalsan rose to power with Soviet backing, given as the result of Stalin's displeasure with Mongolian communist leader Peljidiyn Genden, who in 1936, was removed from power. Choibalsan, who was willing to follow Stalin's orders without question, gained power.

Choibalsan's rule is generally regarded as being the most tyrannical to have occurred in recent Mongolian history. Under Choibalsan, many purges of "enemies of the people" were conducted. These focused on religious figures, the former aristocracy, and on political dissidents. Estimates of the number of people killed vary considerably, but are generally substantial. He was responsible for the execution of thousands of lamaist monks. Choibalsan was also the centre of large personality cult modeled on that of Stalin.

On the other hand, during his rule considerable improvements in the country's infrastructure, roads and communication lines were made with Soviet assistance, and steps were taken toward improving the country's literacy rate.

Choibalsan held the position of Prime Minister until his death in Moscow on January 26, 1952. His death concerned the ageing and paranoid Stalin who commented, "They die one after another. Shcherbakov, Zhdanov, Dmitrov^[1], Choibalsan ... die so quickly! We must change the old doctors for new ones."^[2] Under torture, prisoners seized in the Soviet investigation of the alleged Doctors' Plot were compelled to produce 'evidence' to 'prove' that the Kremlin doctors, led by Stalin's own physician, had in fact assassinated Choibalsan and the others mentioned by Stalin.^[3]

Choibalsan's image in modern Mongolia is mixed; many people still consider him to be a Mongolian hero, but his critics claim that this is merely the result of his propaganda and personality cult. Some Mongolians believe that Choibalsan was merely a puppet of Stalin, and had little choice in his actions. For its part, Choibalsan's party, the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, criticized him for committing "errors", including the establishment of the personality cult, in 1956. Today, it acknowledges that Choibalsan was a tyrant, but claims that it was just as much victimised by him as were other Mongolians — many party members, particularly followers of Genden, were purged during his rule.

[edit] Notes

^ The Bulgarian leader Georgi Dmitrov had died in 1949.
^ Simon Sebag Montefiore, Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar, Orion Books Ltd, London, 2004, p. 634
^ ibid. p. 636