One of the least explored questions of modern Mongolian history is the so-called "Affair of Shar Sanj" or the case of separating Dorwod or Chandmani Mountain aimag from the People’s Republic of Mongolia.The...One of the least explored questions of modern Mongolian history is the so-called "Affair of Shar Sanj" or the case of separating Dorwod or Chandmani Mountain aimag from the People’s Republic of Mongolia.The affair was discovered in the spring of 1927 and nearly dozen people including Losol Laagan,the chief of the provincial party control comission,were arrested and interrogated by the state Internal Security Agency.Ölziit Badrakh,a member of the MPRP,was facing arrest and interrogation,when Comintern delegates headed by Bogumir Smeral arrived in early October 1928 in Ulaanbaatar.However,Smeral intervened and,eventually,released all the arrestees dismissing the case as Rightists fabrication aimed at purging the Leftists,and the case was closed few months later in February 1929.Few scholarly inquiries differed in opinions.While late historian D.Dashdavaa thought that Comintern was the behind the curtain,O.Batsaikhan tended to side with Smeral’s fabrication argument,though he did not exclude the possibility of Comintern involvment in it.Clearly,an inadequate access to archival materials is one of the main reasons of differing opinions and it still remains the major factor.Scholars have very limited or no access to the most of the testimonies of the arrestees,while available Comintern materials do not reveal any Comintern delibration of the case even though Comintern delegates such as Smeral directly intervened to free the arrestees and dismiss the case.Few of the testimonies that I were able to examine date 1928 and 1938-1940,yet they shed some insights on the case regard in its aim,scope and activities.While all the examined testimonies show that O.Badrakh was the ringleader of the affair,they also hint that the Comintern’s revolutionary policy of advocating national self-determination of small nationalities justified the affair.However,available documents do not show Comintern’s direct involvement in the affair.For my research I research documents at the National Central Archive and the Special Archive of Mongolian Central Intellegency related to the"Affair of Shar Sanj" or the case of separating Dorwod or Chandmani Mountain aimag from the People’s Republic of Mongolia.展开更多
文摘One of the least explored questions of modern Mongolian history is the so-called "Affair of Shar Sanj" or the case of separating Dorwod or Chandmani Mountain aimag from the People’s Republic of Mongolia.The affair was discovered in the spring of 1927 and nearly dozen people including Losol Laagan,the chief of the provincial party control comission,were arrested and interrogated by the state Internal Security Agency.Ölziit Badrakh,a member of the MPRP,was facing arrest and interrogation,when Comintern delegates headed by Bogumir Smeral arrived in early October 1928 in Ulaanbaatar.However,Smeral intervened and,eventually,released all the arrestees dismissing the case as Rightists fabrication aimed at purging the Leftists,and the case was closed few months later in February 1929.Few scholarly inquiries differed in opinions.While late historian D.Dashdavaa thought that Comintern was the behind the curtain,O.Batsaikhan tended to side with Smeral’s fabrication argument,though he did not exclude the possibility of Comintern involvment in it.Clearly,an inadequate access to archival materials is one of the main reasons of differing opinions and it still remains the major factor.Scholars have very limited or no access to the most of the testimonies of the arrestees,while available Comintern materials do not reveal any Comintern delibration of the case even though Comintern delegates such as Smeral directly intervened to free the arrestees and dismiss the case.Few of the testimonies that I were able to examine date 1928 and 1938-1940,yet they shed some insights on the case regard in its aim,scope and activities.While all the examined testimonies show that O.Badrakh was the ringleader of the affair,they also hint that the Comintern’s revolutionary policy of advocating national self-determination of small nationalities justified the affair.However,available documents do not show Comintern’s direct involvement in the affair.For my research I research documents at the National Central Archive and the Special Archive of Mongolian Central Intellegency related to the"Affair of Shar Sanj" or the case of separating Dorwod or Chandmani Mountain aimag from the People’s Republic of Mongolia.
