Barga (Hulunbuir) under the Control of Mongolian Guerrillas in 1917

The work aims at the study of a little-known period in the history of Barga (Hulunbuir) in 1917 when a large part of this region, including its capital town, came under the control of Mongolian guerrillas for a short time. Materials. For this purpose, Russian intelligence and diplomatic documents from the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire (Rus. AVPRI) and Russian State Archive of Military History (Rus. RGVIA),as compared to earlier published data, were studied. Results. The paper describes the character of governance practices in Barga during that period, internal situation, relations of the guerrillas and Barga’s new authorities with Russian officials on the Hailar Railway Station, Japanese military, authorities of the Manchurian provinces bordering Barga and authorities of Outer Mongolia, as well as reaction of the guerrillas and Barga’sauthorities to the short-term restoration of the Qing monarchy. After Hailar was captured by the Mongolian guerrillas, the Russian Foreign Ministry sought to restore tranquility in Barga as soon as possible and prevent clashes that could threaten security of the Chinese Eastern Railway and the autonomy of Barga fixed by the 1915 Russian-Chinese Agreement. At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry allowed a temporary entry of Chinese troops into Barga to remove the guerrillas, with their subsequent withdrawal and preservation of the autonomy of the region, although the priority was a peaceful conciliation. Mongolian guerrillas were monarchists who stood for the restoration of the Manchu Dynasty’spower. The government of Barga, created under their influence, had no real authority and was engaged mainly in the supply of food for the guerrillas and solving current issues. Although they maintained intensive contacts with the Japanese in the Old Hailar, it is not correct to accuse them in Japonophilia. They maintained mostly good relations with the Russian population of Barga, but a significant part of the Barga people and all Daurs fled to neighboring regions. Southern part of Barga, a part of Inner Mongolia and eastern Outer Mongolia were devastated by the guerrillas. A part of the latter was ready to join Chinese provincial troops but it was delayed.

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