December 10 – Pro-democracy Pro-test!

nPosted on December 10, 2019

Key points

nThe nation of Mongolia achieved independence from China in 1921 with the help of the Soviet Union. The new Mongolian government was communist – with the version of communism found in the USSR.
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Mongolia lies between Russia and China – and it used to lie
between the USSR and China.

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nBut in the 1980s the USSR began to change, and under the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev, words like Glasnost and Perestroika were used to talk about some of the changes. Glasnost means “openness and transparency,” and it refers to free speech and economic liberties. Perestroika means “restructuring” and refers to the creation of market-like reforms of the communist system.
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nTsakhiagiin Elbegdorj was a young Mongolian who went to university in the USSR and learned about Glasnost and Perestroika. He returned to Mongolia and began to talk to other young people about making Mongolia more democratic. Some Mongolian officials tried to shush Elbegdorj. He was warned that Mongolia had been communist for 68 years, and the nation was full of communist party spies eager to turn in anybody who was talking about reform. He was warned that he would be fired.
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nOn this date in 1989, the first open pro-democracy public demonstration occurred in the capital city of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar. This protest led to the Mongolian Revolution (January 2 – March 9, 1990), and that revolution led to the end of communism in Mongolia, multi-party elections in June, 1990, end of the Soviet control of Mongolia, and the adoption of a new, democratic constitution in February, 1992!
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