The Manchukuo Mongolian Army

Abstract

Among the core elements of the Manchukuo Military, a puppet force created in northeast China in 1932 by the Japanese Kwantung army, were units from eastern Inner Mongolia, also known as the Xing’an province. These Inner Mongols played a role in the Manchukuo Military far beyond their ratio of the total population, and many of the military officers participated in establishing a pro-Communist regime in Xing’an after the Japanese surrender. An examination of the early history, establishment, and collapse of these forces is vital for a clear understanding of twentieth-century northeast China and Inner Mongolia. This article focuses on the motivations of the Mongols in the Manchuria Incident, the formation of the Japanese-Mongol military collaboration and the reasons for the military insurrection against the Japanese.