impression on Ungern.
While Europeans reviled Cossack brutality, they also romanticised and celebrated their egalitarian, free-spirited lifestyle. Russians, in particular, saw in them an alternative to the stifling, controlled lives they led in the cities, and many Russian writers, especially Tolstoy and Gogol, wrote novels or stories portraying Cossacks as dashing, heroic bandits. Not themselves âRussianâ, they remained a fundamental part of an idea of âRussiaâ, a half-civilised barrier between Westernised Russia and the East. In many ways they were the acceptable version of the Mongols, decently Slavic rather than Asian, and nominally Christian.
This was not entirely true of Ungernâs new regiment. The Transbaikal was one of the smallest and newest Cossack hosts ( voisko ) - the very name reminiscent of the Mongol armies. It had been founded in 1858 and with only a quarter of a million members was still less than a quarter of the size of the older Western hosts, such as the Don Cossacks. However, it did include some genuine Mongols. Around 12 per cent of the Transbaikal Cossacks were Buriat Mongols, small, round-faced men, Buddhist in faith and with strong links to their cousins back home. Ordinary Buriats often returned to Mongolia for pilgrimage or trade, married Mongolian women, and had political links with the Mongolian nobility. The tsarist regime recognised and even funded the Buriat Buddhist hierarchy, which had ties to both Tibet and Mongolia; their loyalty to Tsar Nikolas was strong. Ungern found the company of the Cossacks pleasing. He was closer to them than to his fellow Russians, and he took a particular interest in the Buriat. Already an accomplished linguist, he picked up their language and studied their customs. Perhaps, as he did during the war, he lived and slept among them. He found their way of life simple, appealing
and pure, especially in contrast to the complexity of Western culture, and developed a deep liking for the region and its peoples.
The nominal duty of the Argun Regiment was the defence of the borders of the empire. The Transbaikal Host was named after the great Lake Baikal, in the middle of Siberia, and their territory ran along both the Mongolian and Manchurian borders. In the nineteenth century they had spawned two other Siberian hosts, the Amur and the Ussuri, and together their territory included the whole border zone. If Japan or China started trouble across the frontier, the Transbaikal would be the first line of defence. It was a duty to which Ungern was deeply committed. The Russian Empire was sacred to him, but it was an idea of empire formed around the âcombination of the peoplesâ. 14 Buriat, German, Russian, Cossack - all of them could come together in unity and strength, under a monarchy blessed by God.
His was a romantic version of what was, in fact, an entirely pragmatic approach towards the Russian borderlands. Like most imperial peoples, the Russians soon realised that it was easier to co-opt than coerce. They lacked the numbers to try the Chinese or American approach to dealing with areas dominated by minority ethnic groups; open up the borders, encourage (or coerce) hundreds of thousands of your own people to settle the region and outnumber the locals within a generation or two. With the borderlands so strategically crucial, they had to be secured another way. Membership in the Russian Empire had to be made attractive, particularly to the local elites. Old tribal structures and religious hierarchies were maintained, but were incorporated into the imperial bureaucracy. As a result Russian officials found themselves deciding obscure questions of tribal inheritance, or determining whether a new visionary religion among the Oirat Mongols threatened imperial stability, or funding the construction of Buddhist temples. Local leaders or priests were paid off with lucrative government jobs or posts in the army. If these tactics failed, though,
While Europeans reviled Cossack brutality, they also romanticised and celebrated their egalitarian, free-spirited lifestyle. Russians, in particular, saw in them an alternative to the stifling, controlled lives they led in the cities, and many Russian writers, especially Tolstoy and Gogol, wrote novels or stories portraying Cossacks as dashing, heroic bandits. Not themselves âRussianâ, they remained a fundamental part of an idea of âRussiaâ, a half-civilised barrier between Westernised Russia and the East. In many ways they were the acceptable version of the Mongols, decently Slavic rather than Asian, and nominally Christian.
This was not entirely true of Ungernâs new regiment. The Transbaikal was one of the smallest and newest Cossack hosts ( voisko ) - the very name reminiscent of the Mongol armies. It had been founded in 1858 and with only a quarter of a million members was still less than a quarter of the size of the older Western hosts, such as the Don Cossacks. However, it did include some genuine Mongols. Around 12 per cent of the Transbaikal Cossacks were Buriat Mongols, small, round-faced men, Buddhist in faith and with strong links to their cousins back home. Ordinary Buriats often returned to Mongolia for pilgrimage or trade, married Mongolian women, and had political links with the Mongolian nobility. The tsarist regime recognised and even funded the Buriat Buddhist hierarchy, which had ties to both Tibet and Mongolia; their loyalty to Tsar Nikolas was strong. Ungern found the company of the Cossacks pleasing. He was closer to them than to his fellow Russians, and he took a particular interest in the Buriat. Already an accomplished linguist, he picked up their language and studied their customs. Perhaps, as he did during the war, he lived and slept among them. He found their way of life simple, appealing
and pure, especially in contrast to the complexity of Western culture, and developed a deep liking for the region and its peoples.
The nominal duty of the Argun Regiment was the defence of the borders of the empire. The Transbaikal Host was named after the great Lake Baikal, in the middle of Siberia, and their territory ran along both the Mongolian and Manchurian borders. In the nineteenth century they had spawned two other Siberian hosts, the Amur and the Ussuri, and together their territory included the whole border zone. If Japan or China started trouble across the frontier, the Transbaikal would be the first line of defence. It was a duty to which Ungern was deeply committed. The Russian Empire was sacred to him, but it was an idea of empire formed around the âcombination of the peoplesâ. 14 Buriat, German, Russian, Cossack - all of them could come together in unity and strength, under a monarchy blessed by God.
His was a romantic version of what was, in fact, an entirely pragmatic approach towards the Russian borderlands. Like most imperial peoples, the Russians soon realised that it was easier to co-opt than coerce. They lacked the numbers to try the Chinese or American approach to dealing with areas dominated by minority ethnic groups; open up the borders, encourage (or coerce) hundreds of thousands of your own people to settle the region and outnumber the locals within a generation or two. With the borderlands so strategically crucial, they had to be secured another way. Membership in the Russian Empire had to be made attractive, particularly to the local elites. Old tribal structures and religious hierarchies were maintained, but were incorporated into the imperial bureaucracy. As a result Russian officials found themselves deciding obscure questions of tribal inheritance, or determining whether a new visionary religion among the Oirat Mongols threatened imperial stability, or funding the construction of Buddhist temples. Local leaders or priests were paid off with lucrative government jobs or posts in the army. If these tactics failed, though,
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