Day #72: National History Museum

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The National History Museum has a monument outside stating "No to death penalty". Inside, the museum doesn't seem especially political as you walk through the earlier rooms, charting Stone Age history through to modern nomadic life, via traditional constumes and Chinggis Khaan. But the later rooms of the museum are the most interesting, describing the perceived oppression first by the Chinese and then by the Soviet Union rule. Mongolia appears to have always resented Chinese rule - even now, I have heard Mongolians lament that Inner Mongolia remains part of China - but the Russians were initially relatively welcome as they had supported Mongolians as a way to free themselves from China.

The usual features of Soviet rule - forced co-operatives, purges - extended to Mongolia. The museum has an interesting section on the rewards given to exceptionally productive workers, talented artists, and so on, in lieu of financial rewards - a whole range of certificates, medals, titles and so on. Nowadays perhaps the most strongly felt consequence of Soviet rule from the perspective of Mongolians was the attempted destruction of the Buddhist faith. The monasteries held much of the wealth and influence in society and consequently were doubly hated for being both powerful and religious leaders. Over the course of Stalin's rule monasteries were destroyed, senior monks were murdered, and lesser monks were castrated and ordered to return to their homelands. Only a small number of well-hidden monasteries survived intact. The latter part of the museum charts the eventual struggle for democracy as the USSR collapsed, and the accompanying long hunger strikes in Sukbaatar Square, but the final mood is one of triumph and national pride.

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