100 years ago, the Asian Division under the command of Baron von Ungern defeated the Chinese and took Urga, the capital of Mongolia, by storm. The independence of Outer Mongolia, which was previously occupied by Chinese troops, was restored.
Lieutenant General of the White Army Roman Fedorovich von Ungern-Sternberg became the de facto ruler of Mongolia for some time. A unique personality, the "god of war" who dreamed of restoring the empire of Genghis Khan and starting a campaign to the "last sea" to cleanse the West of revolutionaries. The "yellow" culture and faith were supposed to lead to the renewal of the Old World.
Origin
Descended from an old Ostsee (Baltic Germanic) noble family, which had Hungarian and Slavic roots. The word "Ungern" means "Hungarian".
As the baron himself recalled, his ancestors fought in all major medieval battles, participated in the crusades. In the Baltic, the von Ungern barons appeared as part of the Teutonic Order, owned castles on the lands of present-day Latvia and Estonia. The Ungernov family settled in Prussia and Sweden, entered the upper strata of society.
After the Baltic States became part of Russia, the barons Ungerns became part of the Russian aristocracy. They did not hold large posts in the Russian Empire, they preferred the Baltic states and local seats. But some of the barons served in the army and the diplomatic corps.
So, one of the ancestors of Roman Fedorovich - Karl Karlovich Ungern-Sterberg fought as part of the Russian army during the Seven Years War, was the adjutant general of Emperor Peter III. Barons Ungerna fought "for Faith, Tsar and Fatherland" in almost all the wars waged by Russia. Several barons served in the White Army during the Civil War.
Until the 1917 revolution, the old-fashioned knightly values - duty, honor, loyalty to the overlord (monarch) - ruled in the Eastsee environment of the nobility (descendants of Swedish and German knights). These were monarchists loyal to the house of the Romanovs.
The Ostsee officers were distinguished by some coldness, restraint, good manners, high discipline, diligence and professionalism in their work. The German-Swedish noble families were well Russified, many adopted Orthodoxy, and were a real stronghold of the Russian Empire.
It was in such an environment that Roman Fedorovich was brought up. Interestingly, he himself greatly appreciated Tsar Paul I, who was a real "knight on the throne" and tried to revive discipline and order in the empire.
Roman's parents (Theodore-Leonhard and Sophia-Charlotte) traveled a lot, he was born on December 29, 1885 in Austria. In 1886 they returned to Russia and settled in Reval. My father served in the Department of Agriculture. The full name of the "black baron" is Nikolai-Robert-Maximilian.
Later, the Baron will discard the last two names. And he will replace the first of them with a more similar sounding - Roman. The new name was associated with the surname of the ruling house of Russia and with the harsh firmness of the ancient Romans. On his father's side, he became Roman Fedorovich. In general, the Russification of names was quite traditional for the Eastsee Germans.
He studied at the Revel Nikolaev gymnasium. Despite his natural talent, he left the gymnasium due to poor diligence and behavior. Roman's talent was noted by many people close to him and contemporaries. He knew several languages well, philosophy. He studied at a private boarding school. I read a lot, "binge". He was fond of philosophy - medieval and modern (including Marx and Plekhanov). Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov.
Family troubles also left an imprint on the young harrow's hobbies. The parents divorced, the mother ceased to be interested in her son. This became a prerequisite for his self-deepening, philosophical immersion.
In 1903 he was enrolled in the Naval Cadet Corps. He studied unevenly, behaved arbitrarily. True, all discipline violations (for example, smoking, being late for classes, etc.) were commonplace for future "sea wolves". February 1905
"Taken into the care of parents" (expelled).
Cossack
At this time, Russia was at war with Japan.
Roman joined the Dvinsky Infantry Regiment as a volunteer, but this regiment was not intended to be sent to the front. The Baron asked to go to the front line, he was transferred to the 12th Velikolutsk Regiment.
By the time Ungern arrived at the front, there had been no active hostilities. He was awarded the medal "In Memory of the Russian-Japanese War." A light bronze medal was awarded to the military who took part in the hostilities. Obviously, Roman was a participant in intelligence and patrol operations.
In November 1905 he was promoted to corporal, in 1906 he was enrolled in the Pavlovsk military school. During this period, the young baron received a patron, General Pavel von Rennenkampf, who became famous in the Chinese campaign of 1900. He was a distant relative of the Ungern family.
In 1908 he graduated from college and ended up in the 1st Argun Regiment of the Trans-Baikal Cossack Army, which was under the command of General Rennenkampf. Roman Ungern had previously expressed a desire to get into the cavalry. Received the rank of cornet.
According to the recollections of colleagues, at first the equestrian training of the baron had shortcomings. The commander of his hundreds was a Siberian Cossack, centurion Procopius Ogloblin. Experienced warrior and equestrian. Future Major General of the White Army and Ataman of the Irkutsk Cossack Army. Thanks to him, Unger quickly mastered riding and felling, and became one of the best horsemen in the regiment (he had previously been distinguished by a propensity for physical exercise).
The Argun regiment was based in Tsurukhai, on the Mongol border. There was no city entertainment here, so Roman became addicted to hunting (became a connoisseur of fox hunting) and drinking. It was noted that a young man, well-mannered, usually modest and quiet, withdrawn and proud, under the influence of alcohol became a different person - violent and irascible. At the same time, his educational, cultural level was much higher than the people around him.
Later, Ungern himself admitted that he drank.
"To delirium tremens."
The baron's rampages were legendary.
Later, towards the end of his life, he became a complete teetotaler. Drunken and drug addicts categorically could not stand. He put drunk soldiers and officers on ice and drove them into cold water until they were completely sober. He ordered to beat with bamboo sticks. On his order, commanders without overcoats sent those who were caught drinking alcohol into the desert for the whole night. True, they were allowed to light a fire.
In the conditions of the Civil War, when the complete mobilization of all spiritual, intellectual and physical forces was required for victory, Roman Ungern became an ascetic, a moralist. Interestingly, he found more idealists among the Bolsheviks than among the White Guards.
Abstaining from alcohol in the midst of turmoil and a general decline in morality had the meaning of religious fasting for Ungern. But he developed intolerance to alcohol later, during the Troubles.
The transfer of Roman Fedorovich to another unit is associated with the officer's drinking bout. He quarreled with a colleague and received a saber blow to the head (which later caused severe headaches). Both perpetrators of the scandal left their unit.
In 1910, Roman was transferred to the 1st Amur Cossack Regiment, which was stationed in Blagoveshchensk. Interestingly, all the way from Transbaikalia to the Amur (over 1200 km) Unger made one, he was accompanied only by a dog. I followed the hunting trails through the Big Khingan. He earned his food by hunting and fishing. It was a real harsh journey and a "school of survival" for the Daurian baron.
Mongolia
In the certification of the cornet Ungern for 1911, it is noted:
“He knows the service well and treats it conscientiously. Demanding to subordinate lower ranks, but fair.
Mentally well developed. Interested in military affairs.
Thanks to the knowledge of foreign languages, I am familiar with foreign literature. Intelligently and efficiently conducts classes with scouts.
A wonderful companion. Open, straightforward with excellent moral qualities, he enjoys the sympathy of his comrades."
In the attestation of 1912:
“He is fond of and inclined towards the camping life. Mentally developed very well …
Morally flawless, enjoys love between comrades.
He has a gentle character and a kind soul."
That is, before the maniac, alcoholic and drug addict, destroying people with inhuman cruelty, as the enemies liked to portray him, is clearly an abyss.
In 1912, the baron was promoted to centurion. Roman Ungern decided to return to Transbaikalia, to the border with Mongolia.
Outer Mongolia (Khalkha) was at that time formally part of China and was seeking independence. Chinese colonization caused discontent among the natives. The flow of immigrants who seized and plowed up pastures increased.
Local princes were deprived of inheritance rights in favor of Chinese officials. Extortions and usury flourished.
The Mongols became dependent on various Chinese firms. Therefore, the Mongol authorities decided to take advantage of the revolution in China (1911) and achieve full independence.
Bogdo Gegen VIII, the Buddhist leader of the country, was elevated to the Bogdo Khans and became the theocratic ruler of the new state. Russia supported this ambition and helped to form the Mongolian army.
Petersburg during the reign of Nicholas II tried to win over the Buddhist world to its side. Mongolia was considered the key to Central Asia. And in the future it could become part of the Russian Empire.
From here there was a direct path to Tibet, where the British climbed. Japan has shown its interest in the region. In turn, the image of the white king, "Holding his throne at the edge of the North"
was popular in the East. The Russian sovereign was considered a direct heir to the ancient northern tradition.
In 1913, China recognized Mongolia's broad autonomy.
In 1913, Ungern resigned, transferred to the reserve and left for Mongolia. He longed for war.
"The peasants must cultivate the land, the workers must work, and the military must fight,"
- he will say during interrogation eight years later.
At this time, battles were going on in Kobdo between the Mongols and the Chinese. The Russians took part in them as military advisers. Roman Fedorovich also sought in the Mongolian nomads that simplicity and faith, which was in his ideal ideas about medieval Europe. The horsemen of the steppe seemed to him heirs of a real military tradition, which was already dying in corrupted Western Europe. He was looking for military valor, honesty and ideological dedication to his cause in the Mongols.
However, Ungern was wrong.
This image of the Mongols was also born in the West and was entirely bookish. The Mongols of that time had nothing to do with the true empire of Genghis Khan. These were typical natives, very far from the ideals of chivalry, the high spiritual and material culture of Russian civilization.
For example, a convinced monarchist, a supporter of strengthening Russian influence in the East and an expert on the secrets of Tibetan medicine, baptized Buryat Pyotr Badmaev did not harbor any illusions on the grounds of "high spirituality" and "development" of local residents and described the local customs very well. He noted:
"Born laziness of the Mongols", "Lack of any knowledge and education, except for Buddhist, supporting superstition", "Contentment and contentment with the budgets of the shepherd's life."
And no descendants of the "conquerors of the Universe", the creators of the world empire. Common savages, roughly on the level of the Indian tribes of North America during the period of their conquest by the Europeans. Therefore, the Chinese Empire, even during its decline, easily ruled Mongolia.
Ungern idealized the Mongols, who were not related to the people who created the world empire. The circumstances of his trip to Mongolia were preserved in the memoirs of A. Burdukov, a representative of a large trading company, a correspondent for the liberal newspaper Sibirskaya Zhizn. They were completely different people: a warrior and a merchant. Therefore, Burdukov described his companion with hostility:
"Lean, ragged, unkempt … with the faded, frozen eyes of a maniac."
The correspondent recalled:
“Ungern was interested in the process of war, and not an ideological struggle in the name of certain principles.
The main thing for him is to fight, but with whom and how it is not important.
He repeated that 18 generations of his ancestors had died in battles, and that the same fate should fall to his lot."
This merchant was then struck by the unbridled energy of Ungern, his extraordinary perseverance and toughness.
Ungern was not allowed to fight for the Mongols. In the 2nd Verkhneudinsky regiment, which helped the Mongols, served one of the few friends of Roman Fedorovich - Boris Rezukhin, the future deputy commander of the Asian division. The baron was assigned as a supernumerary officer for the convoy of the Russian consul.
The baron used his stay in Mongolia to study the language, customs and customs of local residents. He traveled to all significant settlements, visited many monasteries, made acquaintances with representatives of the local nobility and clergy.
By the beginning of the First World War, Roman Ungern returned to Russia and joined the ranks of the Don army.
