In 1933, the Manchurian commander Li Shouxin invaded the town of Tolun (Dolon Nor) in inner Mongolia, and on September 22, the East Chahar Special Autonomous Region (察東特別自治区) was established with Li Shouhsin as Chief Executive. In the same year, the princes of inner Mongolia requested Mongolian autonomy from the Nanjing National Government, and in April 1934, the Mongolia Political Affairs Committee was formed under the Republic of China, administering the provinces of Chahar and Suiyuan de jure. The chairman of the committee was Prince Yun (Yondonwangchug).
Li Shouxin expanded the territory of the Chahar Autonomous Region in December 1935 by occupying the six counties of northern Chahar. While Japan had been advocating for an inner Mongolian defection, the breaking point was reached in January 1936 when Fu Tsoi of the Shanxi Clique engineered the split of Suiyuan and Chahar into two different committees, and essentially established control of the Shanxi Clique over Suiyuan. With Prince Yun’s committee now relegated to only Chahar province, he resigned on January 8th. Then, in March of that year, Li Shouxin seized Pailingmiao in northern Suiyuan, the HQ of the Mongolian Political Council.
On May 12, 1936, the Mongolia Military Government (蒙古軍政府) was formed at Dehua (Huade) with the essential defection of the Chahar province to the Japanese side, merging with the East Chahar Autonomous Region. However, the Chahar princes maintained their position in the National Government’s council nominally, in a move to play off of both sides politically. Later that year, the government launched an offensive into Suiyuan to seize the province, but this backfired immensely and resulted in the loss of Pailingmiao to Shanxi. However, after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in July 1937, Japanese troops re-occupied Pailingmiao, and steadily covered more ground into Suiyuan.
The state was reorganized on October 28, 1937 as the Mongolian Federated Autonomous Government (蒙古聯盟自治政府) centered at Hohhot city, after the capture of the former and Paotou. The reorganized state was part of the Mongol Border United Committee (蒙疆聯合委員会), along with the governments of South Chahar and North Shansi which were formed around this time. In March 1938, Prince Yun died of illness and was succeeded as chairman by Prince De (Demchugdongrub).
The three autonomous governments of South Chahar, North Shanxi, and Mongolia were merged on September 1st, 1939, forming the Mongolia United Autonomous Government (蒙古聯合自治政府) at Zhangjiakou. When the Wang Jingwei-administered Republic of China was established in 1940, Mongolia was nominally incorporated into the regime on August 4th, 1941, and renamed the Mongolia Autonomous Federal Government (蒙古自治邦政府), but remained functionally independent. Ultimately, the Mongolian Federation administered the provinces of Chahar, Suiyuan, and northern Shanxi, with designs on Ningxia and outer Mongolia.
The Federation collapsed in August 1945 when the Soviet Union launched an invasion from outer Mongolia into Chahar and Suiyuan. After the downfall of his government, Prince De resided in Beiping (Beijing) for four years, and even formed a new autonomous government in Inner Mongolia until the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, after which he fled to outer Mongolia. In February 1950, Prince De was arrested and extradited to China, where he was charged with treason and imprisoned until his eventual pardoning in April 1963. After his release, Prince De was employed at a history museum in Hohhot until his death in 1966, at age 64.
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