Planning in the Mongolian People's Republic

Abstract

The Mongolian People's Republic completed its Second Five-Year Plan in 1957. A Thus although it has been a Soviet satellite since 1921 it has had full-scale planning of its economy for only a decade.It is true that the Mongolian government had tried as early as 1931 to introduce ‘Five-Year Planning.’ But in that year it also tried to collectivize and settle the nomads who formed the bulk of its population. It further ordered the socialization of industry, handicrafts, transport, and trade. Finally it passed measures designed to liquidate the richer Mongols and lamas as a class. This program aroused such violent opposition that the government virtually lost its hold over the country and had to rely on Soviet tanks and airplanes to restore order. The Mongols resistance to their government's policy was probably encouraged by the general run of events in the Far East. In any case the presence of the Japanese on the Mongolian borders at the time demanded a swift resolution of the domestic crisis. The government, on regaining a grip on events, hastily abandoned its attempts to plan and to bring about sweeping social change.