USSR – The Mongolian People’s Republic: cooperation in 1941–1945

The article is devoted to cooperation and mutual assistance between the USSR and the MNR in 1941–1945. The materials of the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the Russian State Archive of Economics, which are being put into scientific circulation, provide data on the amount of this assistance from both sides. The author considers specific measures of interaction between the countries. The Soviet Union fought a difficult war when there was a real threat to the country’s existence, but sought opportunities to support a faithful ally. This applied not only to the national economic complex of Mongolia, but also to the humanitarian sphere. When the Mongolian State University was opened, Mongolian students had the opportunity to receive higher education in cities of the Soviet Union, geological expeditions were organized, industrial enterprises and roads were built. The situation in the MPR was no less dramatic. The need to rely on internal resources has allowed the country to rebuild its national economic complex. Mongolia regularly provided assistance to the Red Army, many industrial enterprises in the country fulfilled special orders for the Soviet Union (for example, workshops for sewing warm clothes for military personnel), and many residents of the MPR donated blood. The documents revealed in the Russian archives made it possible to comprehend and evaluate the relations between the two countries due to historical, geopolitical and economic ties. The author comes to the conclusion that the fraternal ties, laid back in 1921, when the “Agreement between the Government of the RSFSR and the Government of the People’s Republic of Mongolia on the establishment of friendly relations” was signed, stood the test of wartime in 1939, and in 1941–1945.