s foreign complications could not be faced in
view of her domestic embarrassments.

Consequently on November 5, 1913, there was concluded a
Russo-Chinese agreement wherein Russia recognized that Outer Mongolia
was under the suzerainty of China, and China, on her part, admitted
the autonomy of Outer Mongolia. The essential element in the
situation was the fact that Russia stood behind the Mongols with money
and arms and China's hand was forced at a time when she was powerless
to resist.

Quite naturally, Mongolia's political status has been a sore point
with China and it is hardly surprising that she should have awaited
an opportunity to reclaim what she considered to be her own.

This opportunity arrived with the collapse of Russia and the spread
of Bolshevism, for the Mongols were dependent upon Russia for
material assistance in anything resembling military operations,
although, as early as 1914, they had begun to realize that they were
cultivating a dangerous friend. The Mongolian army, at the most,
numbered only two or three thousand poorly equipped and
undisciplined troops who would require money and organization before
they could become an effective fighting force.

The Chinese were not slow to appreciate these conditions and General
Hsu Shu-tseng, popularly known as "Little Hsu," by a clever bit of
Oriental intrigue sent four thousand soldiers to Urga with the
excuse of protecting the Mongols from a so-called threatened
invasion of Buriats and brigands. A little later he himself arrived
in a motor car and, when the stage was set, brought such pressure to
bear upon the Hutukhtu and his Cabinet that they had no recourse
except to cancel Mongolia's autonomy and ask to return to their
former place under Chinese rule.

This they did on November 17, 1919, in a formal Memorial addressed
to the President of the Chinese Republic, which is quoted below as
it appeared in the Peking press, under date of November 24, 1919:

"We, the Ministers and Vice-Ministers [here follow their names and
ranks] of all the departments of the autonomous Government of Outer
Mongolia, and all the princes, dukes, hutukhtus and lamas and others
resident at Urga, hereby jointly and severally submit the following
petition for the esteemed perusal of His Excellency the President of
the Republic of China:--

"Outer Mongolia has been a dependency of China since the reign of
the Emperor Kang Hsi, remaining loyal for over two hundred years,
the