An Analysis Of Soviet’s Tibet Policy(1919-1935)

After World War I Tsarist regime collapsed, but the Great Game of Russia and the United Kingdom in Central Asia was not over, and Tibet was a key area of contention between the two countries.The Soviet Union had a special geopolitical strategic position in the Tibet region. After the October Revolution the Tsarist regime finally collapsed. In order to continue to resist the influence of the British imposed on Tibet, after the Bolsheviks came to power, the Soviet Union was struggling to restore contact with Tibet.After World War I, the active period of Soviet’s Tibet policy was from 1922 to 1928.In the meantime, in order to resume contact with Tibet and draw Tibet over to Soviet’s side, the Soviet Union used religious traditional ties with Tibet, employed Agvan Dorzhiev as their chief mediator with Tibet’s ruler, and sent three missions included Buryat and Kalmyk people to Tibet. Afterwards Soviet tried to draw Tibet over to its side with trade means, and then Tibet-Russia relations warmed up. But in the late 1920 s and early 1930 s, the shock of the domestic situation—the Great Purge, the change of political situation in Tibet—the public contradiction between Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama, and interference of external forces made Soviet’s Tibet policy lose its drive force, and it terminated finally. The Soviet Union did not establish an official contact with Tibet all the time.Tibet has been an inalienable part of the Chinese territory since ancient times. All imperialist’s aggression against Tibet, the ethnic separatist forces and the support of the Dalai Lama XIV is a violation of our sovereignty.