MongoliaEconomic Role
The army over the years has had a generally positive impact
on the national economy. Although the work-force shortages and
military expenses of World War II imposed austerity on personal
consumption and retarded social development and the economy's
civilian sector, many soldiers acquired valuable technical
skills. In 1934 the Choybalsan industrial combine with 1,500
workers was established to produce cloth, clothing, saddles,
harnesses, fur coats, and footwear for the army. By 1939 its
production almost completely supplied the army with clothing and
individual equipment. Beginning in the early 1950s, wartime
facilities turned to producing items both for the civilian sector
and for export
(see Light Industry
, ch. 3).
Transportation was another industry intended initially as
much for military as for civilian use. In 1929 the Soviet Union
aided in the establishment of Mongoltrans (Mongolian
Transportation), a transportation company with approximately 100
trucks and buses as well as a repair shop. Mongoltrans was a
paramilitary organization from the beginning; its personnel
received military training and transport was diverted to military
tasks on call. Air transport was established, in 1925, also with
Soviet assistance. In 1989 it was operated as part of the air
force both for military and for civilian use
(see Civil Aviation
, ch. 3).
The Military Construction Administration, developed out of
the Darhan Military Construction Project in the late 1950s,
continued in the late 1980s as a paramilitary organization under
the Mongolian army. Between 1981 and 1984, military construction
troops helped to establish the new city of Erdenet; they built
more than 1,000 installations and enterprises--including state
farms, a shoe factory in Ulaanbaatar, and an international camp
for young pioneers--for the civilian economy.
Soviet-made BMP-1 mechanized infantry
combat vehicles, from a train window
Courtesy Allen H. Kassof
Data as of June 1989
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