Central Asia might seem unstable these days, with the semi-regular occurrence of a revolution or the violent suppression of an uprising. But gone are the days when you could take a capital city with a ragtag army of soldiers and mercenaries. In 1921, however, Baron Roman Ungern von Sternberg, known as the Bloody Baron, did just that when he captured Ulan Bataar in one of the strangest incidents of the Russian Civil War.


Von Sternberg was originally sent by the provisional government to help control the Russian Far East after the February 1917 Revolution. After the Bolsheviks took power in October, the Baron, while ostensibly a White Army general, played all sides. With funding from the Japanese, he did his best to hinder the operations of the Whites while fighting the Reds and still finding the time for brutal oppression of the local population.

But as the Red Army closed in on him, he took his 1700-odd man army south. The Baron had long held a fascination with eastern culture and Buddhism and headed to Mongolia in pursuit of a dream of uniting all the Far Eastern nations. At the time Mongolia was occupied by the Chinese. After making a couple of unsuccessful assaults on Ulaan Bataar the Bloody Baron used the art of deception against the Chinese in a maneuver that would make Sun Tzu proud. By surrounding the city and burning a huge number of camp fires he created the illusion of commanding a large army. The Chinese withdrew and the Bloody Baron entered the city and installed himself as dictator.

What ensued was a reign of terror with von Sternberg realizing his true propensity for pillaging and bloodletting. Apparently the Baron believed that if he murdered people they would be reborn as higher beings. He also seemed to think he was the reincarnation of Genghis Khan. Of course, it couldn’t last and six months after taking power von Sternberg was defeated by a Red Army force. Then, after some similar, short-lived shenanigans in Buryatia, he was finally captured and executed in Novisibirsk.

In spite of his atrocities von Sternberg is often seen as a liberator by Mongolians and was declared a Mahakala incarnation by the 13th Dalai Lama. His incredible story has for some reason mostly gone untold. However, producer Alexander Proshkin did announce plans to make a film about the Bloody Baron in the near future.

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