I did great in history, but still, Mongolia under Communism was hardly discussed and the time frame where I was on that course was the winter 2010 semester, a few years ago. The details weren’t gotten into. Now maybe I could have found the option for one of the papers, but it didn’t appear common. I couldn’t extrapolate and say that my course reflects on what the history courses in general cover. But it just appeared that way.
The only thing I ever remember learning about Mongolia was that Chinggis (Ghengis) Khan was a Mongolian who conquered much of the known world, and that many people trace their ancestry back to him. Because I had a Russian student several years ago who told me that many Russians would visit Mongolia, I suspected that it might have been a member of the Soviet bloc, but I had to verify that suspicion with further research.
During the 300 years that China occupied Mongolia, the Chinese were brutal about putting down any kind of rebellion, using torture and murder to enforce their rule. In 1921, Sukhbator visited the USSR and asked for help against the Chinese. The USSR sent soldiers, and with that help, Mongolians managed to free the northern provinces, the area now known as Outer Mongolia. They remain grateful to the Soviets to this day. And that is despite the purges in the 1930s, where the Soviets destroyed almost all of the Buddhist monasteries and murdered hundreds of monks.
My guide asked about the relationship between South Korea and America, because she sees Korean TV shows where the characters often talk about America. After I explained to her how we helped South Korea when North Korea invaded, she said, "Oh, so it's because you helped South Korea the way the Soviets helped us!" I could not disagree with that assessment.
When I went to school, history was about ancient Greece and Rome, America, California, and Japan, as well as Japanese culture (we spent a whole school year studying Japan). Either the rest of the world did not exist, or I slept through it (I hated history).