Coup Atlas Research Database
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71212171964ConspiracyPalace coup

Mongolia, 1964 — palace coup conspiracy

Mongolia (MNG)East Asia, AsiaDecember 17, 1964

Event Summary

This entry, coded as a palace coup on 17 December 1964, corresponds to the purge of the so-called Lookhuuz-Nyambuu-Surmaajav anti-party group in the Mongolian People's Republic. At a Central Committee plenum in December 1964, three members who handled economic issues, Tsogt-Ochiryn Lookhuuz, Baldandorjiin Nyambuu and Bandiin Surmaajav, argued that living standards were declining and criticized the party's petit-bourgeois attitude. Party leader Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal, the de facto ruler of Mongolia and a close ally of the Soviet Union, branded them an anti-party group, expelled them from the party, and sent them into internal exile.

This was one in a series of Tsedenbal purges of rivals and critics that had earlier removed Dashiin Damba in 1958 to 1959, Daramyn Tomor-Ochir in 1962 and Luvsantserengiin Tsend in 1963. Unlike the mass killings of the 1930s, Tsedenbal's method was bloodless repression through demotion, expulsion and banishment to remote provinces.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Tsedenbal remained in power and consolidated control; the anti-party group was expelled and internally exiled, not executed
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal (de facto leader, purger)
Tsogt-Ochiryn Lookhuuz, Baldandorjiin Nyambuu, Bandiin Surmaajav (the anti-party group)

Sources

At a Central Committee meeting in December 1964, Lookhuuz, Nyambuu and Surmaajav argued that living standards were declining and criticized the party's petit-bourgeois attitude; Tsedenbal named them an anti-party group, expelled them and had them internally exiled.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal open source ↗
Tsedenbal purged his political rivals in sequence: Dashiin Damba in 1958 to 1959, Daramyn Tomor-Ochir in 1962, Luvsantserengiin Tsend in 1963 and the Lookhuuz-Nyambuu-Surmaajav anti-party group in December 1964.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: Mongolian People's Party open source ↗
Tsedenbal orchestrated the purge of three Central Committee members at a party plenum in December 1964 to preempt challenges amid tensions exacerbated by the Sino-Soviet split.
SOURCE REVIEWED Grokipedia: Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal open source ↗
The 1990 MPRP Central Committee later rehabilitated Tsedenbal's old enemies, including Tomor-Ochir, Lookhuuz, Nyambuu and Surmaajav, and stripped Tsedenbal of his titles.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal open source ↗

Editorial Note

Coded date 17 Dec 1964 falls within the December 1964 Central Committee plenum that purged the anti-party group. Verified as an intra-party purge (coded palace coup); it was an internal factional removal rather than a coup in the classic sense, and no violence was involved. First Mongolia record in the run.

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
71212171964

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Tsedenbal remained in power and consolidated control; the anti-party group was expelled and internally exiled, not executed.

Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation

Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

Journal of Cold War Studies

“Mongolian Politics in the Shadow of the Cold War: The 1964 Coup Attempt and the Sino-Soviet Split,” Vol. 8, No. 1 (Winter 2006) pp. 95-119

Inner Asia

“Review: Power Struggle in Socialist Mongolia: Review of Two Political Memoirs,” Vol. 7, No. 2 pp. 275-284

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

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