Socio‑Economic Transformations in the first half of the 20th Century as the Foundation of the Modern Development of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, PRC

Introduction. In the first half of the 20th century, the territory of Inner Mongolia found itself in the thick of political and economic events and underwent a series of administrative‑territorial transformations. The socio‑economic effects of these transformations are still observable today, which undoubtedly represents high scientific interest for interdisciplinary research. Modern Inner Mongolia is a territory with unique ethno‑cultural and natural‑resource combinations, as well as industrial and agricultural features. The foundations of this were shaped by a multitude of external and internal factors in the first half of the 20th century. The goal of this article is an analysis of these factors as the prerequisites for the current economic‑geographical position of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Matherials and methods. The analysis of historical textual and cartographic materials that include new data on the processes that took place in Inner Mongolia in the first half of the 20th century are analysed in the article, on the formation of the territory’s economic structure, and on the historical prerequisites for the modern socio‑economic development of the region and the emergence of new large‑scale (global) infrastructure projects. An interdisciplinary approach based on the synthesis of scientific knowledge is relevant for addressing the research objectives in the study of this region. The combination of geographical and historical methods with source analysis has made it possible to reveal the features of the territorial economic structure and the relationships between its subsystems. Results. Among the external and internal factors thtat influenced the development of Inner Mongolia in the first half of the 20th century, it is necessary to include the transformation of nature and society against the backdrop of dynamic internal and external political processes, the implementation of major infrastructure projects and the active economic development of the territory, changes in administrative boundaries, and the formation of new administrative‑territorial entities accompanied by related migration and ethno‑cultural processes.

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