1929 Tuvan coup d'état

The 1929 Tuvan coup d'état took place in the Tuvan People's Republic, during the Interwar period. Tuva, today a federal subject of Russia, had been Chinese territory from the Yuan dynasty up until the Wuchang Uprising of 1911 when Tsar Nicholas II of Russia annexed the region. A nominally independent state was formed, which after the Russian Revolution—during the Russian Civil War—came to be occupied by both the Red Army, the White movement and the Republic of China. After retaking it from the Chinese, the Russian Bolsheviks established Tannu Tuva on 14 August 1921 as another nominally independent state.

Tannu Tuva, renamed the Tuvan People's Republic a few years later, was ruled by the Tuvan People's Revolutionary Party, and was recognized by only the Soviet Union (USSR) and the Mongolian People's Republic. The population, numbering roughly 300,000 at the time and largely nomadic, adhered mainly to Tibetan Buddhism ("Lamaism") and Tengrism, and lived under feudal conditions. Its first Prime Minister was Donduk Kuular, a Buddhist monk. Formally independent, the country (which suffered continuous political unrest and several anti-Bolshevik rebellions) was viewed abroad as a Soviet satellite state. Despite this Prime Minister Donduk enacted distinctly non-Soviet policies, heavily leaning towards theocracy in opposition to the state atheism of the contemporary USSR. In 1928 a law was passed making Lamaism the official state religion, and legally restricting the production and distribution of anti-religious propaganda. Donduk, who opposed the influence of Joseph Stalin and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on his country, also favoured the introduction of religious education for all Tuvan youths.

...
Wikipedia