Psychopath or Visionary? Who was Roman von Ungern-Sternberg?📜 World War I / Russian Revolution

Overview

Roman von Ungern-Sternberg was of Baltic-German nobility origin, served in the Imperial Russian Army, but fell in love with the far-east, its history and culture. He was convinced he was a descendant of Ghengis Khan, adopted a hybrid ideology of combined Buddhism, Christianity and Samurai influences, and led his clique of merciless Cossacks in brutal battle against the Bolsheviks. But not before conquering Mongolia, albeit for a brief while, and declaring himself its head of state. He waged a campaign of terror, without any mercy towards his opponents. Still, at the same time, according to historians, a modern-day independent Mongolia would not be possible without his activities. He became known as the Mad Baron in history books, an epitaph that is rather fitting for this larger than life character, whichever way you look at him.