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Baron Ungern travelling across the Mongolian steppe

Edmond Busquets

 

Roman von Ungern-Sternberg, often referred to as the “Mad Baron,” was a Baltic German nobleman and military officer known for his unconventional and brutal tactics during the Russian Civil War. Ungern-Sternberg belonged to a Baltic German aristocratic family that served the Russian Empire. His genealogy included corsairs and knights of the Teutonic Order.

Ungern-Sternberg pursued a military career, attending the Naval Cadet Corps and later the Pavlovsk Military School in St. Petersburg. He participated in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905) and World War I, earning a reputation for courage and ruthlessness. After the Russian Revolution, he joined the anti-Bolshevik White Army and became a key figure in the struggle against the Red Army in Siberia and Mongolia. 

He was an eccentric character, not very talkative, not a drinker and very cultured. His vision of the world was that it had fallen into a great decline, culminating in the dangers of the Bolshevik revolution.

Ungern-Sternberg had strong mystical and religious interests, particularly in Tibetan Buddhism and Mongolian shamanism. He believed in the restoration of monarchies in Asia and sought to establish a pan-Mongol empire, envisioning himself as a reincarnation of Genghis Khan. In 1921, he captured Mongolia’s capital, Urga (now Ulaanbaatar), and installed Bogd Khan as a monarch, briefly establishing his rule in the region.

However, his reign was marked by violence, chaos, and terror. His forces were eventually defeated by the Red Army, and he was betrayed and captured. Ungern-Sternberg was executed by firing squad on September 15, 1921, in Novosibirsk, Soviet Russia. 

According to the 13th Dalai Lama, Roman Ungern von Sternberg was the reincarnation of a mahakala, a destructive god.