The establishment of a state of Tibet can be traced back to 127 b.c.e., but what could be called modern Tibet began in the seventh century AD with the reign of King Songtsen Gampo. It is generally regarded that the introduction of Buddhism into the region caused the people to unite. They managed to avert conquest by Chinggis Khan’s Mongols by entering into an agreement that proved mutually beneficial. “The Tibetan Lama promised political loyalty and religious blessings and teachings in exchange for patronage and protection. The religious relationship became so important that when, decades later, Kublai Khan conquered China and established the Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368), he invited the Sakya Lama to become the Imperial Preceptor and supreme pontiff of his empire” (Van Walt van Praag, “Learn a Little About Tibet”). After 1250, once the Mongols conquered China and established the Yuan Dynasty, Tibet broke off relations. In 1652, the Dalai Lama became the religious and political leader of Tibet. Starting in 1644, he worked with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, agreeing to be the spiritual guide to the emperor. That was the only real tie between the Tibetans and the Chinese; there was nothing political. The emperor did, however, occasionally send troops to assist Tibet and the Dalai Lama, but always withdrew them when the threat was over.
In this time period Tibet was divided into three main provinces. U-Tsang was the western region, which held the national capital of Lhasa. The northern region was Amdo and the eastern was Kham, whose main city Champo served as a main access point into the country from China. Kham was the most independent-minded province, with most of its population herders or nomads who tended to govern themselves at the local level. When threatened from the communists later in time, they put up the strongest resistance.
While Tibet’s population and government are immersed in Buddhism, they are not entirely passive:
While Buddhist scriptures are predominantly pacifist, they are not exclusively so. The martial arts were created by Buddhist teachers. Buddhist nations have employed armed force for self-defense as much as other nations. The core principle of Buddhism is ahimsa, compassion for the suffering of others. In the views of many Buddhists, including the present Dalai Lama, ahimsa permits the choice to reduce the suffering of others by using violence, including deadly force, against the persons causing the suffering. (Kopel, “Tibet’s Armed Resistance”)
Thus, Tibet had soldiers that were not to be taken lightly, but they were too few in number to field a serious army.
Relations with China began to change when, in 1910, the emperor sent troops in order to control the country. They marched as far as the capital city of Lhasa and drove the 13th Dalai Lama into exile. This proved a brief incursion as the Qing Dynasty was overthrown the following year and the Chinese troops surrendered to the Tibetan army and were repatriated. From 1911 onward Tibet was independent, signing treaties with most neighboring countries. Relations with China, however, remained strained. In 1913 Britain offered to ease tensions by hosting a conference in Simla, India. “As the British delegation reminded his Chinese counterpart, Tibet entered the conference as an independent nation recognizing no allegiance to China” (Van Walt van Praag). The conference produced the Simla Convention, which would recognize Tibetan independence and guarantee its borders. While China refused to sign, the meeting did produce strong Anglo-Tibetan ties by expanding trade and agreeing that neither would recognize Chinese rights in Tibet unless they signed the accords.
In 1917–1918 Tibet beat back an invasion attempt by the new republican government, then recovered some territory it had lost in the Treaty of Rongbatsa. That was lost, however, when the Chinese army attacked and recovered the land in 1931–1932. As the Chinese civil war began, Tibet remained untouched. During World War II they also maintained their neutrality despite Allied pressure to allow supplies to pass through the country. Once the war was over and the civil war resumed, the Communist victory changed everything for Tibet. Communist leader Mao Zedong quickly aimed to bring the country under his control. The New China News Agency announced on New Year’s Day 1950 that the government’s goals were to “liberate” Taiwan, Hainan, and Tibet. Tibetan and Chinese representatives met in Delhi. The outcome was the Chinese demand for Tibet to surrender or be invaded.
This Chinese agreed to further talks to be held in Hong Kong, then under British rule. After long deliberations the London government would not give a Tibetan representative a visa, fearing that would make it seem Britain was part of the talks. Secretly, Britain and the United States discussed whether to supply aid to Tibet, but because of the terrain it would be very difficult. As India had just become independent as well, the two countries decided it was up to India if foreign aid could pass through their country. India was supposed to uphold the Simla Agreement but was hesitant to do so.
As all these diplomatic merry-go-rounds were taking place, Chinese forces were amassing on the Tibetan border. By September 1950 the time had come for action before winter set in. The Chinese strategy was to attack from the north, northeast, and east simultaneously and use superior numbers and more modern weaponry. They also had air power on a loan from Joseph Stalin. “Tibet’s formally organized military forces were small. As of the mid-1930s, Eastern Tibet had about ten thousand regulars and militia; half of them had modern British Lee-Enfield .303 bolt action rifles. In Lhasa there were less than a thousand soldiers plus 300 armed police. In most of the nation, defense was provided only by militia armed with matchlocks. Military training in general was desultory” (Kopel).
PLA soldiers marching toward Tibet in 1950.
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Photo via Wikimedia Commons.[Public domain.]
The invasion started on 7 October. While in many locations the Tibetans put up a good fight, they simply could not stand against overwhelming manpower. Tibetans had been raised to handle firearms and the soldiers and militias were much more deadly with their weapons, but simply did not have enough troops. News of the invasion did not reach Lhasa until the 12th, and the government tried their best to keep it a secret. In the east, where everyone knew what was happening, those without firearms joined the Buddhist monks in prayers since “only the gods could give Tibet victory--which was unanswerable--and they were doing their bit by praying. They would pray twice as hard, or rather twice as often, and that would be of more use than taking up arms” (Ford, Captured in Tibet, p. 112). On 25 October the Chinese announced through state media that Tibet’s 3 million people were being liberated.
In late October the Tibetan government appealed to Prime Minister Nehru of India to sponsor an appeal to the United Nations (UN). Nehru replied that they would support the appeal but not sponsor it. On 7 November a letter went to the Secretary General of the UN. “The well-drafted appeal stated that the problem was not of ‘Tibet’s own making’ and that ‘the Tibetans were racially, culturally and geographically far apart from the Chinese.’ It compared their situation with Korea” (Kopel, p. 14). After other countries also refused to sponsor the appeal, on 27 November El Salvador finally answered the call. When brought before the General Committee, Britain and India moved the appeal be postponed, saying “the Indian Government was certain that the Tibetan question could still be settled by peaceful means, and that such a settlement could safeguard the autonomy which Tibet enjoyed for several decades while maintaining its historical association with China” (Kopel, p. 15).
With fighting still occurring, Tibetan representatives finally went to Peking to present a 10-point plan for peace sent by the Dalai Lama (who had retreated into southern Tibet) and the government in Lhasa. China responded with a 17-point plan with a take-it-or-leave-it stance. With no chance of winning the war, Tibet under duress accepted the Chinese demands.
While the Seventeen Point Agreement for the most part sounds fairly harmless, the Chinese began ignoring it very quickly. It implies local rule under national guidelines, but China has rarely let that happen. When presented with the document, the Tibetan representatives signed it under duress but refused to affix the official national seal. The Chinese then made their own Tibetan seal and affixed it themselves. The officials in Lhasa did not know the document had been signed until they heard it announced on China’s radio. They wanted to protest, but the Chinese army was then at Lhasa.
The Chinese occupied the states of Amdo and Kham, incorporating them into neighboring Chinese states. U-Tsang was renamed the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and in that area things like local government and religious freedom remain relatively unharmed. As the communists began implementing “modernization” into their newly-acquired territories, the locals were not happy that they, too, should have the same rights. Thus, in 1956, armed uprisings took place. The Soviets once again loaned aircraft to the Chinese military and targets across the eastern provinces were bombed, including monasteries. As military pressure increased, many of the Tibetan guerrillas fled into the TAR and organized a more cohesive force. By 1959 the TAR declared Tibetan independence and the Chinese military once again invaded. After heavy shelling and bombardment, Lhasa surrendered. The Dalai Lama fled to India. From that point forward the Chinese have been in total control.
Recent unrest has shown that many Tibetans are still unhappy with the situation. “Tibetans have engaged in steady resistance that has ranged from mass protests to self-immolations. One hundred and fifty-seven Tibetans have self-immolated since 2009” (Lama, “The Seventeen Point Agreement”).
References:
Ford, Robert, Captured in Tibet (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990); Kopel, David, “Tibet’s Armed Resistance to Chinese Invasion,” Reason.com, 13 March 2022, reason.com/volokh/2022/03/13/tibets-armed-resistance-to-chinese-invasion-2/, 27 January 2023; Lama, Jigme Yeshe, “The Seventeen Point Agreement: Seventy Years of China’s Occupation of Tibet,” Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, Stanton Foundation, Ohio State University, May 2021, origins.osu.edu/milestones/seventeen-point-agreement-seventy-years-china-s-occupation-tibet, 27 January 2023; Shakya, Tsering, The Dragon in the Land of Snows: A History of Modern Tibet Since 1947 (New York: Penguin, 2000); Van Walt van Praag, Michael C., “Learn a Little About Tibet,” Official Students for a Free Tibet Website, University of Massachusetts, n.d., www.umass.edu/rso/fretibet/education.html, 27 January 2023.