There were pro-independence movements in 1911 against the colonization policy of the late Qing dynasty. Finally, the Mongolian People's Party took power in Mongolia in 1921 with the help of the Soviet Union, after White Russian and Chinese forces had been expelled.
In 1924, the party renamed itself the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party. Over the following decades, Mongolia was always very closely aligned with the Soviet Union.
On 28 November 1989, at the end of a speech at the Young Artists' Second National Congress, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj said that Mongolia needed democracy and appealed for youth to collaborate to create democracy in Mongolia.
In late December, demonstrations increased when news came of Garry Kasparov's interview to Playboy, suggesting that the Soviet Union could improve its economic health by selling Mongolia to China.
On the morning of 10 December 1989, the first open pro-democracy public demonstration occurred in front of the Youth Cultural Center in Ulaanbaatar. There, Elbegdorj announced the creation of the Mongolian Democratic Union. There the Democratic Union-first pro-democracy movement in Mongolia was born.
On 2 January 1990, Mongolian Democratic Union began distributing leaflets calling for a democratic revolution. When the government did not comply with this and later, more aggressive demands, demonstrations occurred.
On 14 January 1990, the protesters, having grown from three hundred to some 1,000, met on square in front of Lenin Museum which was named as Freedom Square since then in Ulaanbaatar.
A demonstration on Sükhbaatar Square on 21 January (in weather of -30 C) followed the Freedom Square demonstration.
After numerous demonstrations of many thousands of people in the capital city as well as provincial centers, on 4 March 1990, the MDU and three other reform organizations held a joint outdoor mass meeting, inviting the government to attend. The government sent no representative to what became a demonstration of over 100,000 people demanding democratic change.
On March 7, 1990, on Sükhbaatar Square, Democratic Union launched a hunger strike of ten urging that the communists to resign. Hunger strikers number increased and thousands supported them. Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party(MPRP) (present Mongolian People's Party)'s Politburo – the authority of the government eventually gave way to the pressure and entered into negotiations with the leaders of the democratic movement Mongolian Democratic Union.
Jambyn Batmönkh, chairman of Politburo of MPRP's Central Committee decided to dissolve the Politburo and to resign on 9 March 1990. Behind the scenes, however, the MPRP had seriously considered cracking down on the protesters, writing a decree that was left to be signed by the party leader Jambyn Batmönkh.
Elbegdorj announced the news of Politburo resignation to the hunger strikers and to people who'd gathered on Sükhbaatar Square at 10 PM after the negotiations between leaders of MPRP and Mongolian Democratic Union. The hunger strike stopped.
Following the 1990 Democratic Revolution in Mongolia, Mongolia's first free, multi-party elections for a bicameral parliament were held on 29 July 1990.
The People's Great Khural (upper house) first met on 3 September and elected a president (MPRP), vice president (Social Democrat), prime minister (MPRP), and 50 members to the Baga Hural (lower house). The vice president was also chairman of the Baga Khural.
In November 1991, the People's Great Khural (Parliament) began discussion on a new constitution.
The new constitution entered into force on 12 February 1992. In addition to establishing Mongolia as an independent, sovereign republic and guaranteeing a number of rights and freedoms, the new constitution restructured the legislative branch of government, creating a unicameral legislature, the State Great Khural (SGK).
The constitution was amended in 1992. The first election win for the democrats was the presidential election of 1993, when the opposition candidate Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat won.
A Democratic Union Coalition co-led by Democratic Party chairman Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj for the first time succeeded in winning the majority in the 1996 parliamentary elections.