In Mongolia, he was called the "god of war" and a national liberator. After marrying a Chinese princess, he gained rights to the vacant throne of the dynasty. He considered himself a Russian monarchist, was related to the Romanovs, and descended from German knights and crusaders. His lineage spans over 750 years. He is still revered in Mongolia, and songs by famous rock bands are dedicated to him in his homeland.

This remarkable man was Baron Roman Fyodorovich Ungern von Sternberg.

Roman Fyodorovich was born in 1885 in the city of Graz, which was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At birth, he was given the triple name Nikolai-Robert-Maximilian. On his father's side, he came from a Baltic noble family, tracing its lineage back to Hans von Ungern, who lived in the 13th century. His mother was a German from Stuttgart.

In 1902, he entered the St. Petersburg Naval Cadet Corps, but with the onset of the Russo-Japanese War, he sought to go to the front. In 1905, he was enrolled as a volunteer in the 91st Dvina Regiment. The young baron managed to be sent to the front but arrived in Manchuria too late.

Upon returning to the capital, he graduated from the Pavel Military School and, as a cornet, joined the Transbaikal Cossack Army, where he found his calling and became one of the Cossacks. He slept on the floor among them and ate from a communal pot.

The baron had a penchant for scandals. In 1910, he participated in a duel and received a sabre blow to the head, after which he suffered from headaches for the rest of his life. Once, he crossed hundreds of versts on horseback through wild terrain as a bet, which earned him admiration from the Cossacks of his hundred.

Baron Ungern met World War I as a centurion. By his own request, he was transferred to the 34th Don Regiment, which fought in Galicia. Here, his military talent and sometimes excessive bravery shone particularly bright. During the war, he was wounded five times, awarded five times, and promoted to pod'yessaul, yessaul, and senior troops. There, he also met two future leaders of the White Movement, Wrangel and Semyonov, who was a long-time friend. Meanwhile, disaster loomed over the country.