The level of "alliance" is actually equivalent to "region" and "special area", but Inner Mongolia, an institutional system inherited from the Qing Dynasty, basically coincides with the two levels of the current system, so proper names are preserved. The two levels mentioned here are the League (region, jurisdiction) and the flag (county).
When the "alliance" first appeared, there were generally more restrictions than today. Only the princes of each flag hold real power, and the leaders of the alliance often only play an intermediary role in the economic, social and military exchanges of each flag. And in history, it is often the flag owner or big noble who is elected as the leader. Therefore, a set of institutions of the alliance naturally "spoke" for the upper level of the feudal banner.
This situation did not change significantly during the Republic of China. It was not until the founding of New China that the old relations of production and concepts began to be cleaned up. As a ready-made and effective means to govern the vast land in Inner Mongolia, "Union" has received unprecedented attention. While promoting the "special zone" in the mainland, the central government consolidated its political power by rectifying and standardizing the organizational system of the League.
Some Union flags that were frequently replaced in the early days were either abolished or merged, and the territory shape of the East-West Union flags is similar to today's. In the following 30 years, the territory of Inner Mongolia changed repeatedly, reaching the minimum in 1974, and only governed Hohhot, Baotou, Uda, Haibowan, Xilin Gol League, Wulanchabu League, Bayannaoer League and Yikezhao League.
Six prefecture-level units that have left trade unions to build cities have a decisive influence in Inner Mongolia. Inner Mongolia has a population of 23 million, and these six prefecture-level cities account for nearly160,000 people. The total area of Inner Mongolia is1180,000 square kilometers, and the total area of these six cities accounts for half. Today, many important economic and industrial belts and points in Inner Mongolia are distributed in this area, and several emerging fast-developing areas have correspondingly promoted the development of the eastern and western parts of this area. These six regions with relatively developed economy and society left the Union to build cities, which fundamentally changed the traditional division of Inner Mongolia. After these changes, in addition to the existing three cities of Hohhot, Baotou and Wuhai, there are only three leagues left in Inner Mongolia-Alashan League, Xilin Gol League and Xing 'an League.