Most famous for their conquest and dominance of much of the Eurasian landmass in the 13th century under the leadership of Chingiz Khan, the Mongols proved an important military and administrative influence on many European and Asian civilizations. Mongol empires became increasingly fragmented and subsumed by local dynasties after the 14th century, ultimately leading to a period of control by the Chinese Qing Empire. Following the collapse of the Qing dynasty in the early part of the 20th century, Mongolia declared its independence, and with Soviet backing, a Communist government gained control of the country in 1924. Mongolia, as with many former Soviet satellites, found its political and economic prospects radically changed in 1991, and although the ex-Communist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) won elections in 1990 and 1992, it was defeated by the Democratic Union Coalition (DUC) in the 1996 parliamentary election. In the past decades, Mongolia has moved increasingly towards the West in its economic and political orientation, and under the reinstated MPRP has continued to encourage foreign business and aid investitures in the country's growing natural resource development and mining projects.