Just Curious

Mongol Conquest

Imagine the largest land empire (both in terms of land mass and population) in human history, four times the size of the Macedonian Empire under Alexander the Great. Imagine how different nations and peoples from Koreans to the folks in Viennese suburbs were ruled by one man. Yes, I am referring to the Mongol Empire, founded by Genghis Khan, founding father of the Mongolian Nation and first emperor (proclaimed posthumously by his grandson Kublai) of the Yuan Dynasty of China.

This really is fascinating (in the neutral sense of the word). Here's an article that appeared on a 1997 issue of Miliary History. It's about the fateful encounter in 1241 between Mongolian light cavalry and European knights. After this battle the King of France admitted that he was in a really precarious position since there was no army of significance standing between him and the Mongolians anymore. Cracow was razed to the ground on Palm Sunday and Pest (the eastern half of Budapest) was burned down on Christmas. The Kings of Poland and Silesia were both slain and their heads displayed on pikes, and the King of Hungary had to seek refuge in Croatia. By 1242 the Mongolians were already celebrating New Year in Viennese suburbs.

I think what happened was that the Europeans at that time were trying (in vain of course) to fight a machine with men. The Mongol Army, taken as a whole, simply was not an aggregate of men, it was a machine, designed for mass killings. Whereas the Teutonic, Polish and French chivalric orders annihilated in these battles were mere aggregates of brave and skillful individuals, who of course could had never stood up successfully against a machine.

http://historymedren.about.com/library/prm/bl1mongolinvasion.htm

I think everyone who's interested in military history ought to look at the history of Mongol conquest. At least this was the opinions of Teddy Roosevelt, a self-avowed admirer of the Mongolian Khans (for their military genius, that is).

posted by James Chang @ 1:36 AM