How Successful Were The Mongols

Essay Assignment 9
The Mongols were a military machine that conquered many different areas and people. With the Mongol’s primary purpose for going after conquest being land, riches, and slaves they spread geographically far, this was only possible because of their successes. I will tell you my opinion on whether they left a lasting impact. First, let’s discuss their empire. The Mongol empire extended into north China and into Europe. There they took control of Moscow, Kievan Russia, and they looted cities in Poland and Hungry. Then, the Mongol conquered northwest into Iran and Baghdad. Later, the Mongols took the rest of China and controlled provinces in Korea to the east, destroying Yunnan and going further south taking what is now northern
Vietnam. That in itself is hard to picture, but think of this as the Mongol’s having the majority of the north eastern top half of the globe conquered. They ravaged through cities, as mentioned before, like a war machine. The passage from the book discusses how Chinggis Khan, the greatest Mongol leader, swept across China, “After the Mongol armies swept across north China in 1212-1213, ninety-odd cities lay in rubble. Beijing, captured in 1215, burned for more than a month.” (Page 298). The conquering was not all Chinggis though, his son Ogodei, and even Ogodei’s son, conquered along with many other Mongol leaders that lead to the vast empire the Mongols created, “Once Ogodei’s son was certified as his successor, the Mongols turned their attention to Persia and the Middle East. In 1256 a Mongol army took northwest Iran, then pushed on to the Abbasid capital of Baghdad.” (Page 299) Which leads me to my next point, how the Mongol’s were able to accomplish this. The Mongol’s were such a military force because of the way they ran their armies and the areas they conquered.
Even in the beginning Chinggis used military intelligence with his own people to break tradition, and created a non-tribal structure or a postal relay system to send messages immediately before conquering. Fear was just plainly casted in their enemies, such as Chinggis Khan using human shields, “He despised city dwellers and would sometimes use them as living shields in the next battle.” (Page 298). Then after conquering a city he would send envoys to other cities and demand submission. If they declined he would destroy them, if they accepted they would become allies and retain local power. Which was again military intelligence. The Mongols were in a way lackadaisical in ruling areas in the sense that they did not force Mongol traditions on people, only wanted them to pay. They had an aptitude for learning and taking the best of other cultures, “The success of the Mongols in ruling vast territories was due in large part to their willingness to incorporate other ethnic groups into their armies and governments. Whatever their original country or religion, those who served the Mongol’s loyally were rewarded.”(Page 301) Also, their ability to be nimble on horses and archery served them well. These were things that other countries and people were not able to excel at as well as the Mongols. Also tactics, weapons, and organization all gave the Mongols advantages, “Their horses were extremely nimble, able to change direction quickly, thus allowing the Mongols to maneuver easily and ride through infantry forces armed with swords, lances and javelins.” (301) As far as tactics they saw weakness and exploited them, “The Mongols made good use of intelligence and tried to exploit internal divisions in the countries they attacked.” (Page 301). The Mongols would also rule well, for instance regardless of who was in their army they would reward them well for fighting, “
Since, in Mongol eyes, the purpose of fighting was to gain riches, they regularly would loot the settlements and they conquered, taking whatever they wanted, including the residents,. Land would be granted to military commanders, nobles, and army units to be governed and exploited as the recipients wished.” (Page 301) They also used what was good from other cultures, like often moving skilled workers from cities to help the Mongols, and learning from the Chinese in a sense of taxing the people they conquered. They also used China’s catapults to conquer walled cities, things like that helped Mongols become successful in the war campaign. They also let Russian princes and lords keep their rule over territories as long as the paid tribute. Which leads me to my last point, whether the Mongols left a negative or positive impact. I would have to say they left a positive impact. Just like any powerful people who conquered the captive areas they learned from their style of fighting and adapted it later, which helped advance them as a people. Even though the Mongols in the book were said to help bring about the plague, “In retaliation, they purposely spread the disease to their enemy by catapulting the bodies of victims into the city of Kaffa.” (Page 304) they still used military genius to do that, and again that was a form of biological warfare which is used even today. Or things such as ideas and inventions were used from other cultures, “Chinese inventions such as printing, gunpowder, and the compass spread westward. Persian and Indian expertise in astronomy and mathematics also spread.” (Page 304) Mongols helped spread Islam so it helped religions as well. Not to mention the long distance trade flourished because of them, it did not help the slaves but again in those times the Mongols were not the only ones who participated in slavery. So to me, I believe they left a long lasting positive impact because thy helped spread ideas and showed great military genius, which was used later in history. So you can see that just by me explaining the Mongols vast empire, they were successful along with the reason I gave. To me, I feel that the Mongols left a positive impact in history. Some may not believe that, but again there were terrible people before and after the Mongols, plus everyone knows the name Chiggis Khan. So with that, the Mongol people are an impact in history regardless.
References:
John McKay, John Buckler, Patricia Buckley Ebrey, Roger Beck, Clare Crowston, Merry Wiesner-Hanks, 2013, Understanding World Societies, A Brief History, Volume 1: To 1600 (Pages 298-304), Boston, MA, Copyright © 2013 by Bedford/St. Martin’s