Genghis Khan and the Mongolian Empire, the largest ever!

[Winston]

Here is a fascinating documentary about Genghis Khan and the beginning of the Mongolian Empire.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfIzYkuld5M

Most Westerners think that Alexander the Great was the greatest conqueror, but Genghis Khan's empire was far bigger than Alexander's, so in that sense, it can be argued that Khan was the greatest conqueror. He conquered nearly all of Asia, and after he died, his successors made his empire even bigger, conquering the rest of China, Russia and almost had Japan too, but typhoons sunk 1300 of their ships headed for Japan twice, thus saving the Japanese from being conquered. The Japanese called this miracle "Kamikaze" which is how that term came into being during WWII.

They also could have conquered Europe as well, but after defeating the Polish and Hungarian armies, had to turn back because their king had died, due to some stupid tradition. In every battle with slow moving medieval European armies though, the Mongols won easily without any contest.

Here is a documentary on the Mongol invasion of Europe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiLTX_2-560

I don't get how a group of nomads who live in huts on plains and have never even constructed any cities, could conquer nearly the whole world like that.

[gmm567]

You can play some of those battles on your computer. Midevil 2 Total War. It's quite something.
You can really see what those battles were like.

[wuming]

My Dad has often remarked that the Khan was the greatest military conqueror in history, but at least in the West, his legacy has been largely ignored by historians because of racism: Europeans don't want to consciously study and acknowledge that 7 centuries ago, some nomadic Asians had better strategy, better tactics, superior training, superb organization, deadlier weapons, faster logistics, and hellacious motivation outstripping any Western power.

But Westerners should just get over it - after all, Khan whupped China's armies too, and China was far more advanced than the Europeans at the time.

[gmm567]

Yes but the only thing they were good at was murdering people. They didn't establish anything of any lasting value because they developed nothing of any lasting value.

Yes they developed a few weapons that had a competitive advantage at that time. But really nothing more than that, no science, no economy, no legal instituitons, no civilization. They were just a vicious ,aggressive, stupid, barbaric bunch who enslaved the people who they conquered. Go meet them on the great wall of china....they haven't changed much at all since the 12 century.

[ladislav]

The springy rubber skin of East Slavic girls is because of Mongolian rapes. They raped, pillaged and spread the seed far and wide. Eventually, Ivan the Terrible chased them across the Urals, and now they are only 1.5 million people in a poor country with few if any resources. There won't be a recurrence of the Empire any time soon.

East Europeans will not be telling you that Alexander the Great was the greatest conqueror. They know very well it was Ghengiz. I for one, was never taught anything like that about Alexander.

So, Winston, do you mean to tell all the people here that Asian American men who head for Moscow or Kiev to get all these white girls are the new Ghenghiz Khans?

[Winston]

No of course I don't mean to say that. lol

I just wanted to show you all some interesting military history documentaries.

[momopi]

The springy rubber skin of East Slavic girls is because of Mongolian rapes. They raped, pillaged and spread the seed far and wide. Eventually, Ivan the Terrible chased them across the Urals, and now they are only 1.5 million people in a poor country with few if any resources. There won't be a recurrence of the Empire any time soon.

I think Mongolia has more than that now, they have pretty high birth rate.

In China, they divide the Chinese Mongolians into Mongols plus half a dozen sub-tribes that add up to maybe 7 million people. i.e. the Mongols that converted to Islam wanted to be categorized under their own (sub)group, rather than the overall Mongol nationality.

[Winston]

Mongol Empire gif map.

[Cornfed]

It is strange. The Mongols of that time were the supreme light cavalry. The open terrain and dry climate of the region they conquered was suited to light cavalry. Yet there are ways to counter light cavalry, but no-one employed them for hundreds of years. So strange.