Mongol Military
The Mongol military was broken up using the decimal system. Units were broken up into groups of 10,000 soldiers. Each group of 10,000 consisted of 10 units of 1,000, and each group of 1,000 consisted of 10 groups of 100, and each unit of 100 consisted of 10 groups of 10. The men got used to fighting with each other and the organization helped them move quickly and powerfully across a battlefield. Also, Chingis Kahn allowed his men to elect their unit leaders. This way the men in his army had leaders that were beloved by their men, and were the most successful. It also fed into Chingis’ meritocracy plan: The most qualified gets the job. By contrast, most militaries in Europe were commanded by royalty, which meant that the military leaders may not be very good.
Each military unit was quite independent, and so were individual soldiers. Each soldier’s survival depended on him and no one else. Every soldier had from 1- 5 horses. They wore Chinese silk under their tough but light leather armor. Though silk is soft and thin, its fibers are very strong. Sometimes arrows from enemies would get through the armor and even pierce the skin, but the silk would not break and the Mongol soldiers could pull it out during battle without stopping, and the wound would not get infected. Soldiers were given some food and water, but they mostly relied on themselves. Sometimes when the soldiers were thirsty and there was no water, they would have to drink the blood of one of their horses.
They carried battle axes and swords, but their most important weapons were their bows and arrows. The Mongols were incredibly accurate with their high-powered bows and arrows, whether they were on the ground, or riding on horseback.
In battle, the Mongols fought in complete silence. They were directed by flags and drums. They practiced the strategy of being cautious when the opponent was strong, and aggressive when the enemy was weak. The Mongols were very patient fighters, they would wear down an opponent and wait until the time was ripe to make a large attack.
The Mongols were also skilled at laying siege against their opponents. They invented many different things to defeat cities they were besieging such as catapults and cannons built to knock down walls. The Mongols were patient and once they got inside the city they would kill everyone inside.
Chingis Kahn learned many lessons when he was unifying the Mongol clans, before he built his empire, he used these lessons. Once when he was unifying the clans of Mongolia, he showed mercy to an enemy, and after several years, the enemy grew strong again and fought Chingis Kahn again. From that point on, Chingis vowed to never fight the same battle twice. When he began to build an empire he always gave people the choice: Join or die. Whenever any kingdom or group of people showed any type of resistance against him, he destroyed them completely, so that they would never be strong enough to fight him again. If people chose not resist them , the Mongols would try to become allies and would allow the men of the city to join their army. All over the world from Korea to Russia to Persia to India, Kahn is still regarded as a monster for what he did to people’s ancestors.
The Mongolian Empire: Part I
The region of Mongolia is part of the Asian Steppe. It is flat, cold, windy and dry for most of the year. It is hard to grow crops there because there is no good soil, there are few trees and the ground is mostly covered by short grasses.
Until the early 1200’s, the land known as Mongolia had been inhabited by nomadic hunters and farmers. The Chinese saw them as barbarians, and Qin Shih Huang Di had begun building the Great Wall of China to keep them out. These people were never united, there were a number of these “clans” and they were constantly at war. Because they were always at war, and moving, they became great warriors, and were able to fight and survive in all types of conditions. From time to time a clan would invade China and take their valuable goods and then leave.
By 1206, however, a man named Temujin, better known as Chingis Kahn, or Genghis Kahn had begun to conquer and unite the clans of Mongolia. His people had invented a new type of stirrup. This stirrup allowed his horseback warriors to be balanced and steady while they fought, and they could shoot arrows easily. He allowed the people of Mongolia to join him and he created a great army, of which, the world had never seen before.
First they attacked China. When they showed up outside of city walls, they would give the people inside a choice: Allow us to rule you, or we will kill everyone inside. Some did, and others did not. People throughout China began to fear these invaders and this weakened the Song Dynasty. Eventually the Mongols had control of all of China, they did not destroy it though…. They greatly admired the advanced cities and culture of the Chinese. Instead of being cruel to the Chinese and becoming the dictator of them, Kublai Kahn (Chingis’s grandson) started the Yuan Dynasty - - a Confucian dynasty ruled by Mongols.
After China, the Mongols spread West, their empire grew rapidly because of their fast, tough military, and people’s fear of them. They were lightning fast on horseback, and they were skilled at siege. Kingdoms as far west as Austria and Hungary became parts of the Mongolian Empire, and it became the largest land empire in the history of the world.
The empire was ruled by something called “Meritocracy”. Meritocracy is similar to Confucianism, it give job to the most qualified people. The Mongols would round up the best and smartest people, and have them rule different parts of the empire for them. Even in the Mongol military, the generals and leaders were elected by the soldiers. There were strict laws and a complex mail system. Also, with an empire this large going from east to west, trade boomed. People would not rob anybody along the trade routes because they feared the Mongols so much. This led to great cultural diffusion.
1.) How did the Mongols treat the Chinese? Why?
2.) How did the geography of Mongolia lead to their great empire?
3.) Put yourself in the shoes of someone the Mongols were going to conquer. Would you fight them or join them?
4.) What is Meritocracy? Do you think it can work?
The Fall of the Mongolian Empire
The world’s largest land empire fell for several reasons, some being internal, and others being external. Internal means that there were problems inside the empire with the leadership, external means that there were problems with others outside of the empire.
Internal Causes
The man that built the Mongolian Empire was named Temujin, but we know him as Chingis Kahn, or Genghis Kahn. Chingis Kahn means “Universal Leader”. When Temujin died, many knew his sons would become “Kahns” of the Mongol Empire. His grandson Kublai wad the last great Kahn. Many of the Kahns after Kublai were used to living the royal life and were not as tough and skilled as Chingis Kahn because they lived in palaces in China.
Also, after all of Chingis Kahn’s direct descendents died, many generals in the Mongol army thought that they should be made Kahn. The empire was then divided up between powerful generals and certain parts were stronger than others. Most Kahns began to care only about China and their Yuan Dynasty. This also put a stop to the growth of the empire because the different Kahns did not want to send their troops out to conquer more lands because they feared that the other Kahns would take their land while the army was away.
External Causes
The first major external causes were the two failed invasions of Japan. In 1274, Kublai Kahn set out to conquer Japan. He assumed it would be quite easy. He gathered an army of Koreans, Chinese and Mongols of around 50-100 thousand. The Japanese had only 10,000 samurai to fight them. However, on the short journey across the Korean Straight, a massive typhoon hit the invading force and laid them to waste before they could get to the Japanese mainland.
After 7 years in 1281, Kublai had rebuilt his army and was ready to take Japan. His forces landed on the Japanese beaches, but the Japanese had been ready this time. They were still greatly outnumbered and would have lost eventually, but for one day they were able to hold of the army. The Mongol army was forced to go back to their ships and wait until morning to attack again. In the night, another massive typhoon came and destroyed the second Mongol Army. Kublai Kahn stopped trying to attack the Japanese.
Also, the people that the Mongols had conquered began rebel against them. After several years under Mongol rule, they liked the meritocracy, but also had strong feelings of nationalism, which means that they missed running their own country and controlling their destiny.
Bit by bit, the kingdoms in the Mongol Empire started to fight back, and soon the Mongols discovered that they were overextended to fight all of them off. Most of the Mongols withdrew back to Mongolia and China.
The Mongol-Yuan dynasty in China lasted until 1368 when the Chinese took back control.
Using all that you know from this year:
1. What builds an empire?
2. What brings down an empire?
3. Can large empires last? Why? Why Not?
4. If you were an emperor how would you rule an empire like the Mongolian Empire to make sure that it would last?