the whole Mongol “empire” was a predatory and parasitic enterprise from the start. they had no grand political vision! no dream of setting up sustainable communities across Eurasia.the Mongols were engaged in their aggression for no other reason than for loot. they had no political or religious agenda motivating them. they had no interest in their subjugated populations except as a source of revenue. they had nothing to offer people but extermination or subjugation. Mongol aggression was totally unwarranted but they didn’t need a pretext for attacks other than loot. the excuse if you submitted
They did keep them alive most of the time.
The Mongol strategy was as follows: 1. Send merchants-they would act as ambassadors and spies. Ideally this would go well and they would be willing to broker a deal with tribute, trade, or alliance.
2. If the embassy is rejected or attacked, destroy a fortress or army.
3. After the first massacre, offer the terms again.
4. Every time the terms are refused, the city is sacked, with the peasants and aristocracy being slaughtered.
5. If the city first offers resistance then submits during the siege, sack it anyway; it has proven to be untrustworthy.
When the Mongols invaded a country, they gave the people a choice: surrender, or die. If the people surrendered and offered no further resistance, they were ruled by the Mongols and their vassals, sometimes in ways that were better than they had been ruled before. If, however, the people resisted, the policy was to wage total war, and often to exterminate the entire population. The Mongols deliberately inculcated ruthlessness in their soldiers, as well.
The Mongol strategy was quite effective, and resulted in stable Mongol governments throughout much of Asia, including China. However, in some p
As I understand it they did not butcher everyone. They mainly slaughtered people who had put up a good fight before being conquered.
That made perfect sense, awful as it sounds, because it made others so terrified that they might think twice about resisting when the Mongol hordes showed up at their doorstep.
And perhaps they occasionally killed people just because they could. That happens even today in wars.
Because they could rebel. Mongols know that so well - it’s their lifestyle. Backstabbing and Betrayal all the time. According to Mongols, revenge is an obligation. Mongols attack, they recuperate and attack back and the cycle goes on!
This video will help a lot!
What was the point of Mongols conquering other lands but not building or developing anything?
Although not the only reason, the main purpose of world conquest for the Mongols was primarily trade routes. They built —or improved dramatically— managed and maintained the best and most extensive in the world. Another main purpose was to keep men busy fighting outside rather than at home. But the main purpose was control of trade.
To do this, they also built astounding cities. Such as (off the top of my head) Sarai Batu/Berke and Ukek in the Golden Horde, and KhanBaliq/Dadu/Beijing and Shangdu/Xanadu in Yuan Dynasty China, Karakorum in Mongolia, among others. The Cities of the Golden Horde we
How ruthless were the Mongols actually?
Mongols were nomadic tribes of Central and North Asia, they gained a reputation of the destructive military force. Genghis Khan unified the Mongol and Turkic tribes and conquered all the territories, they could reach.
They conquered regions of Northern China, Xia and Jin dynasties. They went on what was referred to as path of destruction and butchered many peoples.
The combination of advanced warfare technology (that included stirrups, heavy arsenal, specifically gun powder) and complex military structure brought about the demise of many dynasties.
They terrorised people with their ferocious noma
Why did Mongols butcher the people they conquered, unlike other conquerors, who taxed them, learned from them, adopted their technologies, intermarried with them?
the whole Mongol “empire” was a predatory and parasitic enterprise from the start. what drove them was in Genghis Khan’s mission statement. to kill people, steal their stuff and rape their women. no grand political vision! no dream of setting up sustainable communities across Eurasia. the Mongols were engaged in their aggression for no other reason than for loot. they had no political or religious agenda motivating them. they had no interest in their subjugated populations except as a source of revenue. they had nothing to offer people but extermination or subjugation. “Pacification Through Ex
Why were the Mongols so savage and cruel during their conquests? Were there any records of Mongol soldiers refusing to carry out orders based on morality?
Pure pragmatism. They were massively outnumbered by their enemies. Therefore, they had to demonstrate to their enemies that they would lose everything if they failed to submit, or worse still, rebelled after submitting.
Cities that surrendered and paid tribute could expect to survive. It was no bed of roses. The Mongols would still plunder, they would draft young men into their armies, take young women as wives, and take members of the nobility into their growing bureaucracy. But, most of the people would live, and keep their homes.
But, no mercy would be shown to those who offered resistance. E
Why did Mongols butcher the people they conquered, unlike other conquerors, who taxed them, learned from them, adopted their technologies, intermarried with them?
They didn’t. They DID tax them, adopt their cultures and religions, and intermarried with them. Cities and armies were butchered, but even then many were spared. There’s even stories about when Genghis Khan began to switch to conquest rather than slaughter early in his career when he was told he’d get richer and become loved that way.
The Mongols were an ethnic minority in their own empire, and their empire split along national lines-the Persian, the Chinese, etc.
Every empire in history, including the Mongols, used both massacre and tolerance-the carrot and the stick. Resist and die, cooperate
.jfif)
