"Genghis Khan Making of the modern world" Topic

Of possible interest.
"In twenty five years the mongol Army subjugated more lands and people than the Romans had conquered in four hundred years. Genghis Khan together with his sons and grandsons conquered the most densely populated civilization of the 13° Century. Whether measure by the total number of people defeated, the sum of the countries annexed or by the total area occupied, Genghis Khan conquered more than twice as much as any other man in history. The hooves of the mongol warriors' horses splashed in the waters of any river and lake from the Pacific Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. At it zenith the Empire covered between 11 and 12 millons contiguous square miles, an area about the size of the African Continent and considerably larger than North America including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America and the islands of the Caribbean convined…"

link

Amicalement
Armand

The Mongols have been tarred by the same brush as the Huns -both not only conquered a vast empire, they manged to rule a polygot of nations with cultural & regilious tolerance – something many supposedly more 'adavanced' empires have failed to achieve. I am not saying they were perfect by any means, but then again they were not all bad. To achieve any empire you have had to step on somebody's toes…

Says the unbiased "Horsewarrior". Uh huh.

Quite right though…

The re-examination of the Mongols as tolerant and progressive empire builders as been developing for close to 30 years now.

In fact, the revisionist view of the Mongols has been well enough established that some are now starting to revise the revisionism. Dan Carlin's recent Hardcore History podcasts emphasizes the bloody path the Mongols carved across Asia and Europe. The Mongols didn't enjoy killing and conquering more than previous conquerors, but for a time in the 13th century, they were just better at it than anybody else.

Dan Carlin has a great podcast can't wait for "Wrath of the Khans IV"

Carlin's work on the Kahn is awesome to listen to. My take away was the amount of mass execution that took place. Enlightened? Tolerant? None of those words come to mind. I think he was all bad. If mass murder and terror is an acceptible means to accelerate any positive contribution to humanity it may be argued he accomplished….I'll pass. Living in fear and terror stinks now as much as it did back then. As Carlin points out if you asked the victims of the Khan today if what he accomplished was worth it what would they say? How much value does our opinion hold against theirs? The same could be said about any victim of any conqueror throughout time be it Alexander, Napoleon or the crackpots we have now. Romanticizing the "accomplishments" of such despots is a curious thing.

@JSchutt,
You're seeing history using modern values. Everyone had been using murder and terror for years before the Mongols, notably the Assyrians. Like the man said, the Mongols were just better at it.