This week in class we learned about the Mongols. The Mongols successfully invaded several counties. We started off class by briefly going over Genghis Khan’s family line and his succession. Genghis Khan’s first child was named Jochi and his second child’s name was Chaghadai. Both of them fought with each other for the succession of Genghis Khan. The actual successer was his third son Ogedei, then Guyuk, Mongke, and Khubilai.
The aspect of the Mongol’s invasion techniques that interested me the most was the use of psychological warfare. The mongols would invade and give an offer. They would essentially tell them “Let us in and we will spare your lives.” They could either let the Mongols in, or deny them. If the Mongols were denied entry, they would kill and conquer nearly everyone. They would always leave a person alive so that they could go to the next town or country and warn them about the Mongols and tell them to listen. If the Mongols were let in and listened to, they would take over whatever form of government was in place. They would keep the women and men who could join their forces and would kill any who defied them. People had to keep their word when dealing with the Mongols as well. The Tangut people promised to be an ally to the Mongols and to help them. When it came time for the Mongols to call on the Tangut, they said no. Much like every other denial to the Mongols, they destroyed the Tangut people.
The mongols successfully invaded and conquered several countries, however Japan was not one of them. One aspect of Japan that provided struggle for the Mongols is the water. The Mongols were used to using land rather than sea. Another reason the Mongols failed to invade Japan was Japan’s use of rocks to protect themselves. One of the Mongols’ invasion strategies was fire. If anyone denied them entrance into a town or country, they would simply burn their way in. The Japanese surrounded their land with a stone wall. Stones, unlike wood, don’t catch fire and crumble. Fire wasn’t a means of destruction in this case and it caused a major disadvantage for the Mongols.
