The Magnificent Genghis Khan

This paper is going to show certain aspects that the mongols used to build their magnificent empire in human history. My paper will explore the mongols and the great Genghis Khan and how they rose to such an extraordinary empire. Some of the topics will include their way of life and how it affected their ability to invade and conquer. Another main point I will address is their military, and the fear tactics they used to invade and conquer.

The mongol empire was founded by the great Genghis Khan.

Before he was given the title the great Genghis Khan he was known as Temujin. Temujin was an illiterate nomad and as a child was an outcast. He came from a family of nomads and lost his father at a young age. Temujin and his family struggled to survive for most of his childhood life. This made him different from most of the rulers and empires he conquered. Most rulers were well educated, wealthy and were not nomadic in any sense.

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After Temujin's father died he killed his brother so he was now next in line to rule his family and tribe. This was the beginning of his power.

Temujin had became the great Genghis Khan in 1206 AD. He was a fantastic military leader who led the Mongols to be the greatest empire the world has ever seen. They brutally conquered and united twenty or more countries. Among the lessons he learned growing up in a brutal nomadic clan, he learned how to take any possible advantage over his enemies.

This included letting those he seeked to conquer know just how powerful his forces were and how brutal his empire could be to his foes.

Genghis Khan had his klan be nomadic possibly because this was how he raised so he stuck to what he knew. This gave the mongol empire certain advantages over other empires . One main advantage being they could easily move their klan from place to place. Another important advantage might have been the most important concerning the mongols way of life. This important advantage was the mongols ate mostly meat. This meant they could survive on little to no food. “The mongols were known to be able to survive on little food and water for long periods”(Weatherford, Jack, Genghis Khan p.87) This gave the Mongol military an advantage almost nobody else had. This allowed them to be stronger and travel further. They didn't need to stop as often to eat and rest.

The next important point is the mongols had an excellent military, possibly even the best the world have ever known. They had tactics and Ideas that were very different from other ancient armies. Their tactics concerning movement and formation were quite advanced and unique to their army. The first idea being the mongol empire “consisted entirely of cavalry armed rider without a marching infantry.

Other armies the majority of warriors would be on foot.”(Weatherford, Jack, Genghis Khan p. 86) This idea gave them a great advantage on other armies. On horses they were quicker and had the advantage of being off the ground. The second great advantage that the mongols had was they traveled very light. Being nomadic meat eaters, they didn't have a huge supply in tow other than the horses that the warriors rode upon.(Weatherford, Jack, Genghis Khan p.86) This allowed them to travel much longer and farther than the average ancient army.

The formation of their army was also very unique. They spread out over a vast area to allow the outer extremities of the pack hunting opportunities. Since they didn't carry a surplus of food hunting on the move was a great idea this allowed them to continue moving forward but still allow them to hunt. Instead of hierarchy Genghis Khan organized his men into circles around him. Genghis Khan would ride in the center of the pack with a bit of his army at each side and in front and behind.

This was also a great idea and not something anyone else did and it proved to be an impacting factor on the mongols success when invading. This gave the mongols “more ground to cover, hunting opportunities, and keeping their leader in the middle safe from harm's way.”(Weatherford, Jack, Genghis Khan p.87) The circle idea of military formation was most definitely one of the key concepts that led the mongols to their massive 12 million miles of contiguous square miles of empires they conquered and people they controlled.(McLynn, Frank, The brutal brilliance of Genghis Khan)

The mongols tactics when invading also played a major role in their success. They had a surrender or die policy that they used and it proved to be most useful.(McLynn, Frank, The brutal brilliance of Genghis Khan) They used brute force but also gave a chance to the people to surrender. Once they surrendered they were allowed to join the mongols and live in peace. The great Khan even went as far as allowing them and their family to stick together. This impacted the empire by allowing it to grow in numbers. This made the captive countries people feel welcome and free, which in turn quite possibly gave the mongols a decent reputation. Which leads one to believe this was a great impact on the success that was the magnificent mongol empire.

The very last point this paper will make is about how the mongol empire was also known to use fear tactics when invading. They were again one of the first if not the first army to use fear tactics. Genghis Khan's army was quick on their feet and their minds, using psychological warfare to escape when other armies snuck up on them. “even when routed or pursued by a determined enemy, the Mongols employed still more tricks with which to save themselves. If they were surprised and overtaken while on patrol, they usually carried some valuable items with them to strew on the ground as they escaped.

The enemy invariably broke ranks to retrieve the goods….this allowed them to escape. They also threw sand in the wind or tied tree branches to their horses tails to whip up dust in order to obscure their movements or to make the pursuers think that the Mongols were in much greater numbers than they actually were. (Weatherford, Jack, Genghis Khan, p.96) This was brilliant and a great tactic and key to the success of the brutal Mongol empire.

In conclusion the Great Genghis Khan who was an illiterate nomad had the largest empire the world has ever seen. He conquered and united twenty or more countries. This was something that had never been done before and has not been done since. The man led the Mongol army to be the greatest most powerful army the world has ever seen. “In conquest after conquest, the Mongol army transformed warfare into an intercontinental affair fought on multiple fronts stretching across thousands of miles.”

The controlled 12 million contiguous square miles.(Weatherford, Jack, Genghis Khan, p.xvii) This illiterate nomad did this by being an innovative war leader, using tactics and ideas no one else in the world had ever used. In my opinion he was magnificent and most definitely the most powerful leader to ever walk this earth. He might have a scared child, an illiterate nomadic outcast but in the end he proved himself to be quite the innovative war genius. There is no other leader you can name throughout history who rose from the nomadic way of life and took over half the world.