Shifting Global Power: The Mongols

Essential Question:

What was the role of the Mongols in world history?

Again, we will try to disentangle popular perceptions versus history. The Mongols are a favorite topic of video-gamers and Hollywood. They are usually depicted as ruthless , blood-thirsty warriors. But is there more to the story? Let’s investigate.

First we will look at how video games misrepresent many cultures–a new form of “Orientalism” in the tradition of Edward Said? Remember our unit on stereotypes of Islam?

For a related video, click here.

Click here for a Mongol Video Game and here.


Hollywood’s Version of the Mongols

WE WILL DISCUSS THESE POPULAR IMAGES OF THE MONGOLS IN CLASS.


Second, as a warm-up exercise to the full essay, we will put Genghis Khan on trial.

Here is the question:
Genghis Khan, vicious barbarian or unifier who paved the way for the modern world?

After watching the video below and taking careful notes, answer the question above in the comment section of this post (called “Leave a Reply,” below-you will need to scroll down). Take your time. Spell-check and proof your work. Write it in Microsoft Word first–don’t post your first draft! Write a draft and then take a 10 minute break, go get a coffee etc., then come back and look at your paragraph again. Edit, add to it, etc, then post it.

REMEMBER TO SCROLL DOWN TO LEAVE A REPLY–IE. YOUR CAREFULLY CONSTRUCTED PARAGRAPH ON THE QUESTION RE: GENGHIS KHAN ABOVE.


 

The Final Assessment for this unit is the essay.

Your 3-5 page essay must answer our essential question.

Essential Question: What was the role of the Mongols in world history?

We will go over essay writing, using the writing guide posted below. You should expect to write multiple drafts of this essay. Writing takes patience and hard work. Here is the rubric I will be using to rate your essay click here.

Use the sources provided (below) for this unit to write your essay. No need to research this topic; that will come later in the year.

Sources:

Stop at roughly 34 minutes–after the section on the Mamluks., skip the section on Venice.

Here is another way to look at it (click here).

Click here to go back to the main page of World Civ II.

37 thoughts on “Shifting Global Power: The Mongols

  1. John Murnane says:

    Post your paragraphs about the video “History Versus Genghis Khan” below, in the the window underneath the heading “Leave a Reply” please. Keep scrolling, you will see the reply window. Answer this question: What do you think, was Genghis Khan a vicious barbarian or a unifier who paved the way for the modern world? Or some combination of both? Again, write a paragraph with a thesis (that answers the question) and give specific proof for all of the points needed to support your thesis. Proof read it etc. Do a careful job; this counts towards your grade.

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  2. Zach Zides says:

    In my opinion I think Genghis Khan was a vicious barbarian rather than a unifier who paved the way for the modern world. In Mongolia Genghis Khan is basically considered a God but what we think of him is a Mongolian military leader.

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    1. John Murnane says:

      Zach this does not look like a complete paragraph. Did you follow directions? Watch the whole video and take notes? Etc. I expect this to take anywhere from 30-40 minutes to do it right folks!

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    2. Zach Zides says:

      In addition to my original post: To show that he is a vicious barbarian is that his military campaign killed millions. He wiped out entire cities. He whipped people and used prisoners as human shields. 40 million people were killed during his time. That is 10% of the worlds population. When his people died because of the plague he catapulted there dead bodies over a wall.

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  3. Kate Yarber says:

    I believe that he was a vicious ruler. Genghis Khan could be ruled as a noble hero in the Mongols eyes because he made his empire thrive on the burned bridges of Eurasia. He killed 2/3 of N. China’s population and killed 40 million people across Eurasia, 10% of the population not including casualties from sickness. He killed more people in Eurasia to benefit less people in his empire. Cities and groups were burned down and left in destruction, making the people surrender. His empire would use prisoners as human shields, and engine seizes. This type of act against humanity is ruthless. He sacrificed a large percent of population. He was kind and supportive to his empire, but unforgivable to Eurasia.

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  4. Sarthak Mohanty says:

    Genhis Khan, was believed to be a ruthless and barbaric leader in history, but may not have been as bad as many say. Many leaders during the time period were barbaric and ruthless but Genghis Khan also had a good side to him. He overcame many difficulties to build a great Mongol Empire without wanting to kill. He preferred enemies to surrender rather than getting slaughtered. As a good man he believed in loyalty and diplomatic law and most importantly believed in justice. His two best qualities were his tolerance towards women and other religions. He allowed women to divorce their husbands, be trusted advisors, and allow women to control domestic affairs. This is very different from many other leaders during the time since many didnt respect women. Lastly, he spread other culture’s knowledge around the world. Many leaders don’t care much for the culture of the region which they attacked but Genghis Khan respected other cultures. In conclusion, I believe Genghis Khan was not the most soft and loving guy but was more caring than just a barbaric and ruthless leader.

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  5. James Topa says:

    I believe that Genghis Khan paved the way for the modern world. He may not have always been peaceful but he had many fair things for the people of his empire. He believed in loyalty and diplomatic law. In Khan’s empire, women in Mongol ranks had it better than most. They could divorce and control domestic affairs. Khan also stayed with his first wife for his entire life. He believed in religious tolerance for everyone. The soldiers in his army were treated well and promoted based on actions rather than being a descendant of military leader. While he burned down civilizations he saved scholars, doctors, and artisans and spread their knowledge throughout the empire. Russia and China were made into unified states. He created a postal system and their was a universal rule of law. Under Khan’s rule the Silk Road flourished again and there was trade from the East to the West. Genghis Khan seemed to pave the way for many things in the modern world even if he did it in a barbaric way.

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  6. Jahssyr Addo says:

    I feel that Genghis Khan served as more of a unifier than a vicious ruler. He rose from a terrible childhood and succeeded in gathering together his people and being a hero to the peasants of his village. Though he killed many people how else would he be able to create one of the largest empires in history. His empire empowered women and gave them fair rights. Unlike other rulers he was very tolerant to different world religions and ethnicities. Throughout the empire there were a variety of people of very different backgrounds. The Yam system was an innovation they created as well which was a free merchant service that allowed for communication through Eurasia. Going back to war he intended to have people surrender first rather than kill them and even though his empire was responsible for knowledgeable and important places being destroyed such as baghdad he spared scientists, scholars and doctors to relocate them in order to spread their knowledge around the region. Other accomplishments were that the mongols unified Russia and China and helped the Silk road thrive again. He may have been a terrible ruler to some but is the most important direct ancestor to 16 million people in the world.

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  7. Paul Kelleher says:

    I think Genghis Khan was a vicious barbarian rather than a unifier who paved the way for the modern world. He started many wars. His army wiped out many cities. His army ripped out babies from peoples wombs. They used prisoners as human shields. They also dumped people into water to stop boat engines. 40 million people were killed across Eurasia in his descendants conquests. His army also catapulted infected bodies into cities during the Black Plauge. Genghis Khan did more bad things as a leader than he did good things.

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  8. Anastasia says:

    Genghis Khan was a vicious warlord. He burned cities and their inhabitants and called it justice. He wiped out 2/3 of China’s population and called it poor census keeping. He used prisoners as human shields in war and stole all the women from the cities he took over. But was he any worse than other medieval armies, no. But that does not justify his actions. He killed 40 million across Eurasia, that is 10% of the world’s population, and that doesn’t even factor in the Black Plague, which he intentionally brought to Europe. Records show that he threw infected bodies over the city. He burned Baghdad, destroying cultural centers, libraries, hospitals, etc. There are no other words except bloodthirsty, greedy, vicious warlord.

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  9. Jared Whitt says:

    I think Genghis Khan was a vicious barbarian, not a unifier. He killed 2/3 of Chinas population and 40 million people total which was 10% of the entire worlds population at the time. That isn’t even including the black plague in which he purposely spread to his enemies cities and palaces by catapulting victims of the plagues bodies over the city walls. He also burnt down cities, used prisoners as human shields and cut unborn babies from their mothers wombs. So despite the fact the he tolerated different religions and brought together different cultures in think the bad things he did far outweighed the good things.

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  10. McKenzie says:

    I believe Genghis Khan was more of a vicious barbarian than a unifier. I believe he was barbaric because he invaded many countries, including China. China lost 2/3 of its population because of Khan. He wiped out entire cities and killed the inhabitants. This was the least of his worries though, as he did barbaric things such as killing babies in their mother’s wombs and used prisoners as human shields. 40 million people were killed across Eurasia. This accounted for 10% of the world’s population. Khan also disgraced his own army by using his sick soldiers as catapults. He would fling the sick over the wall of an enemy city to contaminate the enemy. Many other warlords were acting the same way as Khan, but that doesn’t make it right for Khan to act in the way that he did. Genghis Khan was not a unifier and was a barbaric warlord.

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  11. Jack Moffitt says:

    When thinking of the Mongols in the modern day, they are thought to be nomadic, barbaric, and extremely destructive especially the “war lord” of the Mongols, Genghis Khan. In reality there are a number of reasons why this statement is partly incorrect. Even though he did invade huge cities such as Bagdad and burn them to the ground, he also salvaged certain cities that surrendered at his request. With these cities surrendering, he was able to take intelligent and influential scholars and spread them throughout the Mongol empire to bring knowledge to every part of the empire. This might quite possibly be the reason why certain areas of the world have attained their knowledge about certain things because of the vastness of the Mongol empire. Not only did he spread knowledge, but he also may be a reason behind a population increase at his time. When capturing a new territory, Ghengis Khan supposedly had sexual interactions with some of the women which in turn is why one in every two hundred men now a days is related to Ghengis Khan. With these two things that Ghengis Khan and the Mongols did, it helped pave the way to what we now know as the modern day world.

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  12. Belle says:

    I believe that Genghis Khan was a unifier who paved the way for the modern world. Some of his actions could be seen as viscous and barbaric, but every story has two sides, and people are allowed to have different views and ideas. Although Genghis Khan could have gone a little overboard with some of his punishments, he made incredible feats and accomplishments throughout his rein. He united clans of Mongols together and created the greatest empire ever seen of his time. The cities that he did massacre, however, were only ones that rebelled after surrendering; he believed strongly in loyalty. His war tactics were extremely gruesome, but from a military standpoint, they were pure genius. Yes, there were lots of people killed during his conquest, but the survivors reaped the benefits, for instance, religious tolerance, rankings for soldiers were based on merit opposed to birth, and he even established a postal service. Also, women could divorce their husbands, and were trusted advisors. Genghis Khan was a legendary leader who unified the world and paved the way for new modern life.

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  13. James Barry says:

    I believe Genghis Khan was more of a unifier then a vicious barbaric ruler. He started off by himself and worked his way to become a leader. He united all of the Mongolian tribes into one big empire. he was fair as well he took care of his solders and women had fair rights. He also accepted others people religion he never punished them for what the believed in. His empire was not only made of Mongolians it was also made up of others from different cultures and backgrounds. He also was fair when it came to the fighting he asked people to surrender before he attacked. If he did attack he saved many things like information and people of importance like scholars and doctor. Sure he killed a lot of people, but he built a successful empire. If he did do what he did history might not be the same.

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  14. Jack Baker says:

    Genghis Khan is best well known for wiping out millions innocent people. I personally have mixed emotions about Genghis Khan. Part of his plan of attack was first, warning the village or wherever that he was going to attack and that they could surrender. For a few days he would continue this until the last day. The last day he would ride in and wipe out everyone. I think his plan of attack and reasoning is acceptable and understanding due to Khan defending himself and his people. However, his methods were extremely unsound. He brutally massacred people in harsh, gruesome, unnecessary ways. His sum total of 40 million people being murdered was the equivalent to 10% of the world, which is brutally extreme. Genghis Khan was a man with smart strategies but committed unbearably horrid acts.

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  15. Emma Bouman says:

    Genghis Khan was a ruthless warlord that despite his actions, paved the way for the modern world. His conquests across the Eurasian continent may have been violent, but he ultimately created the greatest empire of that time, spanning from the Pacific, to the heartland of Europe. His brutality did lead to the death of 40 million, but he created fair policies for his people. These policies paved the way, and were progressive for his time. Women were given positions of power and allowed to divorce their husbands. He believed in loyalty and diplomatic law. Religious tolerance was practiced. He established a postal system and enforced the spread of culture. Khan’s atrocities may not be excused but we can recognize his work in unification.

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  16. christopher DelMastro says:

    In my opinion I believe that Genghis Khan was a unifier who paved the way for the modern world. He was never the most peaceful leader of this time period but Genghis Khan got his power just like the others leaders did, through conquering which usually led to fighting and loss of life. He even prefers to have enemy’s surrender rather then killing them. Some say he killed whole villages for no reason but the ones he destroys rebelled against him after they surrendered. Genghis Khan also allowed women to have rights like divorcing their husbands and also took in peasants in exchange they would fight for him. He also made laws that were universal and allowed trade in and out of Asia. Genghis Khan was also one of the greatest leaders and forged a powerful and one of the greatest empires, which paved the way for the modern world.

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  17. Duncan Lavine says:

    I think that Genghis Kahn was a unifier who paved the way for the world. Some may disagree saying that he was barbaric but they do not see the accomplishments he made. With this being said I think some of the decisions were barbaric. He had a tough upbringing without a father but learned a lot growing up. He did have large statistics involving war but this shows how successful he was as a ruler. He had a strong military group that fought and kept claiming more land. War was fought for control and he wanted to control as much land as he could so that’s what he did. I will say that some of the things that he did was bad like wiping out 10% of the worlds populations. But that’s going to happen when you have a strong military. He did have good qualities like treating women the right way as well as tolerance to different religions. He can be looked at from both the barbaric and unifier standpoint but I believe that he was a unifier.

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  18. Yiyang Xu says:

    I think Genghis Khan is a unifier who paved the way of modern world. To convince people, it is necessary to talk about those illusion that he killed a lot of people and some brutal behaviors he did. First, it’s said 2/3 people of China in that time and 40 millions people were killed by his army. Someone says this is a strong evidence to prove that he is a barbaric person. However, it is easy for everyone to recognize that war costs a lot of lives. To establish the nation of USA, many people died for the war. But people would not say George Washington is a barbaric person. It is the same to Genghis Khan. His empire is the largest one in the world history. It is logical to have a huge amount of dead people since it’s proportional to the scale of his empire. Second, people said his cruel behaviors, such as kill babies and use captures as shield, are enough to prove that he is a barbaric person. Actually, to build a solid empire, he needs to take a advantage of use of all the resources he have. For example, using captures as shield is a good way of using them. He does not need to consult with any other countries by exchanging captures. Leaving them alive would be a hidden trouble of violence in the society in the future. It is the same to the killed babies. Babies would try to revenge in the future. Despite all those so-called brutal behaviors he did, he had a lot of achievements that really helped the whole world. Such as the silk road, tolerance to all the religions, leaving doctors, scholars and scientists. In conclusion, all of his so-called cruel behaviors are helpful for him to make a solid basis of his brilliant empire. He is a great leader.

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  19. Congyi Zhang says:

    There are two sides of Genghis Khan’s expansion. On the one hand, the invasion was surely brutal and bloody since a large amount of people died in the war. On the other hand, aggression is also an opportunity for the communication between different cultures. Firstly, Genghis unified the mongol clan into a single nation. Also he conquered such a huge territory form Pacific to the heartland of the Europe, which greatly promoted the communication between Europe and Asia, especially on trades and diplomacy. Culture-wise, Genghis Khan respect and and practice religious tolerance among all religions. Meanwhile, he specifically respect all civilization and their intellectual products. During the invasion, he kept all doctors, artists and scholars allowing them to spread culture. The silk road was reflourished due to Genghis Khan’s expansion. The most important i that many Chinese invention got to spread into Europe, and Europeans took good advantages of those inventions. Still, those have significant influence nowadays.

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  20. Regina Milkani says:

    Putting Genghis Khan on trial against history is a very controversial topic for good reasoning. Although he could be called a mass murderer where two- thirds of China was lost. Many can argue that he was a huge help in the spread of techniques, materials, and law. His military campaign killed around 40 million, which is 10% of the world population; this is not including the black plague where disease took over the world. He wiped out cities, took mothers away from their children, used prisoners as protection and treated them far below human standards. Once the black plague had struck his warriors, he catapulted them into the city to prevent any more spread to his army. Although he was very barbaric and gave no second chances with something as precious as life, he could be called one of the greatest leaders with one of the most historical empires. His establishment of law kept people in order. With his methods he took over from the pacific to the heartlands of Europe; geographically, he expanded farther than any other empire in history, which proves that although gruesome, he got the job done. First chance with anybody, any city, and any village he allowed them to surrender and join him to fight for him before he would kill them. Loyalty was very important to Genghis Khan, and any one that rebelled against him would be killed. Genghis even took peasants in to fight in large army. Women had more leeway in his empire then most empires at that time; women had domestic control, could divorce their husbands at any time, and were respected. Genghis surprisingly loved his wife and raised her son that was not biologically his, as his own child. He also remained married to her all his life. Through all his barbaric takeovers Genghis also established a postal service, and all round law, helped the silk road flourish even more, treated all soldiers well and rewarded them based on merit, and practiced religious tolerance for everybody. He did not help culture by burning libraries, palaces, and hospitals, but he did try to save scholars, doctors, and artisans from disease and injuries. The Baghdad caliph could have surrendered but was stubborn and refused which led Genghis to follow his strict understanding, and burn Baghdad to the ground. Genghis did try to help flourishing the world but to do so he believed he had to murder anyone that was not loyal to him. Genghis was a barbaric ruler but also paved the road for the rest of history to take its place. He most likely could have taken it a few notches back but his ways massively helped the world get where it is today. Genghis did not follow what other empires did during his time and before then, he did not enforce religion, he tried to help anybody that wanted to join his army, gave women more freedom and killed anybody off he did not trust, which is an excessive but easier way to control large amounts of land.

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  21. Jessica Perro says:

    I believe that Genhis Khan was less of a vicious ruler and more of a unifier who paved the way for the modern world. Although he killed many people and left destruction, he was said to be one of the greatest leaders in human history, and constantly strived to unite warring Mongol clans. Genhis, forged the greatest empire that the world had seen, which eventually stretched from the Pacific to Europe’s heartland. This empire that Genhis forged empowered women providing them with rights. During that time in most empires, women did not have much leeway. Although within Genhis’s empire women did, which was uncommon. Women, also were allowed to divorce and control domestic affairs within his empire. In addition, Genhis Khan stayed with his first wife for his entire life. Genhis Khan believed in loyalty and diplomatic law, and also practiced religious tolerance. Genhis imposed the spread of culture during that time and made for a great leader.

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  22. Jessica Perro says:

    I believe that Genghis Khan was less of a vicious ruler and more of a unifier who paved the way for the modern world. Although he killed many people and left destruction, he was said to be one of the greatest leaders in human history, and constantly strived to unite warring Mongol clans. Genghis forged the greatest empire that the world had seen, which eventually stretched from the Pacific to Europe’s heartland. This empire that Genghis forged empowered women providing them with rights. During that time in most empires, women did not have much leeway. Although within Genghis’s empire women did, which was uncommon. Women, also were allowed to divorce and control domestic affairs within his empire. In addition, Genghis Khan stayed with his first wife for his entire life. Genghis Khan believed in loyalty and diplomatic law, and also practiced religious tolerance. Genghis imposed the spread of culture during that time and made for a great leader.

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  23. Louis Scumaci says:

    Genghis Khan was a very significant historic figure, and he did pave the way for the modern world through what he had done. Whether what he did was right or wrong depends only on point of view and overall thoughts. There is no right or wrong from what he has done because some would see it as good in the end and some may see it as bad overall. He may have done some ruthless things to places he had conquered such as murdering 2/3 of the population of China, and killing the overall 10% of the world, and on top of that causing the spread of the Black plague. Although his actions took much with it, it also brought much with it. Dor example, Genghis Khan did not kill Scholars and Philosophers he allowed the spread of their knowledge all around the world. Along with this he accepted religion, meaning that he did not allow for its destruction by allowing it to be preserved. Also, his Empire gave equal rights, to women and also men in the military. His actions allowed the silkroad to thrive once more, thus allowing the spread of goods and wealth. In my opinion, Genghis Khan was a unifier who did pave the way for the modern world, because of the massive changes that came out of his actions.

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  24. Courtney Mili says:

    Some people may think that Genhis Khan was barbaric, but I think that he was a unifier who paved the way for the modern world. During his lifetime, he made a lot of accomplishments, but also made some barbaric decisions. Although he killed millions of innocent people, he was still known to be one of the greatest leaders. Some of his greatest achievements include uniting all the warring clans of the Mongols under one empire, he fought and conquered almost all of the Eurasian Steppe plains, most of all he is recognized as the Great Khan that conquered the whole world and brought glory to the Mongols nation. Overall he was a great and successful leader that accepted and their beliefs. There is always some good in everyone even if that person did something cruel like wiping out 10% of the worlds population.

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  25. John Murnane says:

    This is a post for Ilyana, here computer was acting up today.

    In my opinion Genghis Khan was vicious and barbaric ruler. He wiped out many cities and started multiple wars. He slaughtered 40 million people across Eurasia, 10% of the world’s population not including deceased from the black plague. His empire did many unforgivable acts such as using prisoners as human shields or ripping babies out of their mother’s wombs. Genghis Khan could be seen as a great leader in to the Mongols because his empire thrived on the burned bridges and paved the way for many things in the modern world. But he did more horrifying and violent things then positive.

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  26. Louis-Xavier Lachapelle says:

    I believe that Genghis Khan was a good but vicious and barbaric ruler. I think he was a good ruler because he conquered much of Eurasia and made his empire one of the biggest of all time. But he is barbaric because of different techniques that he used either during war or torture. An example of that would be burning cities like Baghdad ,that beneficiated the modern world, only so that the Muslims would surrender. Or when he used some prisoners as human shields which is against the war rules if I may say, but there were no such things in his day to regulate what was acceptable and what was not. Finally, Genghis Khan was a nice person to people that were nice to him and he was a great ruler. He can either be a barbaric and ruthless killer or a great ruler, it depends on your perspective

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  27. Mia Conte says:

    Genghis Khan was a ruthless War Lord that used barbaric tactics to wipe out his opposed others. He destroyed and massacred nearly anything in his path and also cleared 2/3 of China’s population. In Mongolia he is depicted for one of the greatest warriors in History. He became a leader for the Mongols rising up from adversity and hardship of growing up fatherless. He soon created an empire that stretched from the pacific to Europe’s heartland. Although he killed cities he saved the most valuable people such as scholars and philosophers. He enforced soldiers to be promoted on merit not birth. He established a postal system and enforced universal law. He also had religious tolerance for other denominations. His empires were considerably more potent to females having control over domestic affairs and were able to divorce their husbands. Genghis Khan’s action of implanting a system of loyalty really doesn’t grasp what he did. This “loyalty” of forcing cities and people to join him or die does not describe loyalty. The Mongols claim an inaccurate accusation of Genghis Khan’s actions being written far after the actual events occurred. Genghis Khan might have done all those little improvements to help his own society but to have an impact on the Modern World in a positive light is a joke. What he has done is nothing but killing. His military campaigns killed millions. He slaughtered humans and invaded their cities. He wiped out a surplus amount of cities along with their inhabitants. The Armies “justice” is a mere act of brutality. Genghis Khan ripped unborn children from mother’s wombs. He used innocent human beings as human shields. When the black plague affected the Mongols instead of trying to nurture and cure his soldiers, he simply catapulted their bodies over the city walls. Genghis Khan’s efforts to “preserve knowledge” are not accurate since not only did he destroy a path way to the Modern World such as Baghdad. Who had a huge contribution throughout different subjects to the Modern World. He used violence to destroy defenseless human beings trying to impact the world in a greater way. Genghis Khan did not unify or pave the way for modern world but simply destroyed it through his actions of violence.

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  28. Elijah Friedman says:

    I think Genghis Khan was a combination of a barbarian and a unifier. Genghis Khan conquered by force. During his conquests’ 40 million people died, and at that time, this was 10% of the entire world. He did some horrible things such as using his prisoners as human shields, catapulting his own diseased soldiers, and killing many women. Although Genghis Khan did many terrible things, without him the world would not have made as many progressions. During his time as emperor he unified many people and created large trade routes that spread throughout Asia and into Europe. He also created a postal system and a universal rule of law. Khan also respected all religions and allowed people to worship what they wanted, which was different for this time period. Genghis Khan was a very vicious leader, but without him Asia would not have flourished.

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  29. Sheila Gadbois says:

    Genghis Khan was best known for the killing of 40 million people. He didn’t kill one by one, he would go through places killing everyone horrifically and burring it to the ground leaving nothing. He would use prisoners for body shields in the war, and he would take a pregnant women child from them and capturing her and keep her captive. Although he was aggressive with his process, others thought he was a good leader. He conquered most of Eurasian, but most of all he is know for being the Great Khan that conquered almost of Asian and was able to help the Mongols nation become a safe place for them to live. He did some positive things but mostly he was barbaric and horrific.

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  30. Devin Barresi says:

    Genghis Khan, was believed to be a barbaric leader during the time of the Mongols, but perhaps was not as brutal and gruesome as many people have believed throughout history. Although being a ruthless leader he also had a lighter and more personable side to his personality. He built a Mongol Empire, despite having faced difficulties throughout his life, beginning as a young child. He surrendered his enemies as opposed to wanting to kill them. Genghis Khan believed in loyalty and diplomatic law and also importantly believed in justice. Two of his personal qualities were his tolerance towards women and other religions. He allowed women to divorce their husbands, be trusted advisors. He is different in a sense to other leaders during the time since many did not respect women. He also spread other culture’s knowledge around the world. As leaders attacked different parts of the world, leaving the original culture diminished, but Genghis Khan developed a respect for other cultures. Genghis Khan was a different type of leader, being ruthless and barbaric, and as well being a personal and strategic ruler as well.

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  31. Emily Yan says:

    In my opinion Genghis Khan is a unifier paved the way for the modern world. In the video, it mentions that Genghis Khan’s Mongol tribe killed 2/3 of the southern china’s population. Actually that it deaths are inevitable for a war. At the time Genghis Khan invaded, China was at the Song dynasties. The emperor at that time Bing Zhao was very fatuous and people are not living happy lives. They are in was with Jin dynasty as well. War is going to happen anyway at that period of time. The unify of the Mongol empire has brought a lot of benefits to the world. Although the mongols are burning books, libraries, palaces etc. They are trying to protect the doctors, scholars and artists. Most importantly, they brought invention from places such as China and the middle east to everywhere they go. Unifying also helped with the trading system. Also for Mongols women had the right to divorce and marry other man. That was almost impossible for many other cultures at that period of time. Everything has 2 sides, Mongols did kill a lot of people and cause a lot of destruction, but I believe the positive things they brought are much more than the bad side.

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  32. Victoria Chen says:

    In my opinion, Genghis Khan was a unifier who paved the way for the modern world rather than a vicious barbarian. Although a majority of people may think that he was a crucial warlord because his army slaughtered millions of innocent people and wiped out the cities they conquered across the Eurasian continent, he was still one of the greatest leaders in human history. He united the warring Mongol clans and forged the greatest empire of all time, although he was born fatherless and destitute. He was an intellectual ruler who firmly believed in loyalty and diplomatic law. According to the video, Genghis Khan practiced religious tolerance among all subjects; he treated his soldiers well that he promoted based on merit instead of birth; the empire established a vast postal system; and women in the Mongol lived much more freely and have more rights than so many other countries, that they control domestic affairs, could divorce their husband and they were trusted advisors. These achievements were uncommon in other cultures at that time. More importantly, the Mongols saved doctors, scholars and artisans from conquered places and spread their knowledge across the world. And under Genghis Khan’s leading, Mongol made the Silk Road flourished once more, which allowed trading and cultural exchange between East and West. In conclusion, Genghis Khan’s historical significance can’t be denied only because of the death he caused.

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  33. Mckenna Gray says:

    Many people believe that Genghis Kahn was a vicious ruler, however he contributed many important ideas, which paved the way for the modern world. He built the Mongol Empire and accomplished many things as ruler. He was very smart though he killed many people and cities, I believe it was important for him to do to protect his city. Genghis Kahn killed 40 million people, which was 10% of the world, however he had a good army and was probably a target, instead of brutally attacking citied out of no where he warned them and gave them a chance to surrender. His people had many benefits liked women being given positions of power and diplomatic law, he spread culture and created a postal service. He was a very important leader but a brutal one, who paved the road to civilization today.

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