Mongol Empire DBQ Essay
Grouping 1: Military organization, strategies, and values (Documents 1, 3, 4, 5)
Grouping 2: Attitude toward enemies (Documents 7, 2)
Grouping 3: Great Leaders (Documents 1, 6)
The Song and the Tang dynasties prospered in China due to their technological innovations. On the other hand, the Mongols, who were pastoral nomads, established one of the most prominent dynasties through their ability to successfully conquer a great amount of territories in only 100 years. During the twelfth century, they began to rule over many regions around the world, including some parts of Europe, Middle East, and Asia. Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mongols, started the invasion of numerous areas because he received a message from God.
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The Mongols were very brutal because as shown in Document 1, Jebe said that “I’ll trick them and make them come out in the open. I’ll pretend to retreat and when they come out I’ll attack them.” One of the prominent techniques of the Mongols was to secretly attack their adversaries. The Mongols’ enemies were defeated in an ambush by them. Another technique used by the Mongols was their military technology and their determination. An eyewitness reveals that, “their [Mongols] arms are bows, iron maces, and in some instances, spears…defensive armor made from buffalo…can live for a month on the milk of their mares…they [Mongols] are most obedient to their chiefs.” The Mongols were very determined towards conquering territory as clearly shown by their tools, armor, and their commitment. The Mongols had a barbaric way of living and consumed almost little to no food while conquering other territories. They did not care about their lives at all because they exposed themselves to dangerous things. Despite their brutal behavior, the Mongols respected the higher-ranking officials. They dedicated themselves to their work immensely as they would spend almost two days on their horses only. The Mongols organized themselves “into companies of ten, appointing one of the ten to be the commander…from among each ten commanders one has been given the title of ‘commander of the hundred’…each thousand men and so aso with each ten thousand, over whom they have appointed a commander whom they call ‘commander of the