The Mongol Empire: The Unstoppable Force that Ultimately Crumbled

Unveil the awe-inspiring tale of the Mongol Empire – a force that shaped history! From Genghis Khan's rise to Kublai Khan's golden age, discover their conquests, culture, and enduring legacy!

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[Mortico]

The Mongols also created a network of stables across the continent where messengers could ride on horseback at high speed, stopping periodically to exchange a tired horse for a rested one, or pass off their parcels to fresh riders while they are and slept themselves. This is one of the ways they were able to govern such large territories.

[Jayjay-qeum]

"Conquering the world on horseback is easy. It is dismounting and governing that is hard." -- Genghis Khan

[rockbutcher]

That's a hard topic to cover in 13 minutes but you hit some of the high points. I spent 10 years working there and am lucky to have married a wonderful Mongolian woman. I've stood atop that steel clad horse you show early in the video. If you ever get the chance to go, I suggest that you do. Even after the communist scourge of the country, there are still quite a few historic sites to visit.

[Cara-]

Much of the Mongol Empire's early success and expansion is attributed to his top generals, Jebe and Subutai, widely regarded as one of the greatest calvary leaders and greatest military commanders & strategists in history, respectively. They deserve just as much recognition as the Great Khans.

[deepseer]

The Red Turban rebellion was oversimplified. It was not religious (although it started with some kind of relegion), nor led by a monk.
A former monk (because during severe famine it's the only way to get some food) joined the rebel army and climbed the ranks through numerous battles. Finally when the leader was killed in a battle, he became the new leader of the faction. Several rebellious factions fought each other and the Yuan Dynasty. His faction became the final winner.
He is the founder of Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang.

[gmoney]

Only group that conquered Russia in the winter... they were always the exception.

[Warmaker]

The Mongols were a pretty extreme set of qualities. Once you were "in" with their Empire, they were pretty tolerant. Practice your religion, they don't care. The Mongols had their own religion from Mongolia but they didn't push it down the throats of the people they conquered. Trade was fostered, encouraged, and of course taxed. Trade across and through the Empire was safe as the Mongols took secure trade routes dead seriously. The video mentioned the flow of ideas between east and west. It was all good, just don't start trouble.

The catch to this all was that to be "in" the Empire was you were for most parts, conquered by force. And that process tended to be quite ugly, especially during the heyday of Genghis Khan himself. The Mongols on campaign were absolutely brutal. China, the Middle East, wherever. The slaughter and looting was gigantic and legendary. The Fall of Baghdad rocked the Islamic world. At the time of its conquest by the Mongols it was the peak of cultural, scientific, and economic power. Then it got razed with most of the population butchered. Stuff like that happened many times over during the Mongols on their expansionist period.

[ThronesandLegends]

"No matter how well you prepare, the battle never goes according to plan." --- Genghis Khan

[orangegalen]

Always funny to think about it, but in so many different regions of the world at one point or another in their culture/nation’s history has the line 

“…and then the Mongols showed up.”

[aurelcorstan]

I love the various Steppe people's. For a couple thousand years, at least, they lived almost the same exact lifestyle and always caused trouble for the major sedentary societies of the Chinese, Persians, and Romans (and the successors of those civilizations.)

[ignitionfrn]

0:55 - Chapter 1 - A new ruler
2:50 - Chapter 2 - The mongols under genghis khan
2:50 - Chapter 2.1 - Conquest
4:30 - Chapter 2.2 - Battle tactics
5:30 - Chapter 2.3 - The end of an era
6:05 - Chapter 3 - Succession, consolidation, expansion
7:15 - Chapter 4 - Fragmentation
8:15 - Chapter 5 - Mongol dynasty in china
9:35 - Chapter 5.1 - Governance
10:50 - Chapter 5.2 - Decline
11:20 - Chapter 6 - Fall in china
12:15 - Chapter 7 - Legacy & impact

[Burntheadversary]

Just imagine how different the world would be if they conquered Japan. To think this was stopped by nature as well. MIND BLOWING 🤯

[papazataklaattiranimam]

Genghis Khan is described as endowed with the highest intellect and a superhuman willpower, which enabled him to unite heterogeneous Turkic and Mongolian tribes into a single whole .

[binhe]

Although paper money was invented in the Song dynasty that the Mongols conquered, it was s the Yuan Dynasty that they “discovered” they could print a lot of it, contributing to their demise

[zefdin]

When Ogedei died the Mongols were right on the very precipice of conquering all of Europe and would have forever changed (for the good? for the bad?) European life. They all just stopped, turned their armies around and went home… amazing! Two great resources I’ve found on this subject are Frank McLynn’s Genghis Khan and even better, Genghis Khan, The Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford. Great books! Great subject… the Mongols would ride one horse and have 2-3 more tethered to the back of their saddle. When horse one would be tiring from hauling the rider, the warriors would pull a new fresh mount alongside and jump, without slowing or stopping, onto the fresh mount and continue. They would be able to cover VAST (for the time) distances this way and outpace and confound their adversaries. Awesome!

[Historicalweapons]

I recommend kings and generals videos for detailed analysis of them

[odgerelodgarig]

Temujin never had a step father according to the history. But he sought support from his father's old friend Tooril Van.

[robertmeheula]

I would love to be a fly on the wall for one of their battles. I have heard a lot of historians say we do not really know how the physics of ancient battles went...such as how was a cavalry charge, or how effective was a bow at long range? It would be interesting to see without a Hollywood lense.

[ReachOutReptiles]

Excellent episode. I’ve watched many of yours, but learned a ton from your take on this one.

[drstevej]

The the difference is that those other Empires lasted and left a long legacy unlike the Mongols who came and left history in a relatively short period of time leaving only a fraction of impact of the Romans and British.
It’s proof that winning an Empire is different from ruling an empire and building a long lasting civilization.