The 13th & 14th Centuries (Unit 2) - AP World Modern

The Mongols:

• The Mongols were nomads

• Conquered a lot of territory

• Mass slaughter - “pyramids of skulls”

• Kin-based clans

• Unfit leaders were abandoned

• Cavalry fighting style gave them an advantage over others

• Armies are devised of tumens (fighting units of 10,000 men that were further split into 1,000s, 100s, and 10s; each with a commanding officer)

• Tumens are divided into heavy cavalry (lances, metal armor) and light cavalry (archers, leather armor)

• Scouting parties use flags and signal fires

Benefits of Mongol Rule:

• Spared skilled artisans when sacking cities

• Revitalized trade and the Silk Road

• Open to cultures that they conquered (usually)

• Religious tolerance

Chinggis (Genghis) Khan & The Mongol Empire:

• Genghis is also known as Temujin

• United the Mongol clans into one empire as the khagan in 1206

• He relied on vassals to manage his empire

• Known for executing deserters

• Offered mercy to enemies that impressed him

• Large network of spies

• New weapons: flaming/bomb arrows, explosives, and even cannons were developed

• Strongest army in the 2nd decade of the 13th century

• Kwarazm cities are plundered after destroying a Mongol caravan 

• Exacted tribute from conquered areas

• Developed siege weapons like battering rams and explosive rockets

• Established the Mongol capital Karakorum in 1162

• Had a written version of the Mongolian language created

• Standardized laws and a police force

• Created peace and economic growth in Asia

• May have spread the Black Plague

• Chinggis died in 1227

• Empire divided between his 3 sons and his grandson

• Ogadei (his 3rd son) became khagan

• The Mongolian empire has 4 subdivisions known as khanates:

  • The Golden Horde = ruled by Genghis’ grandson Batu, controls the Northeast

  • Yuan Dynasty/Great Khanate = controls China

  • Ilkhanate = controls Southeast Asia & Persia

  • Chagatai Khanate = controls Central Asia

The Drive to the West:

• Russia and Europe are the next targets of the Golden Horde

• Russia is divided and decentralized at the time

• Batu stages the only successful winter invasion of Russia in history

• Cities that resisted were razed and subjected to slavery and mass killings

• Mongols withdraw in the spring, sparing major cities

• The next winter brings an even stronger campaign, Kiev (the largest city) is destroyed

• Novgorod (another notable city) is spared when its prince submits to the Mongols

• Some spared cities grow, Moscow benefits the most

• Mongols target peasants because of their resistance to being conquered

• Campaign stops in the spring, Mongols establish their rule more fully

• Russians begin to rise against the Mongols

• Major Russian victory @ the Battle of Kulikova

• Mongols turn their focus to Western Europe

• Conquer Hungary and Poland, as well as other Germanic states

• Suddenly withdraw after Ogadei dies & a power struggle begins

• Europe campaign is never continued

• India is spared from the Mongols

• The Mamluk (slave) Dynasty of Egypt defeats the Mongols

• New khan of the Golden Horde, Berke, converts to Islam, protects Islamic states

Conquest in China:

• Mongols resisted how women were treated in China

• Ethnic Chinese are separated from the Mongols

• Maintained the bureaucracy

• Civil service exam is abolished

• Chinese cannot hold a lot of power

• NO ASSIMILATION

• Ruled by Kubli Khan

The Fall of the Yuan Dynasty:

• Kubli Khan dies

• Chinese revolt

• Turks invade

Dynasties in China from 900 - 1450:

• Sui: 581–618

• Tang: 618–907

• Song: 960 - 1279

• Yuan: 13th Century - 1368

• Ming: 14th - 17th Centuries

The Ottomons:

• Conquered the Middle East & Constantinople

Western Europe:

• Italy gains power

• Europe nearly goes bankrupt

• Famine and the Black Plague (⅔ of the population die)

• Scared of Muslims & the Ottoman Turks

• The Renaissance (rebirth)

• Expansion & Exploration

  • Spread Christianity, explore the natural world

Ming Dynasty:

• Post-Mongols

• Trade expeditions, get all the way to Africa’s East Coast

• Stop trade exploration, build the Great Wall

• Porcelain & SIlk

• Trade w/ southeast Asia

• The plague hits

• Their population still increases during the plague

• Recover faster than Europe