Part 1: MongolsPart 2: Aztecs

Lesson 21

Part 1: Mongols

Theme: Dealing with Conquered People

Lesson 21

ID & SIG

• Genghis Kahn, Genghis Kahn’s military advances, Mongols

Mongols• The Mongols were

nomadic people who lived on the high steppe lands of eastern central Asia

• Traditionally, their strong loyalties to kinship groups made it difficult for them to organize a stable society on a large scale

• In the early 13th Century, however, they would unify

Modern day Mongolia was the center of the 13th Century Mongol Empire. Karakorum

(present day Har Horin) was the capital

Karakorum

Temujin• Temujin was born about 1167 into

a noble family• However, when he was about 10

years old his father was poisoned and Temujin grew up in a precarious and dangerous way

• In order to survive, he learned to master the art of “steppe diplomacy” which called for displays of personal courage in battle, intense loyalty to allies (as well as willingness to betray allies or superiors to improve one’s position), and the ability to entice previously unaffiliated tribes into cooperative relationships

Mongolian steppe

Genghis (Chinggis) Kahn

• Temujin gradually strengthened his position using all these tactics and eventually brought all the Mongol tribes into a single confederation

• In 1206, an assembly of Mongol leaders recognized Temujin’s supremacy by proclaiming him Genghis (Chinggis) Kahn (“universal ruler”)

Modern mural depicting Genghis

Kahn’s inauguration

Genghis Kahn’s Military Advances

• Organization of the army• Characteristics of the

troops• Breaking tribal

connections• Mobility• Light cavalry• Strategy and tactics• Psychological warfare• New technology

Organization of the Army• Genghis Kahn created a

command structure that facilitated flexibility

• He organized the Mongol soldiers into groups of multiples of 10 with each group of soldiers having a leader who would report to the next higher level– This allowed the Mongol

army to attack en masse, divide into somewhat smaller groups to encircle and lead enemies into an ambush, or divide into small groups to track down and destroy a fleeing and broken army

• Mongol Army Organization– Tumen: 10,000 man division,

made up of ten minghans, led by a noyan appointed by the Khan.

– Minghan: 1,000 man regiment, made up of ten jaguns, led by a noyan appointed by the Khan.

– Jagun: 100 man squadron, made up of ten arbans. The arban leaders selected their own leader for the jagun.

– Arban: 10 man unit. The men in the arban selected their own leader.

Characteristics of the Troops

• The Mongol army also was highly flexible due to the durability of its soldiers

• Mongol soldiers were extremely tough, disciplined, obedient, and tireless

• They could go on extended campaigns with only meager provisions

• Genghis Kahn’s army was relatively small (100,000 to 125,000 Mongols plus some allies), but his success was built on quality not quantity

Characteristics of the Troops

• Mongol soldiers were used to living in the harsh steppe climate and required little in the way of comfort

• “And in case of great urgency they will ride ten days on end without lighting a fire or taking a meal. On such an occasion they will sustain themselves on the blood of their horses, opening a vein and letting the blood jet into their mouths, drinking till they have had enough, and then staunching it…”– Marco Polo

Marco Polo traveled the Silk Roads toward the end of the 13th Century

Breaking Tribal Connections

• Genghis Kahn’s personal experience had made him distrustful of Mongol tribal organizations so when he organized his army he broke up the tribes

• When integrating new soldiers into the army, he put them in new military units with no tribal affiliations

• He chose high military and political officials not on basis of kinship or tribal status, but because of their talents or their loyalty to him

Mobility

• Mongol horsemen were among the most mobile forces of the pre-modern world, sometimes traveling more than 62 miles a day to surprise the enemy

• Superior mobility and excellent political and military organization, gave Genghis Kahn advantages in speed, surprise, and intelligence gathering

Light Cavalry

• The core of the Mongol army was its light cavalry

• Mongols grew up riding horses and possessed outstanding equestrian skills which they honed by hunting and playing competitive games on horseback– Mongol horsemen could

shoot an arrow at full gallop

• Stirrups allowed the cavalrymen improved maneuver and the ability to stand while shooting

Light Cavalry

• Mongols didn’t favor close combat, instead preferring to fight from a distance with their excellent bow marksmanship from horses

• “They never let themselves get into a regular medley, but keep perpetually riding around and shooting into the enemy.”– Marco Polo

Strategy and Tactics

• Before invading a territory, the Mongols would conduct extensive preparations at a meeting of the participating commanders called a quriltai– Intelligence was a key planning consideration

• The Mongols would usually advance in three separate columns

• The flanking columns would spread terror, gather intelligence, and eliminate smaller opponent armies

• When the time was right, the columns would reunite to defeat the main opposition– The technique of advancing in separate columns

facilitated independence and the detailed planning facilitated concentration

Strategy and Tactics

• A favorite Mongol tactic was to feign a withdraw only to lead the enemy into an ambush

• “And you perceive that it is just when the enemy sees them run, and imagines that he has gained the battle, that he has in reality lost it, for the Mongols wheel around in a moment when they judge the right time has come. And after this fashion they have won many a fight.”– Marco Polo

Battle of Sajo Bridge, April 27, 1241

Psychological Warfare

• If enemies surrendered without resistance, the Mongols usually spared their lives, and they provided generous treatment for artisans, craftsmen, and those with military skills

• In the event of resistance, however, the Mongols ruthlessly slaughtered whole populations, sparing only a few, who they sometimes drove before their armies as human shields or allowed to spread the word of Mongol power to intimidate future adversaries

New Technology

• The Mongols developed a composite bow, made out of horn and sinew, that gave them a significant advantage over their enemies

• The Mongol bow had a range of more than 350 yards– The European

crossbow was accurate only up to a range of 250 yards

New Technology

• The Mongols originally had no knowledge of siege warfare, but later became masters of it through careful acceptance of new technologies

• In some cases, the Mongols used trebuchets to hurl diseased corpses into the besieged city

Death of Genghis Kahn

• Genghis Kahn died in 1227

• He had united the Mongols, established Mongol supremacy in central Asia, and extended Mongol control to northern China in the east and Persia in the west

Growth of the Mongol Empire Under Genghis Kahn

12181204, before Genghis Kahn

1227, when Genghis Kahn died

The Empire of Genghis Kahn

• Genghis Kahn was a conqueror, not an administrator

• He ruled the Mongols themselves through his control over the army, but he did not establish a central government for the lands that he conquered

• Instead, he assigned Mongol overlords to supervise local administrators and to extract a generous tribute– Contrast this technique with the other means of

maintaining order and population control we discussed in Block 3

The Mongol Empire After Genghis Kahn

• Genghis Kahn’s death touched off a struggle for power and his heirs divided his realm into four regional empires (Similar to what we talked about in Lesson 19 after Alexander the Great’s death)– Khanate of the Great Kahn (China)

• Ended in 14th Century– Khanate of Chagatai (central Asia)

• Ended in 18th Century– Khanate of the Golden Horde (Russia)

• Ended in 16th Century– Ilkanate of Persia

• Ended in 14th Century

The Mongol Empire After Genghis Kahn

Genghis Kahn’s Place in the History of Warfare

• The Mongol army transformed the scope of warfare – Made it an intercontinental affair fought on multiple fronts

stretching across thousands of miles.– Sustained the campaign over years of constant fighting.

• Innovative fighting techniques made the heavily armored knights of medieval Europe obsolete, replacing them with disciplined cavalry moving in coordinated units.

• Speed, surprise, and effective siege techniques helped reduce the reliance on defensive fortifications and helped make walled cities obsolete.

• In twenty-five years, the Mongol army subjugated more lands and people than the Romans had conquered in four hundred years.

• Whether measured by the total number of people defeated, the sum of the countries annexed, or by the total area occupied, Genghis Khan conquered more than twice as much as any other man in history.

Part 2: Aztecs

Theme: The Purpose of Warfare in

Society

Lesson 21

ID & SIG

• Aztecs, Aztec warriors, Cortes, Huitzilopochtli, Mexica, Tenochtitlan, sacrificial bloodletting, tribute

The Mexica

• The Mexica are what the people we know as the Aztecs first called themselves

• They migrated to central Mexico from the northwest in the middle of the 13th Century

• They had a reputation for kidnapping women and seizing land cultivated by others

The Mexica

• For centuries they migrated around central Mexico

• In about 1345 they settled on an island in a marshy region of Lake Texcoco and founded their capital city of Tenochtitlan– The Spanish

conquistadors later built Mexico City on top of Tenochtitlan

Tenochtitlan

• Living on the island had military advantages– The lake served as a

natural defensive barrier– Water protected

Tenochtitlan on all sides– Mexica warriors

patrolled the three causeways that eventually linked the capital to the surrounding mainland

The Beginnings of Empire

• By the early 15th Century, the Mexica were powerful enough to overcome their immediate neighbors and demand tribute from their new subjects

• Under the rule of “the Obsidian Serpent” Itzcoatl (1428-1440) and Motecuzoma I (Montezuma) (1440-1469) they conquered Oaxaca in southwest Mexico

Itzcoatl, the Obsidian Serpent

The Triple Alliance

• The Mexica populated Oaxaca with colonists and used it as a bulwark for their emerging empire– From Oaxaca, the Mexica turned to the Gulf Coast– After that they conquered the cities between

Tenochtitlan and the Gulf Coast• In about the mid-15th Century, the Mexica joined forces

with the neighboring cities of Texcoco and Tlacopan to form a triple alliance that guided the Aztec Empire

• The alliance imposed its rule on some 21 million people and most of Mesoamerica

Tribute

• The main objective of the triple alliance was to exact tribute from subject people

• The annual tribute owed by the state of Tochtepec on the Gulf coast included– 9,600 cloaks– 1,600 women’s

garments– 200 loads of cacao– 16,000 rubber balls Tribute of precious stones in

jade, serpentine, and turquoise paid by Tochtepec

The Aztec Army

• The Aztecs had no permanent, standing army and they did not maintain military garrisons throughout their empire

• They simply assembled forces as needed whenever they launched campaigns of expansion or punitive expeditions

Pendent in the shape of an Aztec warrior

Maintenance of the Empire

• The Aztec had no elaborate bureaucracy or administration

• They simply conquered their subjects and assessed tribute, leaving local governance and the collection of the tribute in the hands of the conquered people themselves

• The Aztecs reputation for military prowess was usually enough to keep subject people in line due to fear of reprisals– Contrast this technique with the other means of

maintaining order and population control we discussed in Block 3

War in Aztec Society

• War benefited all segments of Aztec society but the religious component was an especially important beneficiary because war produced victims for ritual sacrifice

• The Mexica believed their gods had set the world in motion through acts of individual sacrifice– By letting their blood flow, the

gods had given the earth the moisture it needed to bear maize and other crops

War in Aztec Society

• To propitiate the gods and ensure the continuation of the world, the Mexica honored their deities through sacrificial bloodletting– Mexica priests regularly

performed acts of self-sacrifice such as piercing their earlobes or penises with cactus spines in honor of the primeval acts of their gods Aztec sacrificial knife

War in Aztec Society

• Mexica warriors took Huitzilopochtli as their patron deity in the early 14th Century as they subjected neighboring peoples to their rule

• They felt that their military successes showed that Huitzilopochtli especially favored the Mexica and the priests of Huitzilopochtli’s cult demanded sacrificial victims to keep the war god appeased

Huitzilopochtli

War in Aztec Society

• Many of the people conquered by the Aztec warriors ended up becoming human sacrifices to Huitzilopochtli

• The Mexica honored Huitzilopochtli in a large temple in the center of Tenochtitlan

• When the Spanish conquistadors arrived they found racks holding the skulls of hundreds of thousands of sacrificial victims in temples dedicated to Huitzilopochtli throughout the Aztec empire

Tzompantli Altar decorated with 240 human skulls made of stone

War in Aztec Society

• After an enemy was captured, he was incapacitated with a wooden collar and taken back to Tenochtitlan for formal presentation.

War in Aztec Society

• For the Aztecs, human sacrifice was not a gruesome form of entertainment, but a ritual essential for the world’s survival

Aztec Warriors

• All males were considered potential warriors and individuals of common birth could distinguish themselves in battle and therefore raise their social standing

• For the most part, though, military elites came from the Mexica aristocracy– Men of noble birth received

intensive training in military affairs Clay statue of an elite

Aztec eagle warrior

Aztec Warriors

• In the rigidly hierarchical Aztec social structure, most public honors and awards went to the military elite

• Accomplished warriors received extensive land grants as well as tributes from commoners for their support

• The most successful warriors formed a council whose members selected the ruler, discussed public issues, and filled government positions Illustration depicting six different

levels of military achievement

Aztec Warriors

• Elite warriors ate the best foods Aztec society had to offer-- turkey, pheasant, duck, deer, boar, and rabbit-- and enjoyed luxuries such as vanilla and cacao

• Warriors were allowed to wear brightly colored cotton clothes while commoners had to wear coarse, burlap-like garments

Aztec emperor personally awarding warriors with ritual dress

and gifts taken in tribute from foreign states

Aztec Warfare

• The Aztecs mainly fought during the dry season between December and April – Marching was easiest– Post-harvest supplies were at their height– Farm laborers were available for service

• The Aztecs marched about 12 miles a day with each army departing on separate days or traveling by parallel routes

• There was one human porter for every two soldiers and the Aztecs carried a total of eight days’ supply of food

Aztec Warfare

• Usually battles were fought in the open and began at dawn with a slingshot and arrow barrage at a range of about 60 yards

• Under this cover, soldiers armed with stone-bladed broadswords and spears advanced

• All soldiers carried shields and those who had earned it had cotton quilted armor

Aztec Warfare

• As the two sides closed, combat became hand to hand

• In most cases, the Aztecs’ primary objective was the enemies’ submission, not their destruction, so tribute and sacrificial victims could be obtained

The preferred Aztec weapon

was the macuahuitl.

The obsidian blades were razor sharp

and intended to disable an enemy so he

could be captured.

Aztecs Meet Their Match

• In 1519, Hernan Cortes led about 450 soldiers to Mexico and Tenochtitlan

• After an initial repulse, Cortes built a small fleet of ships, placed Tenochtitlan under siege, and in 1521 starved the city into surrender– We’ll talk more about

this in Lesson 25Montezuma II

Hernan Cortes

Cortes’ Advantages

• Population density, • Large animal domestication, • Agriculture, • Resistance to diseases passed

from animals and plants to humans,

• Technological inventiveness, • Acceptance of change and

improvement, • Literacy, and • Centralized government

– Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel

Next

• The Crusades