Theories have said that the Mongol Empire had fallen because it grew so big that when it couldn’t grow anymore it had collapsed under its own weight, that when the empire couldn’t expand and stopped conquering. Was it because the army grew too weak to be able to conquer? But the Mongol Empire was the most disciplined army of its time, and the fact that they conquered 22% of the Earth’s total land area within less than 80 years is not a feat done solely on land negotiations. There are two ways of interpreting “collapsing under its own weight”. One is that it cannot sustain itself; the other is instability within itself. Looking at the history of the Khans (rulers of the Mongol Empire), there can only be one reason as to why the empire collapsed, civil war.
Temujin had declared himself Genghis Khan, after oppressing the Mongol tribes that opposed him. He declared the existence of the Mongol Empire. And following these declarations, a line of conquests happened, all of them successful one after another. In his rule, he had conquered so much land, that the Mongol Empire had expanded roughly five times its original size. Genghis, himself, led these conquests with an exception of a few, as well setting up an efficient government to retain stability in his empire. At every conquest, the Mongols established a government system there to create stability. He learnt new ways of waging a war, for example, capturing Chinese engineers to learn siege tactics, as well as knowing when to break off an attack. Knowing that his death was coming soon he prepared the government for a transition of leadership for his son, Ogedei and divided his empire into parts for his four main sons to rule over. Genghis believed that Ogedei had the required abilities to become a leader and therefore chose him.
From this we gather that Genghis was a brilliant leader, who had the capabilities to rule a massive empire, created one of the most disciplined armies and understood the needs of his own empire. He carefully transferred leadership to his son, Ogedei, to ensure there would be no revolt against his decision after death. He had divided the empire into four parts for his four main sons, who would be Khan of the land they received, although these lands were still united and acknowledge the Great Khan, or Khakhan.
The first thing that Ogedei did when he attained the rule of the empire was to subdue to the rest of the Kwarazmian Empire, of which the Kwaraz-Shah had enraged Genghis by insulting ambassadors sent for peace negotiations, and his other target was the Jin Empire, who have started to fight the quelling back from Genghis’s conquest of the empire. Afterwards, Ogedei worked on his government for improvement. Batu Khan of the western division realised although he was leader, most of his land was not under Mongol control. He and Subedei, a general from Genghis’s time, ventured into Russia in winter and did the first successful large scale invasion of Russia in winter.
But because of the Mongol invasion into Russia a large number of groups fled to Hungary, which included the Cumans and Kipchaks who were cavalrymen. Subedei split the army and sent one north to Poland and the other half was led by him and Batu to go to Hungary. Subedei and Batu approached Hungary and faked a retreat causing the officials in Hungary to grow conceited, all while the other part of the army was ransacking Poland, defeating a European force led by Duke Henry of Silesia. When the Hungarian King, realised that the retreat was faked and that the Mongols were getting closer, he took a force and confronted the Mongols at Sajo River. After a battle at the bridge Subedei brought a force and went around, crossed the river without being noticed, appearing on the other side, surprising the Hungarian army. Batu and his part of the force soon won the bridge and the Hungarians were surrounded.
Although it did not seem like Ogedei did much and it was mainly Batu Khan who did most of the conquering here and thus expanding the empire, the strength of the Mongol army is once again emphasized. Another thing that is emphasized is the tactics the Mongols deployed.
Batu Khan considered going even further into Europe, but heard news that Khakhan Ogedei had died. He established a capital and transformed his land into a Khanate (the Golden Horde), and other Khan’s did the same, working to establish a political stability in his Khanate to avoid trouble. Although the Khanates will still acknowledge the Khakhan and still be united with the Mongol Empire, they would have political independency. Gyuk Khan was elected to be Khakhan, but died two years later, and Mongke was chosen.
Mongke first aim was to continue conquering land and the first target was the Song Empire in China. Another concern was the Ismailis, which he left for his brother Hulegu to destroy. Hulegu made many conquests, including Baghdad, and just as he was heading over to Egypt, he heard news that Khakhan Mongke died. Hugelu needed to straighten out his land, which became the Il-Khanate. He withdrew most of his army and went back, leaving a small force which then later died to the Mameluks.
Ogedei’s and Mongke’s deaths both stopped further conquests into Europe and Egypt, so that political stability can be established. It can also be said that both deaths had withdrew both armies so that the Khans could achieve power. The more political power you hold, the more influential you become.
Civil war began when Mongke died.. As Berke Khan (the successor of Batu and Khan of the Golden Horse) was annoyed with Hugelu’s conquests (Baghdad’s in particular, as only Christians were spared and Berke is a Muslim). With no Khakhan and no one able to pacify both parties, Berke and Hugelu began to fight for their own ideals, which resulted in breaking Berke’s plan to invade Europe again. Though at this moment, only two Khanates are at civil war with each other, the Berke Khan of the Golden Horde and Hugelu of Il-Khanate, both having different ideals and in the western part of the empire. However, in a Khuriltai (an assembly of Khan’s) held over in the east, Kubilai Khan was chosen to be Khakhan. But, challenging Kubilai’s position as the Khakhan, another Khuriltai was held and his brother, Ariq Boke, was elected to be Khakhan.
Interestingly enough the civil wars stopped when Kubilai was announced as Khakhan, although disunity existed among the Khans.
Kubilai Khakhan based himself in China, becoming a Yuan emperor of China, defeating the Song Empire, Kubilai changed the Mongol way of life, including how they fight. He sent soldiers off to sea to conquer Japan twice, which turned the army away by typhoon both times. Kubilai also sent soldiers to Burma, Vietnam and Java, and each invasion failed. But Kubilai had another issue to deal with, and that was the rebellion of Kaidu who formed a rebel Khanate.
The other Khanates began to self-govern themselves as Kubilai did not bother with the other Khanates besides his own. Once Kubilai died, the Mongol Empire separated and the Khanates were no longer united, and became independent from one another.
I have stated before that there can only be one reason why the Mongol Empire fell, and that was because of the civil war. With the army’s power, why did they stop their conquest? It was the death of the Khakan Ogedei and Mongke. Why did Batu and Hugelu withdraw from battle? It set up stability in their land. The other Khans followed Batu’s example but when Hugelu did so, he had already annoyed Berke Khan which led to a civil war between the two. This is one of the first signs of collapse, two leaders trying to assert their ideas onto another. Ariq Boke and Kubilai fought for power and when one (it doesn’t matter which one because the results would have been the same) emerged victorious, there would be resentment and the gap between the leaders widen. Khanates make up the empire. With these Khanates having wide gaps between them, how can the empire exist?
When the Mongols started their line of conquest, it was Genghis who had a goal of conquering the world and putting it into action, it was Genghis who united the nomadic Mongol tribes under a common cause. After his death, his sons conquered more land, but also got somewhat politically independent with their given land. But then ideals started getting in the way. People favoured the Christians while others preferred to be Muslims, creating a divide between them. Not long after ideals came power. Who wouldn’t want to be the ruler of such a large and feared empire? With these factors it is clear that once the unity is gone and that once people begin to fight within themselves, the collapse is in evident.
Optional Extra
A society similar to the Mongol Empire is the Huns. Both were originally nomadic tribes, both united under a single leader, both did conquests. However, the Huns were more concentrated into tribute and treasures rather than conquering the world. Though what was similar to the Khanates was the dual leadership of Attila and Bleda. Originally, the Khanates regarded themselves as one empire before falling apart. Attila and Bleda considered their two parts of their empire to be one as well but once Bleda died, Attila took control of the entire empire. The theory of Attila’s death was that he did not die in battle, but rather of his wife poisoning him or by a nosebleed on his wedding night. His eldest son, Ellak, was to take up Attila’s position as King. However, Ellak did not have the ability to lead an empire and his brothers challenged him, to which the suppressed nations responded by rebelling against the Huns and thus the downfall. This was not the case with the Mongols as Genghis passed on his title differently. He chose which one of his sons would best be suited, as Ogedei is not the oldest son but rather the third son. And for this, the Mongol Empire lasted longer than the Huns after their ‘father figure’ had died. But one difference with these societal collapses is that while the Mongols declined because of internal problems, the Huns were a mixture of internal and external strife. Leadership was challenged in both empire, but only the Huns were attacked by the ones they conquered.
Contemporary societies can learn from the Mongol collapse is by respecting other opinions. The reason why civil war started was because instead of going “Yeah, I understand where you’re going, but it’s not going change my belief”, they went “I’m right, you’re wrong” which lead to disunity. The same thing is happening/ed in East Timor, Iraq and the American Civil War.
References
Internet:
All Empires, 2007
http://www.allempires.com/article/index.php?q=The_Mongol_Empire
All Empires, 2007
http://www.allempires.com/article/index.php?q=huns
Encyclopaedia:
"Mongol Empire" in World Book Encyclopaedia, (2007) Vol. 13, pg 719-721
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