Genghis Khan Research Paper

Many people today have heard about the Mongolian leader Genghis Khan. We generally see him as a ruthless person who did not care about his people that he ruled. Genghis Khan is mostly known for his brutality and for the fact that he and his army were responsible for killing close to 40 million people. However, in Mongolia he is seen as a hero and the greatest leader they have ever had. Genghis Khan was able to start from having very little and rising in power in order to unite many people and different tribes of Mongolia and to conquer land that the Mongolian people still cherish today.

Born in north central Mongolia near the border of Siberia in 1162, Genghis Khan was great since his birth. When he was born, he was holding a blood clot

Rather than having a military that was large in numbers, he had specific tactics that made his army more successful than any other military at the time. He would often send out spies to find out what his enemies' motivations were and what type of weapons they used. Many of the weapons that Genghis and his army used were improvised versions of weapons that came from the Persians or Chinese (Hays). The Mongols had a high level of mobility and speed and would overwhelm their enemy. Genghis' army relied mostly on bows and arrows and only used man-to-man combat after they disorganized the enemies army (Mongol Empires). The archers that were armed with shields would get off their horses and fire at the enemy, while others who were trained would shoot while they were still moving on their horse (Alvarez). Genghis Khan's most successful tactic was his use of psychological warfare on his opponents. The Mongolian army was known to be the most brutal army at the time, so when people heard that they might be coming, people often committed suicide or left their homes to avoid any possible contact with Genghis and his army (Hays). After a victory, Genghis would use propaganda to instill fear into other empires. He would often times ask for voluntary surrender, and if the surrender was true, he would save the people. After the Mongols would capture the city that just surrendered, they would pretend to leave to

Before Genghis there was no sturdy central ruler, just a constant rise and fall of powerful leaders (Mongol Empires). Throughout his reign he was able to conquer between 11 to 12 million square miles of land, and even after his death, his descendants continued to expand the empire (Genghis Khan New World Encyclopedia). Eventually his empire covered large parts of Modern day China, Mongolia, Russia, Ukraine, Korea, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Syria, Iraq, Iran/Persia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Moldova, Kuwait, Vietnam, Poland and Hungary ( Genghis Khan). Genghis was able to keep his army together because he treated his soldiers very well and with respect. He also granted religious freedom to his people that he ruled and encouraged trade (Genghis Khan). Genghis died on August 18, 1227 while in China at the Xi Xia Kingdom getting ready for another war with them because they did not supply soldiers for the war in the Khwariezm Dynasty. No one really knows how he died, but it is thought to be that he fell off a horse and died from untreated internal injuries. His burial site remains unknown and with no markings. It is said that the funeral escorts had everyone and everything that they encountered killed in order to keep the location a secret (Genghis Khan