Bibor
Doomsday Machine
The Mongols have a well deserved place in our history (and in CIV).
As always, with power and money comes prosperity. Mongols were one of the most advanced civilizations in our history. Sure, they stole, burned and pillaged. Who didn't? Everyone who could - did. Were the jewels in the British crown mined in England? Not really. Are the British and French museums full of local pottery? Sure.
From Wikipedia:
News of Great Khan's death in Karakorum, Mongolia reached the Mongols forces under Batu Khan in Central Europe within 4–6 weeks thanks to the Yam.
...
The Mongol riders regularly covered 125 miles per day, which is faster than the fastest record set by the Pony Express some 600 years later.
That's pretty awesome considering the distance is over 3000 miles.
At its greatest extent, the Mongol Empire stretched from the Danube to the Sea of Japan and from northern Siberia to Camboja, covering over 33,000,000 km2 (12,741,000 sq mi), 22% of the Earth's total land area, and held sway over a population of over 100 million people. It is often identified as the "Mongol World Empire" because it spanned much of Eurasia.
Every fool (well, except a few conteporary politicians *cough*) knows that one can't occupy a land successfully on brute force alone. They had to have impressive administrative capabilities as well. Just consider the number of spoken languages, religions, customs, interests in the Mongol Empire (from Chinese Mandarin to Latin).
The Mongol empire lasted for over 200 years. Which means it lasted half as much as the United States today and three times longer than the Soviet Union and 10 times longer than the Nazi regime.
And just for the record, an army of over 200.000 professional soldiers equipped with stealth bombers, satellites, battle tanks, laser guided weapons... can't get a firm hold on Iraq after 10 years. A country that's like 80 times smaller than the Mongol Empire.
As always, with power and money comes prosperity. Mongols were one of the most advanced civilizations in our history. Sure, they stole, burned and pillaged. Who didn't? Everyone who could - did. Were the jewels in the British crown mined in England? Not really. Are the British and French museums full of local pottery? Sure.
From Wikipedia:
News of Great Khan's death in Karakorum, Mongolia reached the Mongols forces under Batu Khan in Central Europe within 4–6 weeks thanks to the Yam.
...
The Mongol riders regularly covered 125 miles per day, which is faster than the fastest record set by the Pony Express some 600 years later.
That's pretty awesome considering the distance is over 3000 miles.
At its greatest extent, the Mongol Empire stretched from the Danube to the Sea of Japan and from northern Siberia to Camboja, covering over 33,000,000 km2 (12,741,000 sq mi), 22% of the Earth's total land area, and held sway over a population of over 100 million people. It is often identified as the "Mongol World Empire" because it spanned much of Eurasia.
Every fool (well, except a few conteporary politicians *cough*) knows that one can't occupy a land successfully on brute force alone. They had to have impressive administrative capabilities as well. Just consider the number of spoken languages, religions, customs, interests in the Mongol Empire (from Chinese Mandarin to Latin).
The Mongol empire lasted for over 200 years. Which means it lasted half as much as the United States today and three times longer than the Soviet Union and 10 times longer than the Nazi regime.
And just for the record, an army of over 200.000 professional soldiers equipped with stealth bombers, satellites, battle tanks, laser guided weapons... can't get a firm hold on Iraq after 10 years. A country that's like 80 times smaller than the Mongol Empire.
