Explanation: While we often think of the Mongol Empire spreading terror throughout Medieval Europe, this is only true in the, uh, sense of literally spreading terror. Stories of the unstoppable Mongols gripped the continent, but by the continued repetition of second and third-hand accounts. Only Poland, Hungary, and the Kyivan Rus principalities had prolonged conflicts with them. Some of the German states suffered raids and had skirmishes during the attacks on Poland and Hungary, but no more than that.
The Kyivan Rus were… largely defeated or subdued, as they were closest to the expanding Mongol centers of power. Poland and Hungary survived the Mongol onslaught, but only barely - Poland lost a massive proportion of its knighthood in combat, and Hungary was ravaged to the bone, holding out in fortresses and fortified cities.
Funny(?) enough, the reason the Mongols withdrew is likely because of the death of their Khan (Ogodei, at the time, not Genghis), rather than military losses. Meaning all the ‘big players’ of the Mongol military had to return to Mongolia to elect a new Khan, so the ongoing campaigns were abandoned. The subsequent squabbling and internal divisions of the Mongol Empire meant that many of the ongoing campaigns were never resumed.
… so a big thanks to Ogodei Khan for drinking himself to death at an opportune time as well!
“To alcohol! Cause - and solution to - all of life’s problems!”
From memory, wasnt it the Hungarian king who after they got massively destroyed by the Mongols, dedicated his life to preparing defences and then years after his death they came back and were sucessfully pushed back?
Also funny to think Western Europe viewed the Mongols as potential Christian allies at the start lol. Their face once Mongols got to Eastern Europe:
From memory, wasnt it the Hungarian king who after they got massively destroyed by the Mongols, dedicated his life to preparing defences and then years after his death they came back and were sucessfully pushed back?
I’m actually not super up on Hungarian history, but I do know that the Hungarian monarch at the time, after returning from self-imposed exile, invested massively in fortifications, since fortifications were one of the few things that did slow the first invasion.
Also funny to think Western Europe viewed the Mongols as potential Christian allies at the start lol. Their face once Mongels got to Eastern Europe:
Depending on your point of view, it might get funnier - a few decades after this, there were serious discussions of making an alliance with one of the Mongol successor states. If memory serves, sectarian divisions (Christian Mongols tended to be Nestorian, rather than Catholic or Orthodox) and clashing egos eventually sunk the plan, despite their common foe of the Muslim Caliphates.
Lol gotta love human history
People, what a bunch of bastards.
