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03/02/2008: "Asian invasion: How to lose to the Mongols"

The unified Horde moved South, into China, and then west, through India, Central Asia and the Middle East. The Turks, threatened, made a hasty alliance with some of the major Russian cities. Russia’s disunity, again, served the country poorly. The alliance did not wait for the Kievan reinforcements in 1224, the divided Russian principalities could not decide on a proper chain of command, and the results are known to all.

The reasons for the defeat of Russia are many. The Mongols had a huge advantage in numbers. Various estimates of Mongol troop strength hover between 300,000 and up. These forces were massive for the time. The Mongol horsemen were completely unified under the Khan, and operated as a single unit. Russia herself was the polar opposite, ruled by jealous princes, divided and as concerned about precedent as about military victory.

Fifth, there was some limited intermarriage between Russians and Mongols, showing that race was not a factor in Russian elite marriage choices, but political expediency and class might well have been at the center.

[ As Asia, Eurasia (Russia and Eastern Europe) and Western Europe/USA heat up for another cold war, it's important to remember these lessons: individualistic, disunified, disorganized countries lose to Asian invaders. ]

http://www.rusjournal.com/lecture7.html