Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great...?

Genghis Khan is the father of  0,2% of the world population today and killed 40 million people as he conquered. he destroyed four of the strongest nations in Asia and is responsible for the fall of the persian culture (as one of the leading nations in technology and science back then). he conquered Asia (except India, Japan and Anatolia) and managed to keep it!

Compared to Alexander the greats army, a mongol army consisted of only cavalry, the only good cavalry unit that Alexander had was companion cavalry his own bodyguard. Depends on the enviorment if its a large plain then i guess horse archers would have an advantage, small plains lots of forests then i guess Alexander (hard to maneuver in tight terrain for horse archers). The mongols didn't invade Novgorod for this reason, germany and france would be hard since the countries are heavily forested, for example in battle of Tours a infernior infantry based army beat a horse archer army.

Not only that Alexander was the first commander that won a battle against horse archers on large plains. But still it depends on the terrain if he is going to win or lose.

I don't think Genghis khan was anything close to a commander, all battles where fought by other commanders like Subotai and other. so this thread should be Subotai vs Alexander the great. One thing you guys are wrong is that you say brutality makes you better, huh i thought it was tactics and good soldiers, everyone can be brutal don't be stupid.


Edited by rapala - 15-May-2010 at 00:50

Alexander not only led the longest continuous and most successful campaign in history, he was not only one of the very few general ever unbeaten in the field, but he was also one of the bravest and best soldiers in his army who personally led assaults and was among the first to climb enemy battlements. But even more, he had a deep interest for science, showed a profound understanding of administrative matters and, above all, he had a political vision of a Greek-Persian merger.

By contrast, that murderous Mongolian cattle drover was not to be seen anywhere near the front when push comes to shove. 

Do you suggest that 'fighting' from the rear is typically of oriental war leaders? ;-)

Today Genghis Khan is seen like a heros in Mongolia because he is considered same the founder of the country bu in the rest of the Asia he is considered same a bloody conqueror.

Both opened up cultural and trade connections between Europe and Asia through their conquests. Both shifted the balance of power through their unexpected arrival on the scene and their defeats of major powers...

The biggest difference probably lies in the fact that Alexander's legacy turned out to be more lasting and profound. Through his conquest of Persia he shifted the balance of power in the Mediterranean region for the next 1.000 years in favour of European cultures, i.e. the Greeks and Romans. Though the Greek Golden Age preceded Alexander the Great, his conquests ensured that Greek culture spread even further and reached even greater heights. Through his conquests, Greek culture and language was adopted throughout the eastern Mediterranean, which lasted until the 7th-8th century AD after the Arab conquests. The founding of Alexandria was also an important part in the cultural and scientific landscape of the ancient Mediterranean.

Genghis Khan and his successors OTOH severely stunted the growth of other empires like China, the Ottomans, etc, but these powers recovered after the Mongols left or their hold on power fell apart. There were no other players around to take advantage of the situation and replace them. Genghis Khan did leave an interesting legacy through the vivid writings of Marco Polo, whose travelogue was an inspiration for later European explorers like Christopher Columbus.

It would be very hard, though, to make the case that Marco Polo's writings in any way were the driving force behind these explorations. The underlying geopolitical motives were far more relevant (Muslim conquest of Constantinople, liberation of Portugal and Spain, etc) and there were other stories like the 12th century legend of Prester John, who was supposed to rule a powerful and prosperous Christian kingdom somewhere in Asia, which some even went out to locate. But Gengis Khan through the writings of Marco Polo nevertheless made people in Europe more aware of far away cultures in Asia.



Edited by abvgd - 18-Feb-2011 at 19:44

There's no need to be rude Khan. Even if the other person's talking complete garbage, you can't call them stupid unless you provide links proving they are wrong

Oh btw i forgot to mention in that 100 000(Genghis) vs. 450 000(China), Genghis happened to break through the great wall of china as well