Deep ditches and well-built walls: a reappraisal of the mongol withdrawal from Europe in 1242
Date
2012-09-27
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
In 1241, Mongol armies invaded Poland and Hungary, and small reconnaissance forces even penetrated the borders of the Holy Roman Empire. The following year, the Mongols pulled out of Central Europe though they retained their hold on Russia, the Black Sea steppe, and the Volga region. A number of explanations have been offered for the withdrawal by modern scholars. This thesis argues that these theories are unconvincing and contradicted by the existing primary source evidence. As an alternative explanation, it posits that European fortifications produced a strategic problem that the Mongols were unable to surmount in the 1240s with their available manpower and siege engine technology. In order to corroborate this theory, analyses of several Mongol campaigns against sedentary societies outside of Europe are provided. These analyses reveal that fortifications posed a serious problem to any Mongol effort to subjugate a sedentary population.
Description
Keywords
History--Medieval
Citation
Pow, L. S. (2012). Deep ditches and well-built walls: a reappraisal of the mongol withdrawal from Europe in 1242 (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/25533