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Mongol Defeat of European Forces

            The Mongol Empire at its height was the largest land empire ever created. This was certainly due to many factors, but one stands above all others and this is the overwhelming superiority of their military forces. This was especially evident against the Russian and European nations that found themselves in the path of the Mongol Horde. In the case of Poland and Hungary the traditional western method of battle was entirely overrun by the tactics and strategies of the steppe nomads. The total difference in the two opposing armies and the Mongols absolute superiority in all areas made the battles during this period unsurprisingly one sided. The purpose of this essay is to account for their successes and go some way to explaining how a group of "barbarian" invaders from the east could slaughter some of Europe's largest armies to a man.
             The first and main advantage the Mongols had over their European enemies was far superior tactics and mobility. The Mongol warrior rode light, wore quilted armor and a silk shirt underneath. The European cavalry however wore cumbersome and essentially suited to a decisive first attack. One of the Mongols most formidable tactical moves was the retreat. In the face of heavy cavalry, they would more often than not withdraw. This manoeuvre was often interpreted as implying cowardice and lack of strength. In reality, the Mongols wanted the opponents forces to pursue them, and thus expose their weaknesses. As the cavalry lost cohesion and their numbers were whittled away by flights of arrows from the fleeing Mongol horse riders they would be surrounded and annihilated. As previously noted the mobility of the Mongolian armies over great distances was another decisive advantage of their enemies. They could march at great speed over any terrain and out mauver the European armies, giving themselves the advantage of choosing the field of battle. Entire campaigns and individual battles showed the Mongols far outstripped the Polish and Hungarian armies, even with numerical inferiority.


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