Final answer:
Genghis Khan and his Mongol armies conquered vast territories with brutal and strategic military tactics. They used psychological warfare to terrify and overpower opponents, looting and massacring cities that resisted.
Step-by-step explanation:
Brutality of Genghis Khan's Conquests
Explaining the brutality by which Genghis Khan conquered Chinese and Muslim territories involves looking at the strategic and often merciless military tactics used against the Tanguts, Jurchens, Qara Khitai, and the Khwarazmian Empire. The Mongol armies, characterized by their speed, discipline, and use of psychological warfare, were adept at siege warfare and direct assaults. They were ruthless on the battlefield, employing strategies such as feigning retreat to ambush their pursuers, conducting night attacks supplemented with deceptive fires, and enforcing strict discipline within their ranks. These tactics, honed originally during hunting exercises called nerge, proved to be devastatingly effective against both the nomadic and the city-based states of the time.
Genghis Khan's approach also involved terrorizing populations into submission, often massacring cities that resisted and sparing those that surrendered peacefully but imposed a 10 percent tax as a means of control. His forces were known not only for their military prowess but also for their utter disregard for life, looting and destroying cities, and killing inhabitants indiscriminately, reinforcing the fear that all resistance was futile.
After Genghis Khan's death, his descendants continued his legacy of conquest, further expanding the Mongol Empire, while also ushering in an era of increased trade and cultural exchange known as the Pax Mongolica. Despite their ferocity in war, the Mongols' contribution to global connectivity had profound and lasting impacts on world history.