Ladies and gentlemen, as we near the final part of our Season 2 finale tomorrow, a sobering truth is quickly emerging. The end of an era nears very quickly-- the end of the nomadic era. Season 2 began with nomads (Arabs) and ends with nomads (Mongols), but at the end of the nomadic period, they will actually never again return to power. It was certainly an interesting ride, but it is in fact over folks. Why is this the end? Historian Robert Guisepi explains this quite nicely in a fascinating little article that he wrote back in 1992. You can see this article by clicking here. You do not have to read the whole thing, but please do scroll down to read the end under the heading "Analysis: The Eclipse of the Nomadic War Machine." When you are finished reading, I would like you all to discuss the following: What are some of the major ways in which nomadic people and their periodic expansions have affected global history? Which of their movements and conquests do you think were the most important? Why were the Mongols able to build a much greater empire than any previous nomadic contender? Why did the Mongol Empire collapse so rapidly, and what does its fall tell us about the underlying weaknesses of the nomadic war machine? Your thoughts... (goodbye nomads... forever... [tear]).
Monday, November 17, 2008
An In Depth Look at the Eclipse of the Nomadic War Machine
Ladies and gentlemen, as we near the final part of our Season 2 finale tomorrow, a sobering truth is quickly emerging. The end of an era nears very quickly-- the end of the nomadic era. Season 2 began with nomads (Arabs) and ends with nomads (Mongols), but at the end of the nomadic period, they will actually never again return to power. It was certainly an interesting ride, but it is in fact over folks. Why is this the end? Historian Robert Guisepi explains this quite nicely in a fascinating little article that he wrote back in 1992. You can see this article by clicking here. You do not have to read the whole thing, but please do scroll down to read the end under the heading "Analysis: The Eclipse of the Nomadic War Machine." When you are finished reading, I would like you all to discuss the following: What are some of the major ways in which nomadic people and their periodic expansions have affected global history? Which of their movements and conquests do you think were the most important? Why were the Mongols able to build a much greater empire than any previous nomadic contender? Why did the Mongol Empire collapse so rapidly, and what does its fall tell us about the underlying weaknesses of the nomadic war machine? Your thoughts... (goodbye nomads... forever... [tear]).
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23 comments:
Nomads have affected global history like enemies always do: by causing innovation in technologies throughout the world, like the crossbow. In my opinion the Arabs were the most influenctial nomadic people. It was amazing how far Islam spread, and they opened up trade as much as the Mongols, like to Africa and Southeast Asia. It said in the document that the Mongols had a great advantage because they were willing to experiment with new weapons technology, like the fireworks to guns thing. What I don't get is why this trait was specific to the Mongols, weren't any other nomadic peoples smart enough to try this stuff? To learn from the settled? I was very surprised that the Mongol empire fell so early. It seems to be a combination of the settled growing smarter and Genghis Khan not planning ahead.
I'm really going to miss the nomads. The Arabs and the Mongols are the most interesting people we've talked about all year.
This saddens me, no more nomads, :(
It seems the fall of the nomads was a combination of many theories. The black death made their population dwindle like Europe, but unlike Europe they had a relativly small population that was very spread out which made it very difficult for the nomads to recover after the plague. Also new technologies that were easy to use made conscript armies more lethal as well as Europe's growing wealth which they put towards military techs and large standing armies. It seems the nomads just never will rise again and strike fear into our hearts. :(
Well, it was bound to happen, depressing though it may be. Unfortunately, the later of the Mongols(those after Kublai Khan[apologies if its misspelt]) strayed for their nomadic roots, and began to, as you said, get more interested in the "pretty paintings and the arts" that those of the settlted societies enjoyed. Goodbye forever, days of the rampaging nomads. You will be missed.
Nomads have affected global history in many ways. They built huge empires and tore other huge ones down. They made major population movements into different countries sparking a population growth in those areas, and started very important trade exchanges across civilizations. The most important nomadic invasion has to have been those by the Mongols. They were able to conquer and establish the biggest empire ever but were eventually torn down by the fall of Genghis Khan.
wow, you know tomorrow is going to be a sad day... it almost seems like we all gathering here to pay our final respects... may the nomads r.i.p.
who's father cheese?
*waves gloomily bye bye to the nomads*
(is gloomily a word??)
if not, IT IS NOW
Sapp.
father cheese is robert garrison i believe. he posted under both and i meant to delete the father cheese post and keep the r. garrison post, but i deleted the wrong one. oh well, i like the father cheese title anyway. if gloomily isn't a word miss sapp, the dying nomads of ours definitely deserve a new word made up on their behalf.
I agree!
well I have to finish reading these documents and reviewing the notes from past readings and all for tomorrow =[ then math... yayy
have a good night!
Sapp
oh and if we have time tomorrow, do you think you could help me with my note taking. I just feel like it takes so long to take reading notes (it seriously takes an hour longer for me to read!) and so I print out these notes but I highlight and I still am not sure if I'm really highlighting the juicy stuff.
We should have a funeral for them...its very very sad...they always made it very exciting..(sigh) exactly why aren't there any nomads anymore? by nonexistance do u mean that they r just not going to try to conquer anymore?
ok prill, my uncle and i are arguing about wether or not there is a guy named Mao tse tung. I know Zedong but this guy? Please help end the tension. sorry about this being off topic.
essentially miss patel, although some historians argue that "barbarian invasions" continue in the 21st, an issue which we'll most certainly address.
mr. johnson, same person. remember, chinese doesn't transliterate into english well, so as i've explained in the past, there are often 3 or 4 spellings for any given word.
if the nomads are gone i wonder how the civilizations will fall? Out of there own ignorance perhaps?
Nomads really and truely affected history. They caused the spread of technology, trade, and religion. the nomads created wonderful empires but i would have to say the mongols were the best. they created the biggest land empire ever. that is incredable. they tore down resisters and created amazing new cities. it is sad to see the nomads go...
The nomads are teh most influential group in history in my opinion. Itll be sad to see em go. Viva la Mongols.
It really is sad to see the death of the nomads. They caused so much trouble yet they helped so much. We owe a lot to the nomads and thank them for the innovations they created throughout the world. The Mongols were definitely the most interesting and I think they created a time of peace. s
prill would make a special post to the nomads leavingg forever... :Dbut it may be a sad time because their leaving, but couldnt it bring more peace and stability in the future? like it could cause less invasion...
This was definitely a sad in ap word history. The Mongols opened a lot of doors for the world. Even if some of there tactics were brutal they really did change the history of the world.
miss braemer, be ready to be SHOCKED by the very barbarity of so-called "civilized" people. season 3 could possibly be the most VIOLENT season yet.
Ha! Humans needing nomads to cause chaos and instability. That's one of the funniest things I've seen on this blog. Humans are violent by nature, we are the only, THE ONLY species on this planet that systematically kills it's own, period. No other creature kills it's own species on purpose, but we do. That right there is why I have little faith in the human race, and why I possess a large sense of negativity towards the world; because we Humans rule over it. Remember, or rather remember learning about, Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Atom bombs, big explosion, people walking around with flesh literally melted away from the bones. That wasn't nomads, that was the good ol' U.S of A. Invasion is caused not by nomads, Ms. Braemer, but by your fellow man standing tall, looking over the land and saying to himself, "I want it." Humans are a plague on the Earth, on our Mother Gaia, and one species I would rather not include myself apart of.
((Apologies for the rather angry rant. 'Tis my true feelings of our species, one of spite, arrogance and greed.))
how can they just go awya. I dont think that is fully possible. i mean large groups yeah but you never know, they could be hiding and then one day just pop out and totally dominate the planet. and maybe they have a huge amount of brain power hidden and they have better technology than us...
..but thats just me being hopeful..
..and a little sad...
..they really kick straight up butt!
.. :(
Without the nomads i dont think we would be globalized today to the extent that we are. Without them the west and east of Eurasia would have never been connect. It would have been too dangerous and very unkempt. But also they did cause trouble. Because of the silk roads we are connected which leads to more greed and competition to a higher extent. More countries are easier accessed to so conflict builds. Who knows what we would be like without them though. Since humans think alike somebody would have probably come up with it eventually or something like it.
It was only a matter of time before such a great nomadic society fell. As they placed their center, they started to become more settled (which Ibn said lead to the downfall of societies) and their luxuries caused them to become caught up in that and less focused on their military as they once were. The Mongols were absolute beasts when it came to taking over societies, and it's sad to see such an interesting group of nomads go.
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