The Mongol invasion of Europe in the thirteenth century was one of the most dramatic and consequential events of the medieval period. The invasion was carried out by the Mongol armies of Batu Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, and it resulted in the conquest of Russia, Poland, Hungary, and parts of Eastern Europe. The invasion was a major catastrophe for the European powers, and it was a major factor in the political, cultural, and economic history of the continent.
The Mongol invasion of Europe began in 1236, with a major campaign that was directed against the Russian principalities. The campaign was a major success, and the Mongols quickly conquered the major Russian cities, including Vladimir, Rostov, Tver, and others. The most important of the Russian cities was Kiev, the capital of the old Kievan Rus’, which was taken and destroyed in 1240.
The Invasion of Russia
The first major phase of the Mongol invasion of Europe was the invasion of Russia in the late 1230s and early 1240s. The Russian principalities were a patchwork of small, independent states that had been weakened by internal divisions and external pressures, and they were unable to mount a coordinated resistance to the Mongol invasion.
The invasion was led by Batu Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, and it was carried out by a Mongol army of perhaps 100,000 to 150,000 men. The Mongol army moved with terrifying speed, and within a few years, it had conquered the major Russian principalities. The most important of the Russian cities was Kiev, the capital of the old Kievan Rus’, which was taken and destroyed in 1240.
The Invasion of Eastern Europe
The second major phase of the Mongol invasion of Europe was the invasion of Eastern Europe in 1241 and 1242. The invasion was led by two Mongol armies, one in the north under the command of Kaidu and the other in the south under the command of Subutai and Batu.
The northern army moved into Poland, where it defeated a combined Polish-German-Moravian army at the Battle of Legnica on 9 April 1241. The battle was a decisive victory for the Mongols, and it established the Mongols as the dominant military power in Central Europe.
The southern army moved into Hungary, where it defeated the Hungarian army at the Battle of Mohi on 11 April 1241. The battle was a decisive victory for the Mongols, and it established the Mongols as the dominant military power in Eastern Europe. The Mongols then swept through the undefended Hungarian countryside, paused before the walls of Vienna, and withdrew to the Hungarian plain for the winter.
The Withdrawal of the Mongols
The withdrawal of the Mongols from Europe in 1242 was triggered, not by any European victory, but by the news that Ögedei Khan had died on the Mongolian steppe. By Mongol custom, all princes of the blood were required to attend a kurultai to elect a new great khan, and Batu, the senior prince, refused to leave Europe without the title being settled.
The withdrawal of 1242 saved Western Europe from further immediate conquest but did not constitute any kind of Mongol defeat. The Mongols continued to project power into Europe for the rest of the thirteenth century, and Hungary, Poland, and the Crusader states all had to reckon with the Mongol presence for decades afterward. The Mongols also established the Golden Horde in the Russian steppe, which ruled over the Russian principalities for the next two and a half centuries.
The Aftermath of the Invasions
The Mongol invasions of Europe had a profound effect on the political, cultural, and economic life of the regions that they affected. The invasions brought about the destruction of many of the major cities of Russia and the Middle East, and they brought about a long period of Mongol rule over the conquered territories.
The invasions also brought about a major change in the political geography of Eurasia. The political map of the region was redrawn, and a number of new states emerged in the wake of the Mongol conquests. The most important of these was the Golden Horde in the Russian steppe, which became a major power in the region for the next two and a half centuries.
The invasions also had a major effect on the cultural life of the regions that they affected. The Mongol conquests brought about a major exchange of ideas and technologies between East and West, and the invasions were a major factor in the development of the Pax Mongolica. The Pax Mongolica made it possible for merchants, missionaries, and other travelers to move across Eurasia with unprecedented freedom, and it was a major factor in the development of the modern world.
Sources
- Peter Jackson, The Mongols and the West, 1221–1410 (London: Pearson Longman, 2005), ch. 3.
- James Chambers, The Devil’s Horsemen: The Mongol Invasion of Europe (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1979).
- David Morgan, The Mongols (2nd ed., Oxford: Blackwell, 2007), ch. 4.
- Marie Favereau, The Horde: How the Mongols Changed the World (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2021), ch. 5–8.
- Timothy May, The Mongol Conquests in World History (London: Reaktion, 2012), ch. 6.
- Charles J. Halperin, Russia and the Golden Horde (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985).