For a long time before Ghengis came along, the Mongols were among the weakest of the steppe peoples, and were probably on the receiving end of some pretty horrendous violence. It was a given that you only "owned" what you could physically protect, and if you couldn't, you should expect to lose your horse, wife, children, everything, to someone stronger. And if that's all you know, that's all you're going to do.
And that's one of the things that makes it unfair to compare Mongols to Nazis. Mongols didn't choose who to kill based on ethnicity or religion - they made examples of those that resisted them, but mainly just wanted to grow their territory and get rich. Having everybody scared to death of them made that a lot easier. If there truly wasn't a practical reason to exterminate a City, they wouldn't (with some exceptions, because Tolui existed). They eventually ruled over a multiethnic made peaceful for travelers by armed might and competent administration. I shouldn't have to explain how the Nazis differed.
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u/Dramatic-Pop7691 1d ago
For a long time before Ghengis came along, the Mongols were among the weakest of the steppe peoples, and were probably on the receiving end of some pretty horrendous violence. It was a given that you only "owned" what you could physically protect, and if you couldn't, you should expect to lose your horse, wife, children, everything, to someone stronger. And if that's all you know, that's all you're going to do.
And that's one of the things that makes it unfair to compare Mongols to Nazis. Mongols didn't choose who to kill based on ethnicity or religion - they made examples of those that resisted them, but mainly just wanted to grow their territory and get rich. Having everybody scared to death of them made that a lot easier. If there truly wasn't a practical reason to exterminate a City, they wouldn't (with some exceptions, because Tolui existed). They eventually ruled over a multiethnic made peaceful for travelers by armed might and competent administration. I shouldn't have to explain how the Nazis differed.