European Tribune - Comments - Standing on the Shoulders of Giants - Europe and the Mongol Empire

Rather, when the Mongols invaded in the East of Europe they won some huge victories and large areas of territory. However, the booty gained was not on the scale found in other areas neighbouring the Mongol Empire - notably the Sung Kingdom in China and the Muslim states in the Middle East. Thus, the Mongols turned their armies back towards more profitable regions. In effect, Europe escaped being part of the Mongol Empire because it was too poor and backward to be a target.

The dominant historical narrative holds that coincidence - mainly in the form of Ögedei's death - played a huge part. Having come halfway across Europe the undefeated Mongol armies turned because their leaders needed to protect their interests in the succession.

Do Weatherford dispute this narrative, or does he simply place it within a larger context?

Sweden's finest (and perhaps only) collaborative, leftist e-newspaper Synapze.se