378 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1944 
Unfortunately, later generations of eastern and southeastern Euro- 
peans knew more than this about the Mongols and the Turks. ‘These 
sons of the grassland came and remained to rule. 
Genghis Kahn (Perfect Warrior), 1162-1227, son of a Mongol chief- 
tain, was a supreme genius. He was probably the greatest cavalryman 
that ever lived. In 30 years Genghis the Cavalryman spread his em- 
pire eastward to the Yellow Sea and westward to the Adriatic and 
the Baltic. Medieval Europe salved its sore vanity by saying that 
Genghis overwhelmed by myriad numbers. Not so. He won by disci- 
io 
> 
Ps 
eieneers EMPIRE Pe hb. WA N ff L 
yA é big Se 
eae See MSG) Pn ee 
! 
MONGOL EMPIRE 
so, to0e ts 
eee 
‘ 
‘ 
TUDE a 
2000 KILO! Oh 
Ficure 14.—The area with NE.-SW. shading shows the Mongol empire, A. D. 1300, 
the largest block of land ever ruled by one organization. The area with 
NW.-SE. shading is the area ruled by Tamerlane, boastful of his pyramid of 
70,000 human skulls. (Base map copyright by Rand McNally & Company, 
Chicago. ) 
pline, strategy, and tactics. He was a master of speed. The armies 
he defeated were usually much larger than his own, but he had more 
men at the point of combat than had the enemy—“The mostest men 
there fustest” (Forrest, C. S. A.). In one forenoon Genghis left 
70,000 Europeans dead on the plain of Hungary, and then “reduced 
three quarters of Hungary to ashes.” 
It is reported that the strategy and tactics of Genghis Kahn have 
been most carefully studied by Hitler and company in five different 
compendious reports. Equipment may change, but the effectiveness of 
strategy and surprise remains. Genghis seems to have been a true 
