Peter Ebbesen said:
When the Mongol Empire was at its mightiest, it was possible to communicate meaningfully from China to Russia, with separate hordes both nominally and de facto being part of the Mongol Empire without it suffering from massive rebellions or the creation of a lot of mini hordes. There were remarkably few hordes for the area covered even after the Mongol Empire lost its importance. You have to reach near the end of the CK timeframe before Mongol splitering was a really big problem. I fail to see how an extra stone throw from Hungary or Jerusalem would make the big difference.
Peter,
The “Mongol Empire” wasn’t a highly stable creation. The Mongols were dependent on continuing ravaging and looting and wasn’t very good at administration. They tended not to use non-Mongols as administrators and since the Mongols were few in numbers this hampered them.
Already in 1246 following the death of Ögödei there were a succession war. Möngke (dead in 1259) was to be the last of the Great Khans to exercise authority over the entire Mongol empire. After Möngke's death another fight ensued over who was to become the Great Khan. After 1260, the Mongol nation effectively ceased to exist. The Mongols still had some success (China) but failed to push into Indochina, which might show that they had reached the limit for what was logistically possible.
Grass is vital for keeping a large army of cavalry. The Mongol army suffered from attrition just like any other army. I find it silly to give the Mongols certain advantages (no attrition and so on) that put them on the level of being space aliens.
History shows that in 1368 the main force of the Mongol Empire had been destroyed. However there would be some areas where Mongol leaders would remain in power like Russia. Hence already before 1453 the Mongols were not a major threat anymore. Events making the Mongols weaker and causing civil wars when successions are due are definitely reasonable. Do not forget that the Mongol Empire wasn´t a long lasting empire. Actually it was destroyed in a matter of around 150 years.
