In the 13th century BC, the Mongols rose to power and conquered an empire whose size they have not yet equaled. The Mongols conquered lands such as China, leaving such a lasting influence on them that their legacy still lives on. However, despite the success of the Mongols, their actions left a constantly open debate as to whether they were barbarians, seen and represented by the different societies of their time as people without morals or modern civilization, or civilized people who were simply feared by other societies . Although the Mongols are now generally seen as barbarians due to their violent and barbaric warfare tactics which they used to instill fear in people, they are actually civilized because they had a strategically organized army and because they accepted the customs of other peoples. These two elements would ultimately lead them to success. The Mongols could be considered barbarians due to the violent and barbaric warfare tactics they used to instill fear in people. They often took advantage of their organized army to implement many of these military tactics. When the Mongols attacked places such as fortresses, they first surrounded them, dividing their army into groups and periodically swapping them so they could attack day and night while the inhabitants of the fortresses tired themselves out trying to protect themselves (Doc 3). When they failed to conquer the fortress in this way, they took the fat of the enemies they killed and, after melting it, catapulted it onto the houses and set it on fire; these fires were almost impossible to put out (Doc 3). The Mongols also often took control of entire cities, killing all their inhabitants and burning them to the ground after taking all valuable items. ......middle of paper......promote loyalty and greater trust between the two peoples. The Chinese would have been more willing to follow the new policies under Mongol rule, even if they were no longer at the top of the social class. The Mongols were civilized because they accepted the customs of different peoples and used them to their advantage. Although the Mongols could be seen as barbarians due to the way they used warfare tactics to both instill fear in people and conquer the land that made up their vast empire, the acceptance of other customs caused the conquered to be more loyal against them and their organized army also helped them quickly gain control of large amounts of land. These are the reasons why the Mongols were successful and civilized. Allyson Persaud