Militray_Conquest_Is_the_Best_Way_to_Obtain_Power

Military conquests are a good way to gain land but not sustain power over that land. Mongols for example had much power and influence but as soon as the power exchanged hands their values were lost. Whereas the empire where religion is the core has integrated their ideals and values from then all the way to present day society. When the Roman Empire was being rebuilt in the beginning of the middle Ages, the new roman government knew that they did not want a repeat of the last great fall. History shows that the instability of their government that revolved around military was not fit for their new idea of this modern grand Empire. Previous rulers such as Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar were a great example of how unstable a society is with Military as its center. When rulers in the middle ages took power, slowly they began to realize that religion was the best way to unite an already divided land. Pope Urban II created the idea of having the church in power and one central religion for the whole Kingdom (Howarth, 22). In addition to having the military at his disposal, Pope Urban II used religion and the promise of salvation to have the force of all his citizens behind him also (Corrick, 31). In the end, the crusades created and established many new Empires, and the fall of old power. The trade routes helped expand much of his established power that was left with the pope now. To this day, the ideas of power, society, and the culture developed during this time are still in effect. The government although has exchanged hands many times, still had the same core idea developed during the time of Pope Urban II. In the 14th century a new civilization called Aztec emerged in Central America. The Aztecs were a civilization that had every aspect from government to society to economy all revolved around their religious beliefs. Since many of their core beliefs and values were originally from the olmecs the Aztec views of life gods and death were not that different from their surrounding neighbors (Olguin, 26). The religion practiced within the Aztec empire was vast, uniting and a great force of influence on the people. Very little distinction was seen between the natural world and the world of the gods. Society and value created by military conquest would abruptly disappear just as it easily began. Religion plays a large part in human nature as a need to believe in salvation or life after death this belief kept many traditions and theory’s alive and soon developed and was untwined with our society today. Although the empire fell, the ideas and innovations instilled in people by religion has stayed in practice till this day. The Mongol empire is widely well known for the discipline tough and in some areas cruel personalities of their people. Men especially portrayed these traits and these traits we also the core to their government and society. When first created and the beginning of the 13th century the government established by Genghis khan was simply a government ran by the military. Genghis Khan was a very strong and an influential warrior and military commander. Genghis khan ordered his army to give no mercy: “The greatest happiness is to vanquish your enemies, to chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth.” After he came to power allies and chieftains pledged their loyalty to this leader with a very promising future. This government consisted of men that were physically tough, emotionally absent, and was very much accustomed to killing and death. These traits combined created a group of Mongols that were obsessed with invading and conquering claimed land with no intention of stopping. Military created a lifestyle that called for a need of breeding a love for combat and a hate for those who owned land that was not yet theirs. As a result this strongly encouraged organization, discipline and unity. Military as the core of their society did in fact create a very tied down and strict code of rules. It seemed the Mongol empire would engulf the entire continent but it all began to fall apart due to the death of Genghis Khan in 1227(Barlett, 55). The empire was divided into four khanates and each ruler trying to imitate Genghis style of ruling was not successful. Some tried to invade or take over neighboring lands but the organization and discipline Genghis had could not be duplicated. The decline began solely but soon completely dissolved at the turn of the century. Once the empire declined the ideas instilled by Genghis were quickly replaced with the incoming empire and was soon forgotten. History has repeated itself many times over proving that the best way of expanding is by military conquests. Though the idea of military conquests to sustain a civilization and integrate their beliefs is not a possible theory. As proven n Aztec and roman civilization an empire can greatly expand from warfare but will only be sustained by the unification religion brings. [pic] Bibliography Corrick, James A. Late middle ages. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 1995. Print. Howarth, Sarah. Middle Ages. New York, N.Y: Viking, 1993. Print. Late Middle Ages. Milwaukee: Raintree, 1990. Print. Olguin, Felipe S. The Aztec Empire. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 2004. Print. Bartlett, W. From Genghis Khan to Tamerlane . Amberley Publishing, 2009. Print. (primary source) Class Notes Map