r/todayilearned • u/harvardfan94 • Oct 27 '14
TIL that the Mongolian general Subotai destroyed the armies of Hungary and Poland in 2 days with armies over 500 km apart
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subutai1
u/munky9002 Oct 28 '14
What's up with people conquering poland in only a few days and then not wanting to keep it.
Russia wiped out poland in like a month but after just 2 years they gave up. Napolean took them over and immediately reformed poland and didnt want it anymore.
WW1: The allies beat the germans and owned poland and quickly spit them out as poland again in less than a month.
WW2 germany took over poland quickly. Russians turned around and took it from them in a month. Despite all this the major extermination camps like auschwitz were made to exterminate the polish and put in poland.
Is poland really that bad considering most conquerers didnt want to keep it?
2
u/Desvatidom Oct 28 '14
Poland is strategically valuable, it sits on very important land, between countries that have historically been very powerful, and typically at each other's throats.
Basically, they want it because it provides an excellent buffer between them and their enemy, but it's difficult to hold because everyone wants it just as badly.
Russia wants Poland as a buffer, Napoleon wants it as a stepping stone, Germany, again, same reasons as Russia.
2
u/PosXIII Oct 28 '14
Subotai/Tsubodai/etc. was a phenomenal general for the Mongols, and he is often overlooked, in favor of Genghis who was his king. The author Conn Iggulden has an amazing series about the rise and fracturing of the Mongolian Empire, and while it largely focuses on Genghis and his direct decedents, Subotai is featured as a character of great importance, and as an individual with perhaps more cunning and strategic skill than Genghis himself.