Difference between revisions 448250 and 448252 on mnwiki

{{Infobox building
| name                = Deming Armory
| image               = Deming Luna Mimbres Museum.jpg
| image_alt           = The red-brick front facade of the Deming Armory
| image_caption       = Deming Armory in 2009
| former_names        = State Armory
| alternate_names     = Deming Luna Mimbres Museum
| status              = Used as a museum
| building_type       = Government [[Armory (military)|armory]]
| architectural_style = [[Castellated]] style
| address             = 301 South Silver
| location_town       = Deming, New Mexico
| location_country    = United States
| current_tenants     = Deming Luna Mimbres Museum
| start_date          = 1915
| completion_date     = 1916
| client              = United States Department of the Army 
| owner               = Luna County Historical Society, Inc. (current)
| other_dimensions    = {{convert|50|ft}} across x {{convert|132|ft}} deep
| architect           = Henry C. Trost
| architecture_firm   = Trost & Trost
| main_contractor     = W. W. Barracks
| embedded            = 
 {{Infobox NRHP
 | embed = yes
 | name = Deming Armory
 | lat_degrees = 32
 | lat_minutes = 16
 | lat_seconds = 00
 | lat_direction = N
 | long_degrees = 107
 | long_minutes = 45
 | long_seconds = 24
 | long_direction = W
 | locmapin = New Mexico
 | map_alt = Located in New Mexico, in the southwest portion of the state
 | map_caption = Location in New Mexico
 | coord_display = inline
 | architect = Henry C. Trost
 | governing_body = Luna County Historical Society, Inc.
 | refnum = 83001624
 | added = April 21, 1983
 }}
 {{Designation list
 | embed = yes
 | designation1 = USNM
 | designation1_offname = Deming Armory
 | designation1_date = January 20, 1978
 | designation1_number = 584
 }}
}}ook
| name             = Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
| title_orig       = 
| translator       = 
| image            = Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World.jpg
| caption    = 
| author           = [[Jack Weatherford]]
| illustrator      = S. Badral
| cover_artist     = Stapleton collection/Corbis
| country          = United States
| language         = English
| series           = 
| subject          = 
| genre            = History/ Biography
| publisher        = Crown and Three Rivers Press
| pub_date         = 2004
| english_pub_date = 
| media_type       = Print
| pages            = 312
| isbn             = 0-609-80964-4
| oclc             = 
| dewey            = 
| congress         = 
| preceded_by      = The History of Money
| followed_by      = [[The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire]]
}}

'''''Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World''''' (2004) is a history book written by [[Jack Weatherford]], Dewitt Wallace Professor of [[Anthropology]] at [[Macalester College]].  It is a narrative of the rise and influence of [[Genghis Khan]] and his successors, and their influence on European civilization. Weatherford provides a different slant on Genghis Khan than has been typical in most Western accounts, attributing positive cultural effects to his rule.

In the last section, he reviews the historiography of Genghis Khan in the West and argues that the leader's early portrayal in writings as an "excellent, noble king" changed to that of a brutal pagan during the [[Age of Enlightenment]]. Weatherford made use of three major non-Western sources: ''[[The Secret History of the Mongols]],'' the ''[[Tarikh-i Jahangushay-i Juvaini|Ta' rīkh-i jahān-gushā]]'' of [[Ata al-Mulk Juvayni|Juvayni]] and the ''[[Jami al-Tawarikh]]'' of [[Rashid-al-Din Hamadani]].

==Background/reception==
The book is a [[Historical revisionism|revisionist]] work more sympathetic to the [[Mongols]] than has been the case in the past. In 1979 Paul Ratchnevsky wrote about the Khan's knack for forging alliances, his fairness in dividing the spoils, and his patronage of the sciences.<ref>
{{cite book
 | title =        Genghis Khan: His Life and Legacy 
 | author =       Paul Ratchnevsky
 | publisher =    Blackwell
 | year =         1979
 | ISBN = 0-631-18949-1
 | others =   translated Thomas Nivison Haining 1991
}}</ref> Similarly, Saunders and H.H.Howorth have argued that the Mongol empire contributed to opening up intellectual interactions between China, the Middle East, and Europe.<ref name=saunders>Saunders, J. J. (1971). ''The History of the Mongol Conquests'', Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. ISBN 0-8122-1766-7</ref>

The book suggests that the western depiction of the Mongols as savages who destroyed  civilization was due to the Mongols' approach to dealing with the competing leadership classes. The Mongols practiced killing the ruling classes in order to subdue the general population, a technique used by other cultures as well. Survivors of the upper classes wrote the histories and expressed resentment of Mongol brutality toward them. Weatherford explores the Mongol treatment of the general population (peasants, tradesmen, merchants) under Mongol rule. He suggests their rule was less burdensome than that of European nobility due to lighter taxes, tolerance of local customs and religions, more rational administration, and universal education for boys.

These benefits were enjoyed only by populations who surrendered immediately to the Mongol invaders. Those populations that resisted could be massacred as a warning to other towns/cities. These massacres were a method of [[psychological warfare]] to alert those populations not yet conquered. The resulting terror helped color the historical portrayal of the Mongols.

Since the Mongols were nomadic horsemen of the steppes, they were dependent on taxes from the subjugated peoples for wealth and luxury goods. Weatherford's book claims that the Mongols sought to increase that wealth by encouraging their subjects to be more productive and enterprising instead of increasing the tax burden on them. They did this by sponsoring lucrative international trade. He says that they encouraged scientific advances, and improved agriculture and production methods. Many innovations came from the combination of technologies from different cultures within their huge empire.