Shane Card Essay Unit 1
3/5/2013 Western Civ

Throughout history there are many events that shape the world into what it has become today including things such as the formation and development of the Mongol and Ottoman empires, European colonization of the Americas, The Renaissance and growing popularity in religion such as Lutheranism, Protestantism and Catholicism. These few events were main points for how our society and world lives today and who we are as people. The Mongol empire was formed during the 16 year quest of Genghis Khan when he formed a massive army of captured peoples. They owed there main success to their size, training of cavalry, their speed and how they could adapt to the administrative traditions of the subjects that they conquered. The Mongol empire was largely based on stealing and raiding of other nomadic groups. The historical significance of this is that the Mongols helped merge together countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and large portions of Russia into his already large empire. This also led to the later explorers of the west such as Marco polo to spearhead the massive European explorations which would not have happened if not for Genghis Khan. (Western Civilizations/ Notes from class). The Ottoman empire was formed after a 4th siege on Constantinople in which it was finally sacked in 1453 by Mehmet the 2nd and lead to the empire which was formed. During the time of the empires peak it included areas of Asia, Europe and Africa. The empire itself started to flourish with the help of effective sultan rulers and the also flourished economically from their control of trade routes between Europe and Asia. The historical significance of the rise of the Ottoman empire was that it lead to widespread interactions and trading with the eastern and western worlds. The role religion played in these time periods was vast and consisted of many shifts in power and changes in peoples beliefs, which led to many new forms of religion and new ways of thinking such as during The Renaissance. The role that religion played in the conquest and colonization of the Americas was very large because it led to the formations of new religions because many Protestants were looking for a