Changes

==Conquest of China==

==Conquest of China==

Mongol forces first entered China under Kublai's grandfather Genghis Khan, defeating the [[Jurchen]] [[Jin Dynasty]] which had controlled northern China since [[1127]]. Under Kublai Khan, they pressed further south, and began threatening the [[Southern Song Dynasty]]. The riverine environment, Mongol unfamiliarity with boats, and sub-tropical climate presented difficulties; while the Mongols were unmatched on the grassy steppes to the north, here many of their warriors succumbed to malaria, and their horses to the heat. Their armies pressed forward, however, and were eventually successful in taking the steppes of southwestern China, from which they then attacked China's economic heartland from the west, taking it too, in part thanks to superior use of the Song's own gunpowder weapons.<ref name=elman/>

Mongol forces first entered China under Kublai's grandfather Genghis Khan, defeating the [[Jurchen]] [[Jin Dynasty]] which had controlled northern China since [[1127]]. Under Kublai Khan, they pressed further south, and began threatening the [[Southern Song Dynasty]]. The riverine environment, Mongol unfamiliarity with boats, and sub-tropical climate presented difficulties; while the Mongols were unmatched on the grassy steppes to the north, here many of their warriors succumbed to malaria, and their horses to the heat. Their armies pressed forward, however, and were eventually successful in taking the steppes of southwestern China, from which they then attacked China's economic heartland from the west, taking it too, in part thanks to superior use of the Song's own [[gunpowder]] weapons.<ref name=elman/>

Kublai Khan declared the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty in [[1271]], establishing a new capital at Dadu (大都, lit. "Great Capital"; this city would later become [[Beijing]]). He would spend the next eight years completing his conquest of China, capturing the Southern Song capital of [[Hangzhou]] in [[1276]]. The Empress Dowager [[Xie Daoqing]] and the child emperor, [[Emperor Gong of Song]], were escorted to Dadu, where they were treated with honors. Meanwhile, the Song dynasty continued briefly with a succession of two emperors reigning in exile, before they too were killed and the Song Dynasty came to its ultimate end in [[1279]].

Kublai Khan declared the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty in [[1271]], establishing a new capital at Dadu (大都, lit. "Great Capital"; this city would later become [[Beijing]]). He would spend the next eight years completing his conquest of China, capturing the Southern Song capital of [[Hangzhou]] in [[1276]]. The Empress Dowager [[Xie Daoqing]] and the child emperor, [[Emperor Gong of Song]], were escorted to Dadu, where they were treated with honors. Meanwhile, the Song dynasty continued briefly with a succession of two emperors reigning in exile, before they too were killed and the Song Dynasty came to its ultimate end in [[1279]].