Creation, Expansion, and Interaction of Economic Systems

The creation, expansion, and interaction of economic systems has a lot to do with trade, more so than the development and interaction of cultures. This is how you made your money, and you can't be a good empire without some cash to spend on stuff like paying workers, maintaining public roads, and keeping your population happy and well. The economic system is a vital part of a society for other reasons as well. It provides coinage and currency for the society, it governs who is in charge of the money, and it gives the merchant class purpose.

Specific Examples of Theme

*The Mongols eventually captured, sacked, and destroyed Kiev, the symbolic center of Kievan Russia. Only outlying northwesterly principalities such as Novgorod, Pskov, and Smolensk survived the onslaught, though these cities would endure indirect subjugation and become tributaries of the Golden Horde. (Kevin G. 1/15/11)
*Golden Horde Mongols ruled Kievan Rus' indirectly through their princes and tax collectors. (Kevin G. 1/15/11)

-Emily A. 1/22/11