Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

swornds8261 t1_j1jb6p0 wrote

Did the great Wall of China cause the Eurasian steppe nomads to migrate West? Just a theory I read about that the great Wall made it difficult for tribes to move in great numbers, so instead if moving south the nomads went westward displacing other tribes which forced them to migrate West until some reached Europe.

4

TheBattler t1_j1jkub9 wrote

The Great Wall didn't really prevent people from crossing into China, it was more of an early detection system than a true barrier. The Steppe pastures that horse nomads want extend westward, so it was a natural channel for them to go that way.

Pastoralists like the Scythians had been making regular crossings into Europe through the Danubefor centuries before the Great Wall.

The real impetus for crossing into China, and thus the reason for the Great Wall, was to take over parts of a rich civilization. That was a regular occurrence even with the Great Wall in place. When Steppe conquerors noticed new goods being traded from a rich civilization at the other end of the world like Rome, they migrated in that direction.

10

Thibaudborny t1_j1jqbd0 wrote

No, also consider that for most of its existence, it was never even a non-stop barrier, but rather a collection of. The emblematic wall you know today was the product of the Ming dynasty, by which point the era of migrations was at its end.

8