Franco-Mongol Alliance

In the middle ages?
I'm afraid that the mongols wouldn't be so interested in making an alliance with a state on the other side of the old world.
However, maybe we could see some mongol patronage over the crusader states. But then, that'd be a mongol-crusader alliance, not a franco-mongol alliance. And it'd surely last as long as the Ilkhanate doesn't convert to islam.
 
Why France and Mongols would ally? They are totally different side of Old World and furthermore even culturally totally different. At least it wouldn't be possible on Middle Ages.
 
In the middle ages?
I'm afraid that the mongols wouldn't be so interested in making an alliance with a state on the other side of the old world.
However, maybe we could see some mongol patronage over the crusader states. But then, that'd be a mongol-crusader alliance, not a franco-mongol alliance. And it'd surely last as long as the Ilkhanate doesn't convert to islam.
According to Wikipedia, crusaders and Mongols had common enemy:muslims. So maybe its not so far fetched.
 
What Franco-Mongol alliance was made?
I don't see why to be honest : France and Mongols were simply too far and had trouble really understanding each other.
Mongols concieved any alliance as a submission to their domination, complete with tribute and submission to their interest in exchange for protections.
Christians, once passed the fantasy about "a Christian power coming from the East to crush Turks and Saracens" more or less understood it as a possible reverse alliance that was to be christianized.

There was simply no common ground between both side, safe an extremely conjectural and ponctual percieved interest (percieved because both had very different geopolitical conceptions).

According to Wikipedia, crusaders and Mongols had common enemy:muslims. So maybe its not so far fetched.
It happened you had short-lived cooperation, but it wasn't systematical and never really lasting.
For Mongols, there was only one relation with other states that could be achieved : bend over and acknowledge their suzerainty. Some Latin states abided, such as the Principalty of Antioch, and the Kingdom of Georgia, and their armies were integrated into Mongols'. It's not as much an alliance (inspite of what these could have rationalized) than Mongol overlordship.
Some Latin entities simply refused to abide to that, as what remained of the Yerosolemite Kingdom and were troughly passed over.
 
I can't see it, and the biggest reason is sheer distance.

Maybe if their interests collided in the Middle East there'd be some limited cooperation, but a formal Franco-Mongol alliance seems fairly far-fetched unless you have quite a number of years worth of butterflies leading you there.
 
He asked "what if?" not "how plausible is it?"
OTOH even what if I find it hard to imagine any practical way for them to coordinate efforts. And what goals might they have in common? (I'll dismiss "screw the Muslims.") I'm really drawing a blank, here.
 

Skallagrim

Banned
Just for the people saying the Mongols wouldn't want this: the Mongols proposed it. The Europeans were the ones who didn't rise to the occasion. Also, just to be clear, 'Franco-Mongol' doesn't means 'France and the Mongols': just like the Muslim powers, the Mongols tended to refer to all Western Europeans as 'Franks'. So what we're talking about is the Crusading European powers concluding an alliance with the Mongols to wage a united two-front war against the Muslims.

That said: it's not exactly easy. The Mongols did offer it in OTL, but the Europeans were hesitant to ally with them, and the sheer distance would make effective co-operation rather tricky. Nevertheless, just by generally agreeing to attack from east and west at the same time in a roughly planned-out campaign would go a long way, if you ask me.

As far as their goals are concerned, regardless of @acrsome's dismissal, I'm afraid that "screw the Muslims" actually was pretty much it. For the Mongols, screwing over the islamic powers would allow them to push yet further west, or at least to greatly secure their western borders. For the Europeans, striking a crushing blow to the islamic world would pretty much ensure the success of the Crusading effort. And while they certainly understood that, after a defeat of the Muslims, the Mongols might just turn into the new big rival in the region, they also had to understand that the core of the Mongol domain was much further away. Basically, that would mean that the Mongols would have more trouble (and less inclination) to crush the Crusader states than the Muslims ever would.

All in all, a successful Franco-Mongol alliance would likely be a pretty hard blow for the islamic world, and a major victory for the Mongols and the Crusading powers. (Interesting side note: if the Mongols absorb a lot of Muslim land - and its population - that may simply ensure that the entire Mongol empire itself goes very islamic very soon. Which would be very interesting.)
 
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