Mongol Retreat from Europe in spring 1242 Image 1: A True Gift for a Warrior by Benny Johnson After staging a spectacular onslaught against the West, the Mongol army crushed the resistance and occupied Central Europe. Suddenly the Tartars, as they were commonly dubbed, folded their arms and retreated. There was no other advance on such scale and with such success. I am fascinated by this issue. One of the units in my new manuscript focuses on the relations between the West and the Mongol authorities. Historians still argue about the reasons of the Tartar withdrawal. Stephanie Papas' article "Mystery of Mongol Retreat from Hungary Solved" published in Live Science> History on May 27,2016 is the latest contribution. The contributor develops the "ecological theory" claiming that the steady rainfall reduced the extent of the pasture for Mongol steeds. She cites a recent research conducted by Nicola Di Cosmo from Princeton University and ...