Making people feel awkward isn't an issue. I look at it as a hobby.

Another day, another project completed and done away without ever having to glance back at it again. Except for this blog post of course.

I found the trial very enjoyable and felt that it turned out pretty great. In some cases, it was more difficult, however. As the direct examiner, I had to research all of the witnesses on my side of the trial. This wasn't bad for most, but for some, such as the European knights, it was hard to find viable information that I could work to help our cause. Overall, I enjoyed the project very much, though.

I'm not really sure what to think of my performance, at all really. I felt that I did a great job preparing and had all of my information together, but when it came down to it, I feel like I may not have had enough questions asked, which was discouraging because I was unsure of how many questions per witness would be sufficient. Oh well. I feel like I did a good job though and I know I put in a lot of effort, which is what really matters to me. Next time, to improve myself, I would probably ask a few more questions per witness.

When it comes down to it all, I think I'd declare the Mongols as somewhere wedged between good and bad. They certainly had their evil moments in their using innocent civilians as human shields and such, but there is no denying the fact that people in some places that they conquered, sans China, felt as though the Mongols were more liberators since they had been displeased with their administration before the invasions (thank you textbook). I think that in many ways the Mongols are misunderstood, but there is no excusing their violent actions.

I would definitely charge the Mongols as guilty of kidnapping and terrorism, but genocide is a more questionable verdict. I wouldn't declare them guilty of genocide, as they did not systematically destroy a specific group of people. There is no doubt that they kidnapped people, however, and there is no question that their actions caused great fear (terrorism) amongst peoples that they attacked.