@neolex:
400 years of Mongol rule over parts of Russia has left its imprint on the collective psyche.

Yes, you attack a Mongol raiding party only to discover the front line is comprised of all your children and female relatives.

Yes, you find that your own relatives, appointed tax collectors and magistrates over you (home rule) are also an efficient spy system, since any successful act of resistance results in death by torture of their family in front of them.

Left a mark or so…