Summary: The Mongols tied together a vast region of Asia and extended their power into European Russia. The Ottomans spanned the Middle East, North Africa, and eastern and southeastern Europe. The western Europeans opened up the oceans' sea-lanes and reached all parts of the globe. Thinking of the nature, scope and intensity of the contact, answer the following questions and add any questions you think should have been asked. Did the contacts change cultural attitudes, political thought, economic development, and religion? Were there some components of the civilizations we studied that were unaffected by contact with other peoples?