"As many scholars have stated, the Great Wall was meant to stop the invasions of the northern nomads, but nomads were never actually stopped by the wall. Constructed in 221 B.C. by the order of the first Chinese emperor, Qin Shihuang, the Great Wall was originally designed to be a military base where Chinese infantries would fight against cavalries from the north. In order to complete the daunting task of constructing the Great Wall, Emperor Shihuang drafted more than 400,000 men â?? nearly half of the total male population in China â?? to work on this project. The construction lasted for more than 10 years and more than one-third of the workers died from harsh working conditions and deadly plagues. While the wall protected the emperor from northern invasions, it did nothing to help defend him against the backlash and disdain that society had for him."   Information provided by Globus Journeys.