When it comes to the fall of the Aztec Empire there were many factors that lead to the fall. Out of all the factors though 3 main factors contributed the most to the fall of the Aztec empire: Aztec conflict with neighboring groups; Moctezuma’s errors in strategy; and no cure for smallpox.
To begin, is the Aztec conflict with neighboring groups and its part in causing the downfall of the Aztec empire. The Aztecs before the arrival of the Spanish had a habit of conquering and forcing tribute from those conquered peoples. As a result of this war mongering behavior many groups in Mexico disliked the Aztec empire. Upon the arrival of the Spanish empire who had the intent of conquering the Aztecs many of the groups who disliked the Aztecs joined the Spanish’s army. Once the army reached Tenochtitlan the entire force amassed only 1% Spanish people with the rest being Allie’s which were acquired. This proves that the Aztec conflict with neighboring groups was one of the biggest contributing factors to the downfall of the Aztec empire.
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On the arrival of the Spanish and Cortes, in Mexico, Moctezuma heard of the fact that they were gathering an army. Upon their arrival at the capital city of Tenochtitlan in order to try befriending the Spanish he decided to invite them in. This would prove to be a grave mistake, because upon seeing the riches of the grand city of Tenochtitlan they made moves in order to claim the riches by putting Moctezuma under house arrest. These events eventually cascaded into the siege of Tenochtitlan in which Cortes and the Spanish now had an advantage in knowing the city's layout. All of this helps show the part in which Moctezuma's errors in strategy lead to the fall and collapse of the Aztec
Secondly, the Spanish were more advanced in the military than the Aztec. Such as, Spanish had horses and. Thirdly, the Aztecs were more knowledgeable than them since the Aztecs already knew that some enemy was coming to their land and that they knew that this would happen. Overall, the defeat
However It is believed that it was predominately due to the contagious diseases the Spanish bought over. Disease played a huge part in the fall of the Aztec empire. The Spanish bought with them many weapons, but their
The Aztecs always engaged in warfare to gain territory, and political domain. According to Feder, in The Past In Perspective, the Emperor didn’t force one religion, so the citizens were free to whatever they believed in and continued their practices. They only had to pay tribute to the Emperor
After they would conquer the neighbouring states, they would add men from these sates to their army, however the captives from these states would be used as blood sacrifices for the gods. This angered the other tribes; constant rebellions were waged. Another key factor contributing to the fall of the Aztecs was the technology disadvantages against the Spanish. While they outnumbered the Spanish, their weapons were no match, the Spanish had guns and cannons and wore metal armour while the Aztecs carried wooden shields covered in animal hide and fought with macuahuitl (bladed clubs). The technological gap greatly crippled the Aztecs chance of
Seeking riches the Inca had already some connect with Europeans and many had died of European diseases the empire was also weakened by civil war between two ruling brothers. The aztecs city of Tenochtitlan had an earthquake. Lake Texcoco had flooded the capital city. The Aztec believed the disaster warned of the fall of their empire. In 1519, Hernando Cortes arrived on the east coast of Mexico.
The strong tactics of the Spanish Conquistadors, the mistakes of Montezuma, and disease lead to the defeat of the Aztec army of 200,000 men. The Spanish Conquistadors had the advantage over the Aztecs, using the allies they had and the technology they used in battle. Montezuma, the ruler of Tenochtitlan made a mistake when the Spanish Conquistadors arrived, by thinking they were Gods.. The conquistadors also brought over diseases, which whipped out most of the Aztec army leading to a slight setback for the Aztecs. The Aztecs then, had no chance against the Spanish.
In the pre-Columbus Americas three societies, the Mayans, Olmecs, and Incas were able to flourish without some of the advanced technology that the Europeans of the time had. Although some of these societies innovations and technology were similar to the Europeans, they were not as advanced or as strong. The way we look at the Mayans, Olmecs, and Incas of this time should be looked at as advanced and intelligent societies. The Olmec society is considered to be the foundation of all civilizations in Mesoamerica that followed them.
One of the biggest and main reasons due to why the Aztec civilization collapsed was because when the Europeans arrived and brought deadly diseases such smallpox, measles and influenza. These diseases were introduced in Mexico and Peru at the year September-November 1520 and was deadly and bad enough to kill 80% of the Aztecs which is approximately 15 million people. Not only did the disease kill people but they also destroyed their land and culture, this caused the Aztecs to struggle a lot. The topic of this essay is about how the Europeans brought the diseases to the Aztecs and caused them to fail and collapse.
The Aztec Empire lasted from the year 1345 to the year 1521. During these years, the Aztec Empire was able to flourish all throughout central Mexico. Their capital was established on Teotihuacan, on top of a lake. The Aztec Empire alone was 117,501 miles squared long. The citizens of the Aztec Empire were feared all over Mexico.
The Aztec leader Montecuhzoma was a poor leader, he wasn’t concerned about the wellbeing of his people. In Broken Spears, readers will see that the Spaniards use nearby tribes to take over the Aztecs land, the Spaniards killed men, women and children. When the Aztecs hear about what the Spaniards have done they become furious and plan to retaliate but are quickly stopped by the diseases brought by the Spaniards. The Aztecs are exposed to small pox and measles but the Spaniards were unaffected by the diseases because they are well known in Europe and they are exposed to diseases
The Aztec and Incan empires were destroyed in similar ways. While their empires were ruled differently and focused on different things their downfall was caused by even the same group of people. Their destruction wasn't peaceful and somewhat gory. Important factors of the fall of the Aztec and Incan empires were European expeditions, disease, and warfare. The Aztec and Incan empires were both unique in their own ways.
The Aztecs acquired many enemies from their brutal rule over neighboring tribes and city-states.
The fall of the Aztec Empire was due to the determination of the Spaniards. The Spaniards were destructive. They did not respect the Natives’ religions at all. They almost destroyed all of the Natives’ culture, and now we know very little about Natives. The Spaniards’ greed and obsession with power, this was their main motivation to conquer the Aztec Empire.
According to historians, the Aztec Empire is projected to have originated in the Valley of Mexico during the 13th century. This empire was under the control of the Triple Alliance, an influential political power made of representatives from the Tenochtitlán, Tlacopan, and Texcoco peoples of surrounding areas. Eventually, the Tenochtitlán people of Mexica took over the Triple Alliance and gained dominant political influence over the empire. This was a notable point in Aztec history because it would eventually lead to the Flower Wars. Political influence was very important in the Aztec Empire, however not as paramount as religion.
The Spanish had with them horses made for war, mastiffs, and war hounds (1 Levy) alongside this the Spanish also had superior armor and swords made of metal which compared to Aztec clubs infused with obsidian shards, would easily cut apart enemies while Aztec weaponry would only maim the enemy. Another problem that Aztec faced was that their weaponry was that the clubs would shatter on impact against the armor the Spanish were using making their melee weapons effectively useless. Alongside all the other problems the Aztecs had, they also were fighting, and invisible army, smallpox which devastated the Azteca ranks later on reducing the population of the Aztecs drastically (Rudolf 22). Finally one of the reasons why the Aztecs lost the war was that Montezuma was a deeply religious and believed that the Spanish were a god, due to the coincidental arrival and location of arrival that Spanish took along their looks, this belief is one the reasons that led to the policy of appeasement that Montezuma took as mentioned before. Adding to the numerous reasons is the alliance that the Spanish got with the regions that disliked the Aztec empire who wish to lend a hand to end them (spainishwars.net), all of this led to the loss of the war for the Aztecs and the fall of their