How Did The Fall Of The Aztec Empire

The European conquest of the Americas is the best hidden and most easily overlooked genocide in human history. Resulting in the massacre of ninety five percent of the indigenous population; the loss of tens of millions of people, this annihilation of human life often falls under our radar. The Aztec empire was one of the first of the great American empires to fall. Though it was one of the most populated and advanced civilizations in the new world, the Europeans declared victory in 1521 after only two years of fighting. Superior weapons and war tactics, alliances with rebelling indigenous people and the introduction of new and deadly diseases were all aspects of the European conquest of the Americas that led to the fall of the Aztec empire.

When Europeans arrived in the Americas, they brought deadly diseases that the natives had no resistance to. Diseases were the most destructive introduction to the new world and they were essential in the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire. Smallpox was the most devastating of the diseases that the Spanish brought over seas and it reached the capital of the Aztec empire, Tenochtitlan, before the final Spanish attack. Without resistance to this deadly virus, the Aztec empire lost their greatest advantage; their larger numbers. Disease thinned and weakened the Aztec population, reducing the number of able-bodied people and allowing an opening for the smaller Spanish force. Native American narratives recount the terrible epidemic from a first hand perspective. “[A]n epidemic broke out in Tenochtitlan…[it] lasted for seventy days, striking and killing a vast number of our people”. The account further describes the terrible condition of the infected people, clearly showing how they could not fight. “The illness was so dreadful that no one could move or walk. The sick were so utterly helpless that they could only lie in the beds like corpses”. From the perspective of the Natives we discover another challenge for the sick; food. “[Many others died of hunger. They could not get up to search for food, and everyone else was to sick to care for them, so they starved to death in their beds.” The dwindling numbers of the Aztec people after this epidemic reveal the terrible aftermath of the smallpox disease. The enormous extent of the deaths caused by the disease and the starvation that followed are factors that weakened the Aztec empire and allowed the Spanish to finish victorious.
The majority of the native people under Aztec control, were conquered and they were not allies with their rulers.

When the Spanish arrived in 1519, Cortes took complete advantage of this. After defeating the Tlaxcalan people, he then forged an alliance with them to increase his small numbers. Cortes’ forces continued to grow in this fashion as many indigenous people joined to rebel against the authority who controlled them. After suffering a terrible defeat at the hands of the Aztecs, Cortes retreated to rally more forces. He was soon joined by more Spanish soldiers from Cuba and he continued to enlist the native people. His army grew much larger and it consisted of ten times more natives than Spaniards. “He enlarged his army, numbering around 1,000 Spaniards and 10,000 Tlaxcalans and other Indian allies”. These larger numbers combined with the smallpox epidemic that weaken the Aztecs, allowed the Spaniards and the rebelling Native Americans to lay siege to Tenochtitlan and eventually emerge victorious. “Tlaxcalans took revenge on an old enemy [the Aztecs] by massacring thousands of city residents”. With the help of the native people, the larger Aztec empire fell to the smaller Spanish

forces.
Militarily the Spaniards enjoyed countless advantages over the Aztecs.

Primary, their fighting technology was much more advanced. “[The spaniard were] armed with deadly muskets, cannon, steel swords and crossbows”. One account of a Native American portrays their fear and confusion of a weapon that they learn to call a cannon. “A thing like a ball of stones comes out of its entrails: incomes out shooting parks and raining fire….If the it is aimed against a mountain, the mountain splits and cracks open”. The Aztecs inferior technology and lack of understanding of the Spaniards’ weapons was a major disadvantage in combat. The spaniards were also better protected than the natives. As recounted by a Native American, “[t]heir trappings and arms are all made of iron. They dress in iron and wear iron casques on their heads.” The Spanish also have an invaluable advantage in movement speed. Horses, which are new to the new world, allow the Spaniards to move fast and attack from an elevated point. The Spaniards were much more strategic. The used military maneuvers and had battle plans which confused and frightened the Aztecs. Furthermore, the Aztec forces were disorganized at this time. They relied on a hierarchal system for order and without their leader Moctezuma, they were sitting ducks in battle. Additionally, it was Aztec custom to aim to capture it battle rather than kill. This made them very vulnerable to the Spanish soldiers who were fine with slaughtering the Aztec people.

Better weapons, advanced tactics and the use of calvary were all aspects of Spanish warfare that made their conquests successful.
The European conquest of the Aztec empire was enforced and accelerated by superior warfare, alliances with indigenous people and the introduction of new and deadly diseases. The combination of the foreign aspects of European combat with the devastation of disease, led to the destruction of indigenous people, their beliefs and their customs. The terrible aftermath of the European conquest of the Americas is proof of the damage forced on the culture, lives and civilizations of the native people.