What helped spanish conquistadors defeat the Aztec empire?

Answer 1

Conquistador hernan cortez left Cuba to sail to present-day Mexico in 1519. Cortez had heard of a wealthy land to the west ruled by a king named MOCTEZUMA ll.

Answer 2

The Incas were in the midst of a civil war over who should inherit the throne when the Spanish arrived. With primitive weapons facing gunpowder and armor, and a disunited military force, they presented little challenge and were quickly defeated.

The Aztecs were only recently dominant in their region, and were widely hated for taking POWs or demanding hostages, as these people were then used as live human sacrifices, their beating hearts torn out and burned on an altar, and their bodies eaten in a religious ritual. The Spanish had little problem getting neighboring nations to help overthrow the Aztecs.

Answer 3

A number of elements contributed to the defeat of the Aztecs by the Conquistadors. Among these:

• Aztec reduced immunity to European disease.
• Greater mechanical technology of the Europeans:
  • Gunpowder
  • Steel
  • Weapons
  • Horses
  • Military tactics
  • The wheel
• Greater mobility of the Spaniards (ships, horses, wagons)
• Use of Aztec religious beliefs against them.
• Less experience with alien cultures (Aztecs).

There were a number of other elements not listed here.

Answer 4

The Spanish had much more advanced technology than the Aztecs, such as:

• Gunpowder
• Rifles
• Cannons
  
• The wheel
• Steel weaponry
• Steel armour
  
• Naval warfare capabilities

Meanwhile the Aztecs were still using basic tools, usually made of stone and wood. So it was really an unfair fight.

The Spanish also had horses which they used to conduct "shoot and run" raids on Aztec settlements where they could kill a large number of people before they were able to arm themselves to fight back. Horses were not native to the continent so the Aztecs didn't have any.

The horses, the wheel and the naval ships also meant that the Spanish could travel quickly, whereas the Aztecs could only travel as fast as the slowest person in their party.
The Spanish also brought germs and diseases with them which the Aztecs had no natural immunity to. Which weakened them and in some cases killed a fair few people.

The Spanish also had advanced warfare tactics from war experience and proper military training schools, whereas the Aztecs didn't.

The Spanish also used the Aztec religions against them. The Aztecs at first thought that these strange men in shiny clothes (steel armour) and strange beasts (horses) were gods. This enabled the Spanish to get close to the Aztecs before their mindless slaughter.


However there were a few advantages the Aztecs had too. The Aztecs knew the rainforests like the back of their hands. They were able to set traps and they knew what foods, plants and animals were poisonous. The Spanish with all their steel and equipment were heavy, so the Aztecs used rivers, difficult passes and things like quicksand (or quickmud) to their advantage to trap the Spanish and ambush them or cause them to drown.
Although they were outdated, their weapons did have an advantage over the gunpowder rifles - they were silent. This means the Aztecs were able to ambush the Spanish covertly in the rainforests. The rifles back then were slow to reload, which the Aztecs used to their advantage - they would distract the Spanish to make them waste their shot and then rush in with hand-held weapons while the Spanish were reloading.
The Aztecs also turned the predators in the wild against the Spanish by tricking or driving the Spanish into areas where they knew were jaguar territories for example.

Despite the Aztec advantages, the greedy Spanish still had the upper hand.

Answer 5

Guns, germs, and steel were the most powerful implements in the Spanish conquering arsenal.