Aztec Dbq Essay

The Aztec civilisation, led by Moctezuma II, stood as one of the most sophisticated and advanced civilisations of its era (1325 AD- 1521 AD). Armed with powerful weapons, like wooden spears and metal shields, the Aztecs faced a merciless army. When Hernan Cortes and the Spanish conquistadors entered the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, on 20 April 1519 AD, driven by their pursuit for God, gold, and glory, it would only take two years before Cortes’s small army had conquered and annihilated this powerful civilisation with Spanish military technology. The collapse of the Aztec civilisation was significantly influenced by their weak wooden weaponry, tactics of diplomacy, espionage, and sacrifice that proved no match for the superior Spanish weaponry,

Whereas, the other tribe has spears and metal helmets. Furthermore, they are respectfully shaking hands and uniting with each other. Additionally, Source 4, a credible secondary source written by a famous historian, Mark Cartwright explicitly states, “The tactics used by the Aztecs in the battle included diplomacy, espionage. and the capturing the prisoners for future sacrifice in religious ceremonies” (Cartwright, 2015). Therefore, after analysing Source 3 and 4, it is implied that the Spanish used effective tactics, which included forming alliances with the Tlaxacalans to gain additional warriors, superior weaponry, and critical information about the Aztec’s plans. In contrast, the Aztecs used tactics such as diplomacy, espionage and sacrifice. However, their tactics proved futile as they failed to ambush the Spanish and negotiated with them and Tlaxacalan’s. Instead, they were sacrificing people, resulting in a population decrease, without achieving strategic goals. Consequently, the Spanish used effective and successful tactics through alliances to gain information, unlike the futile and wasteful tactics of the Aztecs. At last, Spanish military technology played a pivotal role in the collapse of the Aztec civilisation in 1521