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The Pros And Cons Of Aztec Warfare

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Modern Warfare and Technology has evolved to many different levels and is thought of as the most superior, but do not brush off the 1500’s Aztecs. They had a massive army and was virtually unstoppable. The Aztecs religion was such a strong part of their way of life, so much so that they killed thousands of people in one day. Only a brick wall could stop them, and their name is the Spanish and their small army of voyagers with Hernan Cortes. This Spanish group had an advantage with the way of their religions, the way of their technologies and their way of warfare, here is the supporting evidence.

First of all the aztecs were very religious in the way that they had lived, they had believed that the era that they lived in was the fifth era, and at the end of this was the conclusion of existence, so that’s why they had sacrificed people for the blood. They would offer this blood to the sun god so he could make their era last longer. When in battle they would use people as war prisoners, because killing enemies on the battlefield would be a waste of blood. This means that there is an obvious drift between the two types of warfare because the spanish had no mercy and thought that roman catholicism was the best way of life and the sacrifices were sacreligious, so this means war. …show more content…

The thing that really sticks out there is the guns granting the spanish a ranged advantage and the only thing that the aztecs could compensate for this would be bows. With this advantage the aztecs had no real way to capture and conserve someone for the

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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

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An example of the different understandings of war can be seen during the battle of Caxamalca, in which the Inca leader Atahualpa, suggested the battle between him and the Spanish was a celebratory event of Atahualpa due to the intimidation brought upon the Spanish without the use of weapons. Contrary to the Incas fantasy, the Spanish were extremely prepared with armor, horses, swords, and guns. In the end, the Spanish prevailed in the destruction of all enemies without one injury during the process. This example demonstrates the fact that the interpretation of the significance of battle along with the preparation of battle is evidently important to the success of war and played in the Spaniards favor yet again

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The Aztecs were a civilization that have created a remarkable world-class society in the Americas, during the time period of the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries. While being known for ideas that were revolutionary and before their time, with every light there is a dark shadow. Human sacrifice was a terribly large part of Aztec culture. Three key points, being their religion, necessities of life, and society and cities, all support the claim that historians should emphasize human sacrifice in Aztec culture.

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Although the two empires shared similarities in their military tactics and expansion, they showed numerous differences in the capital and the societal structures. The Aztec civilization, which was mainly centered in Mesoamerica, was not brutal or harsh as many believed. It was rich in both heritage and rituals. Similarly, the Inca Empire, which was in the west of South America, spanned for many miles and succeeded in many professions throughout the centuries between the 13th and 16 century. The two empires shared similarities in their military tactics and expansion.

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As a young conquistador coming to a strange land that has a large pyramid with thousands of people surrounding it as they were chanting and yelling while looking toward the very top of the stairs that led to the top of the pyramid. You see people at the top and notice how they are cutting out the hearts of these human sacrifices and tossing them down the stairs. You stare in horror and notice what a terrible and cruel place you have come across. There was human sacrifice going on and gruesome wars over land that ultimately led to more and more death. But then you take another look around and see their agriculture and all the amazing irrigation systems they have set up and you 're completely shocked about how well their farming systems are.

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The Spanish Conquistadors had the advantage over the Aztecs in many ways. One way they used was using allies against thee Aztecs. The Aztecs was a tribute empire, where they required

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The most obvious is the shier size and composition difference. The Aztec force stood 300,000 warriors versus 700 Spanish infantrymen, 86 cavalrymen, and 118 crossbowmen were comprised of volunteers and adventurers, and over 50,000 Native Americans allied forces (Davis, 1999, p. xx). Aztec obsidian clubs and bows and arrows proved no match for the emerging technology armored infantrymen and cavalry of the Europeans.

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The triumph of the Aztec and Incan domains were for the most part basic battles. A few reasons in the matter of why it was so regular were because these areas were isolated, they don't know anything of the new world and distinctive social orders, they assumed that the Europeans points were of no congruity to them and stigmatized them. Another reason was advancement. Advancement was a gigantic part in the triumph of these areas Indian war systems were old and out dated. They were no match for the Spanish and their firearms, crossbows, swords, covering, shields, and the hand held dark powder weapon.

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Throughout the late 1400’s and the 1500’s, the world experienced many changes due to the discoveries of new lands and peoples that had been never been visited before. The new-found lands of the Americas and exploration of Africa by the Europeans led to new colonies and discoveries in both areas. It also brought different societies and cultures together that had never before communicated, causing conflict in many of these places. While the Europeans treated both the Native Americans and West Africans as inferior people, the early effects they had on the Native Americans were much worse. Beginning in the late 1400’s, many different European explorers started to look for new trade routes in the Eastern Hemisphere in order to gain economic and religious power.

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The Broken Spears, by Miguel Leon-Portilla, is an all-inclusive and compelling account of the Spanish conquest, told by the Aztecs also known as the conquered. Leon Portilla’s choice of events depicted in this book collides together giving the reader a broad view of the Spanish conquest. This book gives a history of emotional and spiritual human experiences, allowing the readers to comprehend, and relate to the Aztecs as they went through terror and faced their fears. This book provides an extensive amount of details concerning lack of leadership, bias and technological hardship that led to the Aztec defeat. After reading this book the reader will start to understand how and why the Aztecs suffered .

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They came from a strange place, arrived on strange vessels and acted in a way that was completely foreign to the people of this very simplistic culture. The Aztecs were secluded in this section of the world and had no desire to go out and explore the vast beyond, because they assumed that what they saw was all there was. They, in their simple minded way, were unable to envision the world that the Spanish came from. The culture and customs of these strangers was something so alien to them; at certain points the Aztecs reference the strange animals that Cortes and his men brought with them. Never been exposed to the exotic ways of the Spanish, the Aztecs knew nothing of the types of wars these men fought or the greed they were poisoned with.

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The Aztecs’ main god was the sun or Huitzilopochtli. They believed that the sun needed constant replenishment so that it could move across the earth everyday and prevent the world from ending. However, the only way to keep this from happening, and provide mobility for the sun was to offer human sacrifices; he needed human flesh and blood. This accounts for the human sacrifices that the Aztecs had as well as the many festivals, which their ultimate goal to sacrifice humans for Huitzilopochtli and other gods as well. It is important to point that the Aztecs believed that they were living in the 5th and last era, but that they needed to keep the world from ending.

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The Aztecs’ religion is what got them into the most trouble. They sacrificed humans for their Gods, which was wrong in the Spaniards’ eyes (and mine too). They also were very superstitious .The Aztecs may have won the battle against the Spaniards if they too had advanced weaponry and battle tactics. The Aztecs and the Spaniards were vastly different people, however they had similarities.

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One of the myths was the “completion” which portrayed the idea that the indigenous people were completely overtaken and were easily converted to catholicism. When the reality was that it took a lot of strife and battles to make the Aztecs finally submit to catholicism. “When the battle of Cholula was finished the Cholultecas understood and believed that the God of the white men who were His most powerful sons, were more potent than their own (pg 48).” This quote demonstrates how the Cholultecas believed in catholicism as well as deemed the spaniards as gods themselves. However, Restall reiterated in his book that the indigenous people knew that the spaniards were not divine, but ultimately confirmed and submitted to save their lives and entwined catholicism into their culture rather than being completely overtaken by it.

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The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico, by Miguel León-Portilla is a singular account of the conquest of the Aztecs in the early 16th century, from the Indigenous perspective. As J. Jorge Klor De Alva writes in the “Forward”: “victors ordinarily write history” (p.xi), and the Spanish point of view, based on the conquistadors’ account of their encounter with the natives of South America is generally the common understanding of the conquest. León-Portilla recounts the conquest in a chronological order, which allows greater clarity for the non-specialist reader. The Broken Spears is split into sixteen chapters, each preceded by an “Introduction”, which summarize the chapter’s contents, the sources used, and any discrepancies

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