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The Pros And Cons Of The Aztec Empire

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Defeat struck the Aztec Empire in 1521 when Hernan Cortes and his army invaded and conquered Tenochtitlan, bringing the end of the great civilization. Could the Aztecs have done something before, something that could have changed the way the Empire had come to an end? Geography helped in a major way, surrounding the Aztecs with protection from Mt.Popocatepetl and Mt.Iztaccihuatl . The weapons and war strategies that the Aztecs used were very well planned and could have defeated the Spanish. Even so, Montezuma, the emperor of the Aztecs, had to ruin the victory. As he had many options to choose from but he ended up choosing the wrong one many times. To sum up, could the Aztecs have won against the Spaniards?

The Aztecs were peoples who …show more content…

One Aztec weapon was the War Club, which involved both hands to swing. It was a very hard weapon to move fast and free with. The weapon planned well by the inventors, not accounting weight and how free the individual could move with the weapon. This would have been a huge disadvantage on the battleground as the Aztecs would not have been able to strike the Spanish fast, as the Spanish had horses to ride on, which gave them the advantage of moving fast. Even though the weapon was not easy to carry around, it was a strong killing machine. The war club was lined with hard and jagged pieces of Obsidian, the sharpest rock in the world. It could cut through Spanish armor with ease and kill the soldier within seconds. It was a huge advantage for the Aztecs, as they could kill any person who came in their way with this one weapon. The Spaniards, on the other hand, had planned their weapons carefully to make sure that they had the perfect weapon. Swords are lightweight and easy to use on the battlefield. Held in one hand, Spaniards had a free hand to hold a shield or some other form of protection. Swords were also held while on a horse. As the Spanish ran around on the animal, they were able to slash the Aztecs fast and with ease. Even though swords were fast, they were not as strong as the war club. The swords were made of metal, which against the war club, would have been like paper next to a pair of scissors. This is a huge disadvantage because the swords could break and shatter into pieces if hit with a war club just as paper could be cut into small scraps with the pair of

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Hernan Cortes. Spain’s savior, nightmare for the Aztecs. The man who brought gold and glory to Spain, at the cost of the destruction of a rich, thriving civilisation. Hernan Cortez was a cunning, manipulative, intelligent conquistador and he and his army single handedly took down one of the greatest civilizations of all time by forging, advanced weaponry, alliances and the Conquistador’s Formula. Some may argue that Dona Marina is most responsible because she advised and told Cortes what the enemy was planning, but she was merely a pawn in Cortes’s grand scheme of conquering the Aztecs, as Cortes was the true mastermind and defeated the Aztecs for these reasons: First Cortes and his army has more advanced weapons such as Halberds, crossbows,

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In the wake of his death a new leader was chosen by the people, Cuitlahuac, whose primary goal was to overthrow the Spanish power. Cortez no longer had control of Tenochtitlan or its inhabitants. The reality became pertinent to Cortez, although having the support of the Tlaxcala’s, the pure numeric superiority of the Aztecs was threatening and that fleeing or death seemed the only plausible end results. With this coming to a head on June 30th, 1520 “La Noche Triste” the night of sadness. Upon Cortez and his army inclusive of Tlaxcala allies trying to leave the city of Tenochtitlan, came upon vicious fighting and opposition from the Aztecs, resulting in the death of 450 Spaniards and thousands of Tlaxcala’s upon trying to flee Tenochtitlan.

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Using war equipment that the Aztec had never seen before and different battle techniques, Cortes and his men were able to quickly and effectively conquer Tenochtitlan. During battle against the Aztecs, animals from Spain that served in many battles called horses (about twelve), as well as swords and crossbows (a much more advanced version of the Aztec war club and spear-thrower) were labelled as advanced technology as they were quicker, deadlier, and consequently more efficient. These many advantages against the Aztecs and their traditional weapons; and therefore the Spaniards won many battles alongside their allies, and succeeded greatly by using guns that were far more powerful than the Aztecs' weapons. Unfair as it is, this gave the Spanish explorer a supremacy in conquering one of the most elaborate European cities at the time. “The Aztecs were unable to rebel against the Spaniards because most of them were sick or dead from smallpox.

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