Editor: Medical Meow Notes
Text: Medical Meow Notes
The Aztec civilization is one of the three ancient civilizations of the Americas with the same name as the Mayan civilization and the Inca civilization, and its capital city Tenochtiquelan, as the predecessor of Mexico City, had as many as 60,000 houses in its heyday, and the city had up to 300,000 residents, which was one of the largest cities in the world at that time.
Photo: Aztec Empire
However, in 1521, the arrival of Spanish colonists completely destroyed this ancient and glorious capital city and its mythical civilization.
How exactly was the once splendid Aztec civilization destroyed by the Spanish colonists?
This starts with the birth of the Aztec Empire.
I. The birth of the Aztec Empire
1.1 Safari peoples settled in the Valley of Mexico
The Aztecs were originally a nomadic people who followed the will of the gods and left their homeland of Aztlan in northern Mexico to live in exile.
More than a hundred years later, when the Aztecs arrived in the Valley of Mexico, there were more than 40 city-states in the Valley of Mexico, the most powerful of which were Kurva, Akorva, Charca, and Tepanec.
Figure/instructions of the gods
Although the land had a refreshing and pleasant climate, the land was rich and fertile, and was nourished by abundant river water, because the Azkerts arrived too late, the fertile and rich land was already occupied by other tribes.
The Aztecs, who had nowhere to live, settled on two barren islands in Lake Texcoco, which at the time was in the hands of the city-states of Kurva.
The harsh living conditions did not repel the Aztecs, who believed in the calamity that would be brought under the guidance of this god.
So they survived tenaciously in this stone-strewn land.
King Courva, amazed by the vitality of this tribe, offered to ally with the Aztecs, and the two tribes formed one of the most powerful and formidable armies in the Valley of Mexico.
Photo: Aztec army
1.2 Form a tripartite alliance
With their alliance with the Kurvas, the Aztecs grew stronger.
The desire for conquest prompted the Aztecs to form a tripartite alliance with Texcoco and Tracopán, who were the first to conquer Tepanek, the most powerful tribe of the time.
By expanding their lands and dominating other tribes, almost all the tribes in the Valley of Mexico submitted to the Aztecs, and the Aztecs amassed great wealth.
The brave and warlike Aztecs did not stop expanding, but they did not rule large territories, but only used the way of ruling the conquerors, collecting a large amount of tribute from them to increase their power, and attacking cities was only a means for the rulers to accumulate wealth.
The conquered tribes were oppressed and forced to pay valuable tribute, and fearing the power of the Aztec Empire, these weak tribes remained dominated.
When rulers expanded their power and wealth, they used the name of the gods to preach the legitimacy of the ruling class, and the weak tribes had only two fates—to be requisitioned and to pay tribute.
With the large amount of money paid by various tribes, the size of the Aztec Empire was further expanded, and the powerful Aztecs entered the cycle of war and expansion, becoming the most powerful rulers in Mexico at that time.
At that time, the territory of the Aztec Empire roughly covered the entire region of present-day Central America.
1.3 Splendid cityscape
The Aztecs founded their capital, Tenochticlan, in 1325, a city that resembles a water garden and is known as one of the most beautiful cities of ancient Mexico.
They built waterways and dug canals that connected the island to the land, crisscrossing the waterways like streets on land, making them the city's most convenient transportation route.
People traveled by boat, bringing food and goods in and out, and trade flourished for a time.
The stone trenches serve as the source of life in this island city, where fresh water for people's daily lives flows, day and night.
The megalithic temple in the city center is solemn, the royal palace where the princes and nobles live is dazzling and gorgeous, and the city's gardens are full of beautiful flowers.
Whether it was the accumulation of wealth, the domination of regions or the development of urban civilization, the Aztec Empire was the most prosperous city in the world at that time.
Today, among the ancient ruins of Mexico, you can still see the majesty of this ancient city.
2. The arrival of bad omen heralds the demise of the empire.
2.1 The ominous omen of divination shakes the will of the ruler
If valor and good warfare helped the Aztecs achieve the most powerful dominance, fatalism signaled the imminent demise of this glorious empire.
From the choice to leave their homeland, it can be seen that the Aztecs always believed in the guidance of the gods, the highly developed civilization did not weaken their loyalty to religious beliefs, gods and divination occupied an important position in the life of the Aztecs, and even the fate of the country was decided by God.
Photo: Aztec solar calendar
The ruler of the time, Montezuma, was passionate about witchcraft, and while arguing with Tescoco's chief, Nesa Hualpili, over the results of divination, Nessa Hualpili firmly believed that the land of Anahuac would be ruled by foreigners.
The two played a religious ball match, in which Nesa Hualpili took Montezuma with 3 turkeys and himself with the entire tribe as a bet to verify whether the ominous omen he saw would become a reality, and the result was that Montezuma won the first two and Nesa Hualpili won the last three.
Photo: Aztec idols
2.2 Frequent ominous signs cause panic among the people
If the divination of the Aztec kings shook the confidence of the rulers, the successive natural ominous omen inevitably caused panic among ordinary citizens.
A series of harbingers of disaster followed within the Aztec Empire.
Every midnight, a pillar of fire falls from the sky, two temples are destroyed one after another, comets can be seen during the day, and Lake Taiziku makes huge waves for no reason.
The most ominous signal is that Montezuma is looking at a sacred bird sent by hunters, which has a mirror on its head that can see the sky, and when Montezuma sees the army from it, this is heralding the arrival of the Spanish invaders.
Faith can empower a people or destroy the will of a people.
The wavering of the will of the state laid a heavy blow for the destruction of the Aztec Empire.
In ancient Aztec legend, it is said that long ago the god of the Quetzalcoatl - Kunzokutek was forced to leave his people, and before leaving he swore that at some point in the future, he would return to the place that once belonged to him, regain power, and bring a new way of life to his people.
Montezuma waited fearfully for the return of his ancestors, who predicted that the Quetzalcoatl would return in the Aztec calendar "Year of a Reed", the year of the arrival of the Spaniards, and the supreme emperor was worried by ancient prophecies, compounded by a series of ominous signs that had led him to believe that the empire would be doomed at his hands.
III. The Conquest of the Spaniards
3.1 Deterrence of guns
The greedy Spaniards set foot on the isolated and pure land of Mexico, coveting the wealth of the land and being the first to bluff the Aztecs with guns.
Shrouded in prophetic fear, the Aztecs, desperate to stop the Spaniards from marching towards their capital, gave the Spaniards the most precious garments and large amounts of gold in order to leave their homes, but they underestimated the ambitions of this group of outsiders, and the gold instead aroused the greed of these invaders.
Photo: Spaniards set foot in Mexico
The Spaniards, who had come only to explore wealth, saw the vast amount of gold in the hands of the Aztecs and realized that this land did contain unparalleled wealth, and their only thought at the moment was to conquer this land, seize power to become new rulers, capture subjects, and plunder wealth.
This is something that the Aztecs never expected.
Despite the limited number of troops, the most advanced European military technology, such as tall horses, long guns and short cannons, was enough to establish the Spanish majesty among the technologically backward Aztecs.
The deterred Aztecs were still naively trying to get the invaders to accept the gifts and leave quickly, but they did not think that the arrival of the Spaniards would be a prelude to the demise of the empire.
3.2 Insidious and cunning intruders
The Spaniards did not act rashly because of the temporary deterrence of the Aztecs by the long guns and short cannons.
To be on the safe side, Cortés, the ruler of the Spaniards, kidnapped King Montezuma, made him a puppet for the Spaniards to give orders, and wooed the king's courtiers and cronies to gain power step by step.
Although the people were dissatisfied with the arrival of the Spaniards, there was no major movement among the Spaniards for half a year, life in the city was relatively calm, and the country and the people were at peace.
Photo: Calm city life
However, beneath the surface calm, hatching a Spanish conquest plot, Cortés observed the life of the people of the city, examined the highly developed imperial civilization, and quietly conveyed everything back to Spain.
The Aztecs did not expect that massacres and wars were coming, and that the countdown to the destruction of imperial civilization had begun.
3.3 The Second Massacre eventually led to the demise of the Empire
The cruel and greedy Spaniards finally could not contain their desire to conquer the capital and launched an attack on the local population, a conspiracy and massacre created out of nothing, resulting in a bloody and horrific chaotic scene.
The calm in the capital was shattered, and the long-suppressed local residents were completely enraged, setting off the first huge national defense war.
The strength of the imperial army and the resistance of the entire city led to the defeat of the originally small Spaniards, and the Aztecs successfully drove the invaders out of the city.
Photo: The Aztecs rose up against the Spaniards
A victorious counterattack buried the hidden danger of the future of the empire.
Originally, the Aztecs were able to annihilate the Spanish ranks and completely wipe out this group of bloody and cruel invaders, but the differences in civilizations changed the weather vane of history.
War for the Aztecs was more religious rituals, which was very different from the pragmatic attitude of the Spaniards.
The Azks fought to capture prisoners alive for sacrifice, not to put the enemy to death, and a small group of Spaniards survived.
Photo: The Aztecs sacrificed with captives
After 10 months, the Spaniards not only made a comeback, bringing better troops, but also allied themselves with the Texcarnes, who were hostile to the Aztecs.
Under the joint attack of the Spaniards and rival tribes, although the heroic and tenacious Aztecs resisted for 75 days, they were finally defeated by advanced European military technology, and Tenochtiquelan fell, and in the roar of artillery fire and blood, the Aztec civilization was completely destroyed.
Photo: The last massacre of the Aztecs by the Spaniards Photo: The last massacre of the Aztecs by the Spaniards
IV. Conclusion
The Aztecs made the Aztec Empire strong through the large amount of tribute collected by the four conquests and armed crusades, but it also made it a treasure coveted by the Spanish colonists.
Although the Spaniards initially deterred the Aztecs with their long guns and short cannons, the real root cause of the fall of the Aztec Empire was its fatalism that could not be escaped.