The Fall Of The Aztec State: How The Aztecs Suffered And Spain Prevailed

The Fall of the Aztec State: How the Aztecs Suffered and Spain Prevailed
A beautiful and highly successful state of living was put into turmoil, and consequently changed drastically, due to an initial drive for more power, more control, more land, and more money. This desire, of course, is no new occurrence, but in fact a major reason for the majority of wars in history. One place that underwent the grilling experience resulting from these desires was the Aztecan state of early Mexico. There in the Aztecan State occurred a tremendous conquering of the Aztecs by the Spaniards, with the main battling occurring in the years of 1519-1521. This conquest followed others by the Spaniards of the same area, and their greed provoked more and more expeditions into the new world, thus finally arriving at the Aztecan capital, Tenochtitlan. This was not a random expedition that was geared to find new but unknown discoveries; rather, it was geared to overtake wealth and material possessions already known to exist, for the leader of the Spanish conquistadores, Fernando Cortés, was obviously aware of the stories of gold found deep in the Aztec country. After all, an excuse that he used in order to meet with the emperor of the Aztecs, Moctezum

Although the state was not unified, there was unification among individual provinces and cities. In direct opposition to the Spaniards individualistic motivation, the Aztecs were not individually oriented (Riley, Lecture Discussion, 10/07/03). They were part of a group, and although teamwork has historically been a sign for success, this may be an instance proving it is not. After all, if the Aztecs won, they had nothing to personally gain. They only could get back what they’d already had, nothing more. They would not be granted land or wealth upon victory as the Spaniards would.

Although all of the aforementioned advantageous of Spaniards and disadvantageous of Aztecs are plain to see, one must not forget the unseen, or the power of mind and spirit. Surely after such victories that Spaniards incurred in their travels, as well as the wealth and property acquired, their hearts were light and their minds determined to have more. On the other hand, the Aztecs were probably extremely disheartened after seeing so many deaths of their fellow people, as well as their beautiful land destroyed. They probably had neither the energy nor the desire to continue fighting, and submission or death seemed to be much more appeasing outcomes.

Of utmost importance to the Spaniards success and edge on the Aztecans were there boats, or vessels. Not only were they their means of arrival to Mexico and the port of Vera Cruz in the first place, but they were the means in which Cortés and his men were able to return to the city of Tenochtitlan for the final besiege. As Meyer, Sherman, and Deeds note when discussing the final assault of the Spaniards on Tenochtitlan, “The small Spanish fleet was crucial to their strategy, for if the causeways could be commanded, all transportation and communication to the island could be cut off” (119). They were also a sizable defense against the Aztecs form of marine defense, their canoes.

The Spaniards also had the advantage of attacking from the outside in. They could charge the cities, and make more surprise advances. This is explained by Meyer, Sherman, and Deeds, writing, “The Spaniards preferred fighting in wide open spaces where they could deploy their guns to advantage and charge their horses into enemy ranks” (114). The attack on them inside the city of Tenochtitlan, which is the only attack that occurred from inside, shows the difficulty they have in this position. Therefore, being that in the majority of the battles they attacked from the outside-in, they were more advantageous.

The reasons are not few for why the Spaniards enjoyed such evident success in their conquest against the Aztecan State. Many causes were well thought out, others circumstances of history of their own empire (religion, past conquests), others purely personal drive by greed and self-indulgence, and others were simply matters of luck. The motivation for the start of the expedition can be primarily attributed to Gold, Glory, and God (Riley, 10/2/03). These factors were motivation for the Spanish monarchy, all participants in the conquest (whether of minor or major importance), and especially for Cortés himself. For the monarchy, there was the desire to obtain more land, achieve the goal of spreading the Christian religion, and to obtain more material goods and wealth in the process. For any Spaniard involved, there was the issue of opportunity, and Spaniards were opportunistic, especially on an individual basis (Riley, Lecture Discussion, 10/07/03). Their participation in a successful conquest could assure them some funding and land that would be in t