thedefeatoftheaztecs-somosprimos（13页）.docVIP

THE DEFEAT OF THE AZTECS by John P. Schmal The conquest of the Aztec Empire, taking place from 1519 to 1521, is a story that has intrigued millions of people over the years. At the climax of this campaign, Moctezuma, the highly respected leader of the mighty Aztec Empire, came face-to-face with Hernán Cortés, the leader of a small band of professional European soldiers from a faraway land (Spain). Against insurmountable odds, Cortés triumphed over the great empire. As a master of observation, manipulation and strategy, he was able to gradually weave an army of indigenous resistance against the Aztecs, while professing his good intentions toward Moctezuma. This story is a story of logistics and strategy. I do not go into any great detail about the intricate personal and political maneuvering that took place. Nor will I discuss at any length the personal relationships of the principal characters. In the bibliography, I have listed several works that have provided great insight into the workings of the great cultural collision between the Spaniards and the indigenous people of present-day México. The Aztec Empire of 1519 The Aztec Empire of 1519 was one of the most powerful Mesoamerican kingdoms of all time. By this time, the island city of Tenochtitlán had become a city of about 300,000 citizens. And the Aztec Empire itself ruled over about 80,000 square miles of territory extending from the Gulf of México to the Pacific Ocean, and southward to Oaxaca. This empire contained some 15 million people, living in thirty-eight provinces. In all, the Emperor received the tribute of 489 communities. The term, Aztec, is used to describe all the Nahua-speaking peoples in the Valley of México, while the culture that dominated the Aztec Empire a tribe of the Mexica (pronounced me-shee-ka). The Mexica were also called Tenochca (te-noch-ka). On April 22, 1519, a fleet of eleven Spanish galleons, which had been sailing northward along the eastern Gulf Coast of Mé