Franconicus 15:35 09-12-2005
Seamus Fermanagh 15:44 09-12-2005
Answer:
Tehcnological Shock, Divide and Conquer Tactics, Decap Strike.
1) Aztec technology had little hard metal, no steel, and no gunpowder. Cortes' men were armed with firearms, wore steel defensive gear, had steel blades, and rode horses into battle (speed despite armor, shock, power). The shock of a weapon that killed at a distance, almost invisibly was palpable. Moreover, even the bravest Aztec warrior would have found it difficult to penetrate Spanish armor with an arrow or obsidian blade -- only in numbers would they have an advantage. The shock effect in battle has long been realized as the best counter to numbers, and Cortes used it well.
2) Cortes had LOTS of allies against the Aztecs, in the form of subjagated peoples who were willing to rise up against them. Without these warriors to augment his own conquistadores, he would not have prevailed.
3) He took out (captured) Monctezuma early in the effort. Such a decap strike against a centralized-power government is always effective at diminishing the coordination and focus of enemy efforts. The effort was, of course, a bit underhanded -- but it left Cortes with less coordinated foe.
Seamus
SwordsMaster 15:58 09-12-2005
Yup, Seamus is mostly right. And to add to that was the fact that Cortes' men had no choice but to win which added significantly to their bravery.
Obviously Cortes allied with the native tribes, he and his 500 conquistadores would not be able to stand against the 10000+ aztek army, but they were indeed a force every local chief wanted in his service and Cortes played with that turning them on each other and recruiting indians to bulk up his own ranks. Never forget that Cortes was son of a shepard, so he knew how to deal fear and awe the lower classes.
Don't forget that he actually got a few 'refills' from Havanna after his first somewhat disasterous trek to Tenochtitlan. So many in fact that the Havannan governor went after him and had to fight a battle with him. Havanna was pretty much depopulated by this.
So we are talking about a couple thousand in all, at the least. But if we look at the time where he had the most men I think it was 1600 which declined rapidly to the legendary 500. It seems that it more or less always settled around 500.
Btw, while the Aztecs did use those macana swords (obsedian swords), and that they were less than useless against armour (broke into pieces upon impact), it was the least used weapon. The two most used weapons were the sling with baked clay bullets (big ones too) and the basic heavy club. The first was greatly feared by the conquistadors, and with good reason while the other could seriously injure even through the breastplates. Of course the club had little chance against a sword, but it was handier and less likely to cause harm to yourself in constricted environments. As was proven when they made contact with one of the subject tribes and was ambushed by them until both realized they could use each other.
Lastly, don't underestimate the impact smallpocks had on the Aztecs. They were quite weakened by it, and in time they would almost die out along with most other locals. Imagine half your army is either ill or dying from some unknown ailment, try to guess howthe rest of the army would feel. "Nah... We have the gods on our side, this is just a passing problem." Morale would be basement low.
the morale factor was one of the biggest. the biggest animal the aztecs had probably seen was a puma, and then these guys come in riding these gigantic beasts called 'horses' that are twice as big. and these aren't nice little domestic horses either but warhorses that are bred to be aggressive and huge. and the warriors are invulnerable and have magic wands that make the sound of thunder. and all they have to do is look in your direction and point their wands and you die. not to mention cannon.
and the apocalyptical imagery must have been potent too. imagine if tomorrow spaceships appear over the 20 biggest cities in the globe. our weapons including nuclear prove useless, and out of one of them come what appears to be angels, and a human who claims to be jesus and is about to commence the second coming. and can do various miracles to prove it. there will be massive social chaos caused by the adherents and opponents of the relatively few space invaders.
and of course the diseases brought from the old world arrived months to years before an organinzed invasion by conquistadors.
Steppe Merc 00:54 09-13-2005
He came dancin' across the water, with his galleons and guns...
The invasion itself was covered pretty well by Seamus, but left out the point that Cortes was eventually invited to see Montezuma (a forced invitation, I think, but I'm not sure) and Cortes killed him, proclaiming his own Montezuma's place. The rest of the campaign was mostly putting down rebellions and a few other tribes.
I'd advise you to read Bernal Diaz del Castillo's Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España, translated into English as The conquest of New Spain (available at Amazon, I believe... I myself have the Dutch version). He was one of Cortés' original soldiers and his account is quite interesting.
Franconicus 10:54 09-13-2005
I do not think that the weapons of the Spanish were decisive. They had guns but no Winchesters or Colts like the US Americans. The guns of the Spanish had a similar range as the arrows and a lower fire rate. The Spanish had cannons and horses and they were terrible but the number was quite low.
I think there were several factors:
1. The strangeness of the Spanish; they just did not fit in the pattern of the Aztecas. So they did not know what to do.
2. The Aztec Empire was strong but not stable. There were many half independant cities paying tribute to Technotitlan. They were willing to support the Spanish.
3. The leader of the Aztecs was totally confused. Although he seemed to be an agressive militarist he did not know what to do with the Spanish. He hesitated when he could have killed them easily.
4. Smallpocks! Kraxis is right, again. There were three epidemics that killed 75% of the population of the mesoamerican population. The first in 1520-1521 broke the resistance of the Aztecs.
5. The change of leaders. The society and army was focused on the leader. Montezuma did not act until he died (propably killed by his own people). The next one died soon after that in 1520 (I guess the pocks).
I read that the Aztecs fought in a different way from that which evolved in Europe. They typically aimed to capture, not kill. My impression is that it was almost like traditional tribal warfare - ritualistic, constrained. Cortes's men fought in the more murderous and militaristic European fashion developed in Europe since the Iron Age. They were helped by their superior technology, but I suspect a similar small force of Romans, Vikings or Spartans might also have cut a swathe across the doomed Aztecs.
Seamus Fermanagh 04:41 09-14-2005
Originally Posted by NeonGod:
The invasion itself was covered pretty well by Seamus, but left out the point that Cortes was eventually invited to see Montezuma (a forced invitation, I think, but I'm not sure) and Cortes killed him, proclaiming his own Montezuma's place. The rest of the campaign was mostly putting down rebellions and a few other tribes.
Nope, I mentioned the decap move. I thought he'd been captured though, and not killed outright.
Seamus
Yes, you did, but not that it was a betrayal. Details, but it helps paint a picture of the man.
Rodion Romanovich 16:02 09-14-2005
As I remember it, Cortes was near losing and getting killed several times. First I think he travelled towards Tenochtitlan and succeeded in capturing Montezuma, thus being able to peacefully take control over the city through diplomatic methods etc.
Then heard of a Spanish force coming after him, because he hadn't obeyed orders. His orders were to open trade with the azteks, not conquer them. He quickly retreated to the coast and attacked the Spanish camp in the night, and won despite inferiority in numbers, and according to the legend he was aided by some glowing insect that was common in the area - it looked like flashing muzzles and confused the opponents.
However, he left a completely incompetent replacement in charge of Tenochtitlan, and the replacement governor collected all aztecs unarmed, promising that they would get to hold a ritual sacrifice party they hadn't held in a long time. When they were trapped in the town square, he ordered his men to attack and kill the unarmed men. However, many aztecs survived and now gathered a force and the Spanish ended up besieged in a small part of the city.
When Cortez came back he failed to relieve them and ended up besieged together with them. Thanks to a very daring plan they managed to escape from the siege, but only a very small number of them made it out of the city alive and back to the Spanish camp at the coast.
Cortez now assembled a new force by living as a pirate and capturing Spanish equipment and men passing the coast, forcing them to either help or get killed.
When the force was big enough, Cortez returned to Tenochtitlan, still with important help from his local allies, and by creating small boats and using very mobile cannons they could get full control over the lake in which Tenochtitlan was situated, then assault the city and conquer it.
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