Tenochtitlan Vs Aztec War Essay

The land of Tenochtitlan, which is currently owned by the Spanish, known as Mexico City, was not always under the same empire. This land used to belong to the Aztecs but was taken over when the battle between the Spanish and Aztecs occurred. Though some would think that this conflict was avoidable, I believe otherwise. In my opinion, I believe that the conflict of the Aztecs was inevitable, because of the differing religions, the Aztec's resources, Spanish’s excellent technology, and the Aztec's population size.

Religion conferred a substantial portion of the battle within the two groups. In the Aztecs religion, they believed that a human sacrifice was essential to be made so they could keep the gods pleased. They believed that the gods could be satisfied through animals, objects, and humans. Huitzilopochtli, the god of sun and war was mostly offered the human heart, which belonged to the Aztecs enemies and prisoners during these sacrifices. So when the Spanish arrived at the land of Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs considered that these Spaniards were exceptional for the human sacrifice. Though the emperor thought contrarily, Moctezuma believed that Cortes resembled their god Quetzalcoatl, including the magnificent coincidence regarding the arrival of Cortes and the
Aztec prophecy. The year of the Spanish invasion was the same year Quetzalcoatl was assumed to come back, which was 1 reed according to the Aztec legends. Acknowledging that Cortes was a god, brought the Aztecs to a lower place because no one will want to challenge a god, so if a war happened the Aztecs were assured to fail. When Cortes came, Moctezuma wished to embrace him as a god by presenting him with his most precious jewels. Moctezuma too greeted the Spaniards to Tenochtitlan as if this was their home. Regarding the jewels, this drives us to our second point, Economy.

Since the King Charles II, King of Spain was a very greedy man, he needed all the wealth so he could pay, for the wars. King Charles II also kept 20 percent of the gold, and jewels for himself as he wanted to be astonishingly wealthy. This was also another reason for why Spaniards fought so many wars. The Spanish were known for having an eye for gold, and Cortes would do anything to get it, so when Moctezuma offered Cortes gold, and jewels, he, and his crew were attracted, and wanted to stay. Cortes wanted to take over this land, and take all the gold for himself, and his country, so when the Spaniards saw all the gold there was nothing to obstruct them from having the conflict with the Aztecs to get a hold of the precious jewels. The Native tribe known as the Tlaxcalans were an enemy of the Aztecs, so if Cortes joined in on them, and became allies to the Spaniard population would have grown, and they could have defeated the Aztecs undoubtedly. That did not happen, but the conflict could not have been prevented anyways since the Aztec population outnumbered the Spaniards by vast numbers.

Population size was another point that established the possibilities of this conflict.
The Spanish had a soldier population approximately of 450 soldiers, while the Aztecs had thousands. Considering the Aztecs required humans for the sacrifices, they could have quickly killed off the Spaniards. Again, if the Aztecs would have joined the tlaxcalans tribe, this could have ended otherwise. The Aztecs wanted to remove off the Spaniards, because of the threat they produced to the land. The Spaniards had great armor, horses, and numerous weapons, which was an additional reason the Aztecs were triggered to overthrow the Spanish. The excellent resources of the Spanish take us to our next point, Spanish
technology.

The Spanish approach was splendid plus terrified the Aztec people, all but Moctezuma. When Cortes and his crew entered, Moctezuma was surprised to see the high coincidence between Cortes and their god Huitzilopochtli. While Cortes had appeared, he was dressed in exceptional glorious armor and traveling on an unknown animal to Aztecs, the horse. The horse was an advantage for Aztecs as, during the war, they were on higher ground. Therefore when the conflict occurred, the Spanish looked certain on winning the war considering the Aztecs moved on foot. Another advantage the Spanish had was the armor. The Spanish armor was extremely durable and provided the body with protection from the obsidian arrows that were used. They also had a numerous amount of weapons that were highly effective. Steel swords that were double-edged, needle-pointed, and sharp as a razor. With the meter long sword in hand, a fighter could both slash and stab the enemy with a deadly effect. Another weapon used by the Spanish was a crossbow. A crossbow could shoot a wooden arrow with great force that it could penetrate even the thickest and mightest armor. Having these weapons increased the chances of war, as the Aztecs could have seen this in a way, of threat.

With all the unfair advantages and disadvantages of the Aztecs, and Spanish either one of the parties could have seen the opposing side as a threat. This would convey to the brain thinking of self-defense and want to discard danger by the killing of the Spaniards. With the population size, the Aztecs had the advantage as the numbers had an immense amount of difference. When it comes to protection of the body, the Aztecs took the lead with their valuable and protective armor. Economy all comes down to the greediness of King Charles II as he wanted all the wealth from around the world. That is why Cortes wanted to obtain control of the Aztec land Tenochtitlan, all so he could retrieve all the wealth and transport it back to his king. With all these factors the chances of conflict or war could increase in any situation, and it did in the battle between the Spanish and Aztecs. These were the factors that made this war unavoidable. Do you think this could have been avoided, and what factors contributed to that?