Emperor Montezuma: March To Defeat

The decline of the Aztec Empire began with the arrival of Europeans and their superior technology. Firearms, horses, and steel were all things that the Aztecs did not possess, but the arriving Spaniards did. In addition, the Europeans had brought over several foreign diseases with them, such as smallpox. Unknown to the natives of Mesoamerica, these diseases ravaged across the land and killed thousands of people. One of the empire’s final rulers, Montezuma, would inevitably live through it.

Mistakes

Regardless of the advanced technology and foreign diseases, the Aztecs greatly outnumbered the conquistadors who arrived to claim their land. Led by Hernán Cortés, the Spanish only had a force of roughly 630 men, compared to the Aztecs’ population of 5 to 6 million people. In the capital where Emperor Montezuma resided, Tenochtitlan, there were about 150,000 citizens.

If this was truly the case, then how did the Aztecs not simply wipe out the small number of Spaniards as soon as they arrived? Even with the Aztecs’ inferior technology, they should have been able to overwhelm the Spanish with numbers.

There were several reasons why the Aztecs eventually fell to the Spanish. Part of their fall was attributed to the Spanish becoming allies with rival tribes of the Aztecs, and those rivals eventually fought alongside the Spanish. However, this post will focus on another part of the Aztecs’ fall: Montezuma and how he made some very costly mistakes.

Arrival

When Montezuma first heard of the Spanish arrival, he believed the foreigners to have been sent by the gods. Some Aztecs believed that the Spanish were sent as a punishment from the gods.

Montezuma thought that the Spanish may have divine powers, and this caused him to hesitate with mobilizing the Aztec Army.

In 1519, Cortés and his men arrived in Tenochtitlan. Montezuma welcomed them with open arms. He greeted the Spaniards as guests and even gave them quarters in his royal palace.

Ambush

After living in the royal palace for a few weeks, Cortés decided to take advantage of the situation. He ordered his men to take Montezuma as prisoner in his own palace. Montezuma remained in power for the few months following the ambush, even though he ran his empire as a prisoner of Cortés.

Yet, the Aztec people soon grew tired of how weak Montezuma had seemed. In other parts of the empire, battles were being fought against the Spanish. Cortés had sent some of his top men to lead fights all across the land.

As mentioned previously, the Aztecs had many rival tribes surrounding their lands. Many of those tribes joined up with the Spanish, as they also wanted to see the empire toppled.

This allowed the Spanish to slowly overtake the Aztec Empire, all while proving how inefficient Emperor Montezuma was at stopping them.

Revolt

The Aztecs in Tenochtitlan eventually revolted against Montezuma, and the Spanish, by attacking Spanish troops and invading the palace. Cortés attempted to stop the revolt by taking Montezuma to the roof of the palace and telling the Aztecs to stand down.

This failed, however, as the Aztecs had already decided to depose Montezuma and instead elect his brother, Cuitláhuac, as emperor. Outnumbered, Cortés and his remaining men were forced to retreat from the capital in what is known as La Noche Triste, meaning “The Sad Night”.

Montezuma was killed a few days later by the Aztec people.

Outbreak

Following the Spanish retreat from Tenochtitlan, a smallpox outbreak occurred there. It is estimated that this outbreak killed 50% to 80% of the capital’s population, including the new emperor Cuitláhuac.

The outbreak aided in the Spanish return just the following year in 1520. This time, the Spaniards were successful in officially taking the capital. After this major loss, the Aztec Empire was defeated and Mexico was claimed for the Spanish Empire.

Conclusion

Had Montezuma never greeted the Spanish with open arms and welcomed them into the capital, instead treating them as a threat, he and the Aztecs may have stood a chance against them.