Cortés had which advantages in conquering the aztecs

Others tried to run in vain from the butchery, their innards falling from them and entangling their very feet. Spain would win the Battle of Otumba a few days later. Skillful deployment of cavalry against the elite Aztec jaguar and eagle warriors carried the day for the Europeans and their allies. Victory allowed the Spaniards to rejoin with their Tlaxcaltec allies and launch the recapture of Tenochtitlan.

Waves of attacks were launched on settlements near the Aztec capital. Any resistance was brutally crushed: Many indigenous enemies were captured as slaves and some were even branded following their capture.

The sacking also allowed the Spaniards to build up their large personal retinues, taking captives to use as servants and slaves, and kidnapping others for exchanges and ransoms.

Growing in number to roughly 3, people, this group of captives vastly outnumbered the fighting Spaniards. For an assault on a city the size of Tenochtitlan, the number of Spanish troops seemed paltry—just under 1, soldiers, including harquebusiers, infantry, and cavalry. Even so, the siege of Tenochtitlan was not a given. Wounded in one leg, the Spanish leader was ultimately rescued by his captains. Finally, on August 13, , the city fell. The loss of human life was staggering, both in absolute figures and in its disproportionality.

During the siege, around Spaniards lost their lives compared to as many as , Aztec. After the conquest of Mexico, he and Malinche, an Aztec woman who served as his interpreter, had a son together. The marriage to Caralina only ended when she was found dead under mysterious circumstances in The conquest of Tenochtitlan and the subsequent consolidation of Spanish domination over the former Aztec Empire was the first major possession in what became the Spanish Empire.

This vast territory would reach its greatest extent in the 18th century, with territory throughout North and South America. In just a few years, he would lose many of his lands in the New World. First was the relative superiority of Spanish military technology. Second is the notion smallpox had so severely reduced the Aztecs that they were unable mount an effective resistance.

Atlatls, slings and simple bows—their missiles tipped with obsidian, flint or fish bone—could not match the power or range of the crossbow. The Spaniards also benefitted from their use of the horse, which was unknown to Mesoamericans. Though the conquistadors had few mounts at their disposal, tribal foot soldiers simply could not match the speed, mobility or shock effect of the Spanish cavalry, nor were their weapons suited to repelling horsemen.

When pitted against European military science and practice, the Mesoamerican way of war also suffered from undeniable weaknesses.

While the tribes put great emphasis on order in battle—they organized their forces into companies, each under its own chieftain and banner, and understood the value of orderly advances and withdrawals—their tactics were relatively unsophisticated. They employed such maneuvers as feigned retreats, ambushes and ambuscades but failed to grasp the importance of concentrating forces against a single point of the enemy line or of supporting and relieving forward assault units.

Such deficiencies allowed the conquistadors to triumph even when outnumbered by as much as to Deeply ingrained aspects of their culture also hampered the Aztecs. Social status was partly dependent on skill in battle, which was measured not by the number of enemies killed, but by the number captured for sacrifice to the gods. Thus warriors did not fight with the intention of killing their enemies outright, but of wounding or stunning them so they could be bound and passed back through the ranks.

More than one Spaniard, downed and struggling, owed his life to this practice, which enabled his fellows to rescue him. Further, the Mesoamerican forces were unprepared for lengthy campaigns, as their dependence on levies of agricultural workers placed limits on their ability to mobilize and sustain sufficient forces.

They could not wage war effectively during the planting and harvest seasons, nor did they undertake campaigns in the May—September rainy season. Night actions were also unusual. Originally founded on inhospitable marsh and small islands in Lake Texcoco, by the 16th century their great island capital of Tenochtitlan had grown into a spectacular metropolis, linked to the mainland by three tremendous causeways and the heart of a network of nearly subject and allied cities.

The city was clean and well-ordered, with strong laws and political administration, but the Aztecs have often been regarded as a brutal and even evil people because they practised human sacrifice.

The Aztec gods required human blood let from living bodies, as well as through the death of sacrificial victims to nourish them and sustain the world. It was believed that sacrifice led to a privileged afterlife and some Aztecs themselves became victims, but captives were most commonly used for this purpose. The Aztecs were not dehumanised by this bloodshed, however. They were an expressive and sophisticated civilisation that valued poetry, art and family highly. They believed sacrifice was a privilege, and were able to accept that violent death was a necessary part of life.

Less than a week later, he seizes the Aztec ruler and takes control of the city. The Spaniards and their allies flee Tenochtitlan on the Night of Tears. Having lost more than half their company, they rally at Tlacopan before retreating to Tlaxcala. Having fought their way back to the lake, the conquistadors launch their brigantines, besiege the city, and the great battle for Tenochtitlan begins.

After months of fierce fighting, which leaves Tenochtitlan in ruins, the last tlatoani Cuauhtemoc is captured in a canoe on the lake and the Aztecs finally surrender. A clear and ambitious tactician, he was devout, brave and single-minded in pursuit of his goals. Horses and war dogs were also new to the Aztecs, who quickly realised their tactical importance and began to target them in battle. Lacking any natural immunity, the indigenous peoples were decimated by diseases brought by the conquistadors.

On the southeastern coast he founded Veracruz, where he dismissed the authority of Velasquez and declared himself under orders from King Charles I of Spain. He disciplined his men and trained them to act as a cohesive unit of soldiers. He also burned his ships to make retreat impossible. The Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, whom they credited with the creation of humans among other notable feats, was set to return to Earth.

Montezuma sent out envoys to meet the conquistador as he neared. The Aztecs were fascinated by the Spaniards' light skin and the sight of men on horseback, which they described as beasts with two heads and six legs. The Spanish fired shots, which stunned the natives and further intimidated them. The Spanish army had help in sacking the city. The Aztecs were in the midst of a full rebellion.