The fall of the aztec empire - Research Paper Example

At first, there was an earthquake in the city of Tenochtitlan, which was later followed by a flood in Lake Texcoco nearby. Both these events caused considerable damage to the Empire. Lives were lost, and resources were used up that could not be replenished quickly. What is more, there was an effect on the morale of the Aztecs as well. They held the belief that these natural disasters, along with some paranormal phenomena supposedly observed by some, foretold the fall of their empire. The Aztec Empire employed, as written before, a combination of trade and military tactics to expand their territory.

This entailed that they were constantly involved in military conflicts. These military conflicts took their toll, not only on the resources of the Empire, but also on the Aztec warriors. These warriors, or soldiers, had constant warring on their hand, as they had to keep the rebellious tribes in check. Another factor that took its toll on the Aztec population was their practice of human sacrifice. Although it was not a unique phenomenon, however, the Aztec Empire was accustomed to sacrificing humans on a very large scale.

They sacrificed thousands of their own people at the altars of their gods under one pretext or another. This not only decreased their population, thus decreasing the number of possible young men to be recruited as warriors or soldiers, but it also caused a deep resentment and hatred in the hearts and minds of non-Aztec against the Empire. This caused many a war (as above discussed) and, moreover, it was one of the reasons why the Tlaxcalans sided with the Conquistadores against the Empire. Moreover the Conquistadores decided to conquer the Empire, perhaps, because of the latter’s human sacrifice and end the evil practice.

Coming to the Tlaxcalans, they consisted of people occupying more than 150 towns. They were constantly under threat of the Aztec Empire, with the Empire blockade a constant reality that had left the people poor and hungry. The Empire already having conquered most of the land around their main city of Tlaxcala, also used Tlaxcalans as sacrifices to their gods. The rulers, therefore, welcomed Cortes’ expedition and saw in him their way of getting rid of the dangers posed by the Aztec Empire once and for all.

Though it is uncertain whether they embraced Christianity, as was Cortes’ main mission, however, the chieftains did agree to form an alliance with Cortes and his Conquistadores. Furthermore, the Spaniards brought with them, as Europeans in other parts of America brought with them, diseases that were new to the indigenous population of the Americas. In the case of the Aztecs it was smallpox. Transmitted by someone in the Spanish army, smallpox spread quickly in the Aztec Empire. The Aztec casualty rate was high, with some historians saying that around 40 percent of the population fell victim to the disease.

Though more conservative estimates put the number close to 20 to 25 percent, however, a large portion of the population died after contracting smallpox. However, there is debate among the historians regarding this. Some surmise that it was actually a disease known as Cocolitzili in the local language that caused the population to diminish in such large numbers. Carried by the rodents, the virus, which was similar to the modern day Birdflu or Swineflu