Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Blog post 11

The conquest of the Aztecs was accomplished through more than signs. Sure, the entire conquest contained elements of the Spaniards using to their advantage “signs” of the Aztecs, but a more practical sequence of events transpired during the conquest.

“The conquest of information leads to that of the kingdom” (p.g.104).

As indicated in the quote from the book, Cortez was able to adeptly gather and manipulate information about the Aztecs in the grand scheme of conquering them. Cortez wanted the Kingdom of the Aztecs to fall, and he pursued this end with great acumen. This objective of conquering the Aztec empire and not simply seeking gold was a personal mission of Cortez driven by his insatiable curiosity. The information that made its way to Cortez was the bedrock of Cortez’s strategy. Cortez used interpreters to learn as much as possible about the Aztecs and other natives he encountered. The encounters were essentially defined by Spanish terms. The natives were not able to comprehend the motives of the Conquistadors, and therefore were not able to summon an appropriate response. Cortez through effective accumulation of information about the natives was able to devise a strategy that exploited the Aztecs weaknesses. The information also allowed for improvisation. The Spanish’s ability to improvise proved very consequential in allowing them to respond to their encounter with the Aztecs with potent tactics.

Montezuma’s weak leadership did not hurt the Spanish mission either; in fact, Montezuma’s course of actions enabled a successful Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. Montezuma received the Conquistadors as honored guests. Gold and other trappings of the Aztecs did not pacify the Conquistadors but whetted their appetite for conquest of the Empire. Montezuma further placated to Cortez by abdicating his power to Cortez and the Spanish Crown, effectively ending the Aztec Empire.

The technological superiority of the Spanish over the Aztecs also proved instrumental in defeating the Aztecs. The Spanish with cavalry and canons introduced a warfare unknown to the Aztecs. With no previous exposure to such warfare, the Spanish were even able to use the sounds and presence of these weapons to instigate a significant amount of fear in the Aztecs. The weapons themselves and the tactics deployed by Cortez militarily defeated the Aztecs and heralded the end of the Empire.

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