Page 44 - All About History - Issue 19-14

What if…

The Aztecs hadn’t

been conquered?

MEXICO, 1519

Written by Jack Griffiths

What would have happened if the Aztecs hadn’t been the effects of disease – a fatal legacy of Cortés’s expedition –
MATTHEW RESTALL conquered by the Spanish? they would probably have won through in the end, although
Matthew Restall
is a professor Helen Cowie: It’s easy to imagine that the conquest of the possibly at a much higher cost. Whether they would have
of Colonial Aztecs was inevitable thanks to the superiority of the weapons been able to attract indigenous allies as easily as Cortés did
Latin American used by the Spanish conquistadors (steel swords, crossbows, in the wake of his defeat is another question. The Spanish
History at Penn
State University. harquebuses and cannons against obsidian swords, slings attracted [indigenous] supporters because they appeared to
His areas of specialisation and bows and arrows). If we look in detail at the events of the be a successful fighting force, capable of standing up to their
are Yucatán and Mexico, conquest, however, it becomes clear that Cortés’s victory was Aztec enemies. Had Cortés been defeated or killed, this aura of
Guatemala and Belize, Maya
history, the Spanish conquest by no means certain, and that his expedition could quite easily invincibility would have been lost, making indigenous backing
and Africans in Spanish have ended in failure. On several occasions the Spanish stared harder to find.
America. He has co-authored
four books published in 2011 defeat in the face – most dramatically during the so-called
and 2012 including 2012 And ‘Noche Triste’, when they were forced to flee Tenochtitlán What would the Aztecs have learnt from the Europeans?
The End Of The World: The after an ill-judged massacre of Aztec nobles. Without the Would they have modernised over time using European
Western Roots Of The Maya
Apocalypse and Latin America continued support of indigenous allies such as the Tlaxcallans, technology such as guns to their advantage?
In Colonial Times. the conquest could not have been achieved. It was also the Restall: Yes, they would certainly would have done so, just
devastating effects of disease, as much as technology and as other indigenous or Native American groups did in later
horses that destabilised Aztec society politically. But for luck at centuries – think of the warriors of the northern plains riding
several critical junctures, Cortés could easily have lost. horses and using rifles, both to great effect. Indeed, during
HELEN COWIE
Helen Cowie Matthew Restall: The invasion campaign led by Hernan the Spanish-Aztec war, Aztecs captured and used Spanish
isalecturer
in History at Cortés came very close to failure. Most of the men who weapons and armour. Had the war turned into a series of
the University crossed to Mexico from the Caribbean in 1519 and 1520 campaigns over years or decades, Spanish conquistadors
of York. She died during the war against the Aztecs, and Cortés himself would surely have ended up facing Aztec warriors with steel
is the author
of Conquering Nature In narrowly escaped death. But if Cortés had perished before the weapons and possibly even guns.
Spain And Its Empire, 1750- Aztec defeat, the final outcome of the war would surely have Cowie: There is evidence the Aztecs were already starting
1850 and Exhibiting Animals been very similar: one of his fellow captains, such as Pedro to learn how to counteract European weaponry and
In Nineteenth-Century
Britain: Empathy, Education, de Alvarado, would have continued the campaign in much tactics during the course of Cortés’s campaign. To avoid
Entertainment. She is currently the same way. Nevertheless, it is also possible that the high the projectiles fired by Spanish cannon and harquebuses,
writing a book on the cultural
history of the alpaca. mortality rate of the conquistadors and their allies, combined for instance, Aztec soldiers moved from side to side while
with the death of key captains and a failure of leadership, marching, rather than in straight lines. To neutralise the
might have forced the survivors to retreat back to Cuba. advantage of Spanish cavalry, they erected barricades in
the streets and avoided combat on flat, open terrain, which
What effect would it have had on future attempts from favoured horses. Had Cortés lost, it is possible the Aztecs
the Old World to conquer the New? might have adapted their military tactics further and become
Cowie: It’s hard to imagine the Spanish would have more capable of defeating European soldiers. They might also
abandoned attempts to conquer the Aztecs had Cortés been have learned something of the Spaniards’ aims and mentality
defeated. Further expeditions would probably have been in war and adopted a more aggressive strategy in dealing with
mounted, perhaps with larger numbers of troops. Assisted by future attempted invasions.

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