How did Hernán Cortés and his conquistador’s, who were in now Mexico, have enough ammunition to fight the natives while staying for years 1519–1521
In: Other
I think the common misconception is that: *”Cortes and a few hundred Conquistadores singlehandedly took down the primitive and brutal Aztec Empire through valiant effort and the power of Jesus Christ.”*
In reality, The Spanish had probably around 3000 Conquistadores in Mexico, most of which died. “The Aztecs” were also not a unified society. [Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan formed a loose, mutually-beneficial alliance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_Empire) that fought against any neighboring tribes and cities.
They also made [a lot of enemies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlaxcala_(Nahua_state)) on their rise to hegemony.
>*Tlaxcala was completely surrounded by Aztec lands, leading to the intermittent so called “flower war” between the Aztecs and the Tlaxcalans, fighting for their independence, as the Aztecs wanted to absorb them into the empire.* …*Tlaxcala was never conquered by the Aztec empire, but was engaged in a state of perpetual war, the so-called flower wars or garland wars.*
When the Spanish first met the Tlaxcalla, they atatcked the Spanish and killed a significant amount of them.
>*Conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo describes the first battle between the Spanish force and the Tlaxcalteca as surprisingly difficult. He writes that they probably would not have survived, had not Xicotencatl the Elder, and Maxixcatzin, persuaded Xicotencatl the Younger – the Tlaxcallan warleader – that it would be better to ally with the newcomers than to kill them.*
Once the indigenous populations and the Spanish joined forces against the much stronger Aztec Alliance, they had a force of over 200,000 people, who continued to support the Spanish in the rest of their conquests around Mesoamerica.
>*Due to protracted warfare between the Aztecs and the Tlaxcala, the Tlaxcala were eager to exact revenge, and soon became loyal allies of the Spanish. Even after the Spanish were expelled from Tenochtitlan, the Tlaxcala continued to support their conquest. Tlaxcala also assisted the Spanish in the conquest of Guatemala.*
And to make things even easier for the Spanish, they brough along diseases that ravaged the indigenous populations. [The indigenous populations called it cocoliztli](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocoliztli_epidemics) and the first major disease outbreaks began in 1520 (about a year after the Spanish arrived) and killed up to 8 million people that first year. The disease outbreaks continued to hit the indigenous populations for decades.
>*The Cocoliztli Epidemic or the Great Pestilence was an outbreak of a mysterious illness characterized by high fevers and bleeding which caused 5–15 million deaths in New Spain during the 16th century. The Aztec people called it cocoliztli, Nahuatl for pestilence. It ravaged the Mexican highlands in epidemic proportions, resulting in the demographic collapse of some Indigenous populations … Based on the death toll, this outbreak is often referred to as the worst epidemic in the history of Mexico.*
**TL;DR: There were nearly 3000 Conquistadores and over 200,000 indigenous Mesoamericans who fought against the Aztec Alliance.**
Latest Answers