In 1519 the Aztec was defeated by the Spanish

because of the technology, allies and disease in

present day Mexico in the city of Tenochtitlan.

In 1915 Cortes went off in search of treasure along the coast of

Mexico with a small army. when Montezuma heard of this he sent
spies to see about this strange boat that was spotted when they
reported back it was said that “we must tell you that we saw a
house in the water , out or which came white men, with white
hands and faces and very long, bushy beards , clothes of every
color : white , yellow , red , green , blue, and purple , and on
their heads they wore round hats “. Which the Aztec weren’t use
to this they had never seen this before. The Aztecs were dislike
by many groups because the demanded heavy tribute, so they
decided to make an agreement with Cortes. The Aztec had never
seen horses before so when they saw Cortes and his 500
soldiers and 16 horses they described them as “supernatural
creatures riding on hornless deer, armed in iron, fearless as
gods”. After deciding to surrender to Spain with several months
of peace that didn’t last long the Spanish killed some Aztecs. The
Aztecs started to fight back against the Spanish Montezuma was
killed and Cortes and his army barely escaped. Along with the
Aztecs enemies Cortes surrounded and attacked Tenochtitlan. In
1521 the Aztecs surrendered but 240,000 Aztecs had died and
30,000 of Cortes allies were also killed. “Montezuma, believing
the Spanish to be descendants of the god Quetzalcoatl, tried to
persuade them to leave by offering rich gifts. That failing, he
received them in his splendid court at Tenochtitlan in Nov., 1519.
Cortes later seized him as a hostage and attempted to govern
through him. In June, 1520, the Aztec rose against the Spanish.
Montezuma was killed, although whether by the Spanish or the
Aztec is not certain. His successor died a few months later and
was replaced by Cuauhtémoc. Montezuma's name is linked by a
legend to fabulous treasures that the Spanish appropriated and
presumably lost at sea. Bibliography”

The Spanish brought technology that the Aztec were not use to and they
came on boats and had armor and guns and some rode on horses. They
also could better educate them because they had better writing skills.
They gained allies because they were starting to take over and they were
making large amounts of money so the Montezuma started to tax heavily.
People wanted to join powerful looking army Cortes promised them rank.
“The Spanish landed upon the shores of Meso-America in February of the
year 1519, in the area of Vera Cruz. By November of that year, the
Spanish fleet, commanded by Hernando Cortez, entered into Tenochtitlan
and simply arrested the Emperor of the Aztec, Montezuma. Within the time
span of two years, Cortez dismantled the Aztec monarchy and gained
control of all of Tenochtitlan, and many of its surrounding territories.”
 The Spanish brought diseases that the
Aztec never encounters before such as small pox, the measles, and the
chicken pox. The small pox kills 2 thirds of the Native American
population.” Another major effect of European expansion was the
transmittance of new diseases all over the globe killing populations of
people. Europe had a very densely populated society where crowding
diseases were prevalent. Also, Europe was one of the first areas where
animals, carrying a slew of different diseases, were domesticated (Ponting
225-226). People that lived in the European societies may have built up
the immunity necessary for survival; however, people on the opposite side
of the world, such as the Aztecs, did not have resistance to these diseases
and when exposed died at a frighteningly rapid pace. Mesoamerican
civilizations, such as the Aztecs, and European nations, such as Cortes and
Spain, had very different exploration and expansion mentalities that were
directly related to their own environment and culture. The Aztecs mostly
conquered territories and resided there, making them as prosperous and
rich as possible.”

Bibliography: websites/ Google, Spanish conquest, The Aztec

culture