Columbus

Columbus

The first European man who laid foot on Mexico was Christopher Columbus. On his last expedition after discovering America in 1492 he sailed to Panama, Honduras and Mexico, without really going into the mainland.

Hernan Cortes and the conquest of Mexico

Cortez arrived 12 years later in Cuba, which was held by the Spanish governor Velazquez. As Cortez proved to be a good leader, he was sent to explore the mainland in Mexico.

Sailing with a fleet of 500 men, he first touched land on the Yucatan Peninsula. There he rescued Geronimo de Aguilar, a shipwrecked Spaniard who had lived among the Mayas for many years, and could serve as a translator. Shortly thereafter, he acquired an even more valuable asset. Making alliances with indigenous he was presented a woman, called Malinche. She spoke Aztecs language and became an invaluable translator and advisor to Cortez. Between Aguilar and Malinche, Cortez now had a way to communicate with most of the tribes he encountered.

Cortez eventually settled on Veracruz a base of operations. The Aztecs were always aware of the presence of the Spaniards and sent an envoy requesting that they do not approach Tenochtitlan, the today Mexico City. They didn’t really know what to expect of the new invaders. At this point, in order to discourage retreat, Cortez burned all his boats. His men would either conquer or die.

On the way to Tenochtitlan there were two other tribes he had to counter: The Tlaxcalans, which were also enemies of the Aztecs and the Cholulans. After a short battle with the Tlaxcalan, they became the Spaniards’ most loyal and valuable allies. The Cholulan’s were completely defeated in short battle.

By the time Cortez arrived in Tenochtitlan, he had a great reputation. He was received kindly by Montezuma, the king of the Aztecs. He believed the Spaniards had supernatural powers, as they have never seen people like that. Riding horses, wearing armors, guns and fighting dogs. Within a month Cortez had Montezuma, the King of the Aztecs under his control, without using violence. He hoped to conquer them peacefully by coercion.

After three months of patient negotiation, Cortez's new enemy Velasquez, the governor who didn’t like Cortes doing everything on his own, sent a large fleet with orders to arrest him. So, Cortez had to leave Tenochtitlan to defeat the new arrivals. In the month that Cortez was gone, some of his troops, who stayed in Tenochtitlan, had committed a massacre against the Aztec priests, and the whole city was in arms on his arrival. The Spanish army had to flee from Tenochtitlan. A third of their number were killed and many more injured. This was the famous „La Noche Triste“.

The most critical battle the Spaniards fought against the Aztecs was at Otumba, a week after their retreat from Tenochtitlan. By killing the generals of the Aztecs they confused their army and could thereby win the battle. The victory at Otumba against this huge army did much to convince more tribes to side with the invaders against the Aztecs.

Before attacking Tenochtitlan there was another incident that worked greatly in favor of the Spaniards: The smallpox epidemic, which struck Tenochtitlan with great severity during these months.

In February, 1521 Cortez moved his base of operations from Tlaxcala to Texcuco, a city that was just across the lake from Tenochtitlan. From there he was able to cut the aqueduct supplying.

Having besieged to Tenochtitlan for weeks, the attackers were able to enter the city, which ended to be a great massacre. Finally, in August 1521, the city was captured.

During the conquest Cortes had worked to establish good relations with the King of Spain in hopes of being able to rule Mexico. Unfortunately, he had made too many enemies, and in the end he was granted wealth and estates but little part in the government of the newly conquered province.

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