Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire
1519 · Early Modern
The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was a two-year campaign that began in 1519 and resulted in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The campaign was led by Hernán Cortés and resulted in the fall of the Aztec Empire and the establishment of a Spanish colonial empire in its place.
Key Figures
Moctezuma IIHernán CortésLa Malinche (Doña Marina)Pedro de Alvarado
Locations
VeracruzTenochtitlanTlaxcala
Topics
ConquestAztecSpanishMexico
Connected Events — 4 Connections
Cortés's landing at Veracruz established the Spanish colonial template for Mexico that lasted 300 years, creating the political and territorial framework that Mexico inherited at independence and subsequently lost to the United States in the Mexican-American War Mexican-American War
The centralized imperial structure and tributary system established in 1428 created the unified empire that Cortés could topple by capturing its center at Tenochtitlan, while the wealth accumulated through this system attracted Spanish conquistadors seeking gold and tribute Founding of the Aztec Empire
Tenochtitlan was the target of Cortes' siege and fell in 1521 Construction of Tenochtitlan
Spanish conquerors buried the stone after conquering Tenochtitlan in 1521 Aztec Calendar Stone Carved
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