Cortes: The Spanish Conquest

Cortes’ arrival in Veracruz defined a new stage of development in the conquest of indigenous peoples living in Mexico, but more importantly, as a pathway to attack and destroy the Aztec empire in the interior regions. The conquistador mentality had become a powerful statement of the military might of the Spanish Empire during the early 1500s, which galvanized Cortes and his military to successfully begin negotiations with the Aztecs to make alliances against local enemies in the area. Cortes’ arrival in Veracruz provided a window of opportunity to begin negotiating and communicating with Aztec representatives. When first landing in Veracruz, Cortes was able to settle the coastal city of Veracruz, which became the port of entry into Mexico.

After gaining strategic alliances and victories over smaller Aztec communities, Cortes was able to make a large military assault on a major Aztec city. Cholula is an example of the ferocity and violent methods used by the Conquistador, which created the myth of the Spanish conquistador in the minds of modern day Mexicans. The conquistador would often result to large-scale massacres and the setting of fire to cities as a method of completely annihilation of resistance to the Spanish military. During this military campaign, Cortes has recruited nearly one thousand Tlaxcalteca soldiers to attack the city. The image of the conquistador as a ruthless colonizer is somewhat validated in the brutal methods that Cortes used in destroying the city, but only within the context of making an example of the power of the Spanish government:
The slaughter at Cholula has been put down to thoughtless brutality or Spanish bloodlust, but while the Spanish army had plenty of both, this was hardly consistent with Cortes’ style. Cortes felt he was punishing treachery, and he did it thoroughly, as a symbol—Cortes’ brutalities always served a purpose. He was a leader from the Machiavellian age (Fehrenbach

In a matter of three to four years, Cortes had effectively conquered the Aztec peoples through a blend of fierce militarism, diplomacy, and treachery as part of the motivation to colonize the indigenous peoples. Surely, the symbolism of the Spanish conquistador is conformed in the total colonization and defeat of the Aztec civilization ass part of Cortes’ mission in Mexico. More so, the capital of Mexico, Mexico City, was built on the foundations of the city of Tenochtitlan as a basis for the formation of Mexico as a colonial state governed through Spain: Since Hernan Cortes made the decision to construct his new capital on the ruins of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec city of lakes” (Krauze 3). In this context, the importance of Cortes’ role in Mexico is defining moment in the Spanish culture that dominated the indigenous populations after the defeat of the Aztecs. Cortes was a leading figure in the first phase of Spanish colonization of Central America, which would result in larger Spanish colonization of this region through the 16th