What is the reason small numbers of spanish conquistadors were able to conquer the incas, aztecs, and mayans?
What is the reason small numbers of spanish conquistadors were able to conquer the incas, aztecs, and mayans?
Home | Contact | About | Privacy Policy | Sitemap
Filed under: Spanish Language


Firearms, armor, steel blades and at least a thousand years of military organizational history/tradition.
I don’t know about the aztecs and the mayans, but with the Incas its because a few centuries before the conquistadors the vikings landed and treated the incans really well. So when the conquistadores landed, they thought they were going to be really nice too. Man they were wrong!!! The Incans were already in the middle of civil war at the time too I think so this decreased their numbers.
Horses, bacterial warfare, and organizing the native opposition. The horses scared the bejesus out of the native Americans.
BTW – the Europeans didn’t conquer the Mayans – the Mayan civilization imploded around 800 CE, well before the Europeans arrived (even Vikings)
Mayan info here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/cultures/maya_01.shtml
Jack P is 100% right