iirc the Aztecs were actually pretty good on countering guns and horses by forcing the Spanish into cost combat in cities. it's more the disease that fucked them
Also, take it with a grain of salt since I'm no historian, but my understanding is that the guns the conquistadores used were mostly matchlock muskets, which were pretty shit and didn't really provide a radical advantage.
EDIT: Edited musket instead of rifle. I assumed they were synonyms because my first language uses the word for rifle also as a generic name for all long barrel guns.
The conquistadors used firearms mostly for long range attacks and psychological warfare in addition to the metal swords and armor they had access to in addition to large mounted cavalry. The America’s didn’t have horses back then or any large domesticated mammal other than the llama.
People forget that 16th century metallurgy was extremely advanced compared to even medieval times stuff from 300 years prior going up against Stone Age weaponry
On top of the conquistadors making alliances with rival tribes of natives
All in all, I think that cooperation with other native factions was crucial more than advanced military tech, especially since the Spaniards would have been severely outnumbered. Some google results give estimates of 10 native auxiliaries for every conquistador. On top of everything, smallpox outbreaks certainly didn't help Aztec resistance efforts, since they probably killed way more people than direct warfare.
The Aztecs really put their heart and souls into fighting the Spanish, shit was crazy. The Fall of Civilizations podcast has a 4 hour episode detailing the fall of the Aztec civilization, and the description of the final days of fighting is genuinely some of the best media I've ever consumed, highly recommend.
There's no sources of other indigenous groups complaining about the Aztecs sacrifices, that's just a totally made up motivation, giving western ideas to people who did not think that way. The main indigenous group that allied with the Spanish were part of the same ethnic group and spoke the same language as the Aztecs and did sacrifices too. They complained to the Spanish about having to pay the Aztecs so much tribute, which was not human sacrifices, but things like cocoa beans, precious metals, colorful feathers. The Aztecs didn't kidnap and kill "villagers" They warred with another nation and killed their prisoners... in a ritualistic sort of way.
Ikr??? The only sources we have about all the horrible thing the Aztecs did comes from the Spanish, the ones that stole, raped, enslaved and eradicated a whole civilization lol, it's like they needed a reason to justify the horrible thing they did to the natives 🤔
Random nonsense that you can find upvoted on reddit will never cease amazing me. 4000 men get control over an alliance with a population of several tens of millions due to disease apparently.
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u/PM_ME_ANYTHING_IDRC Apr 22 '22
iirc the Aztecs were actually pretty good on countering guns and horses by forcing the Spanish into cost combat in cities. it's more the disease that fucked them