HIS1000 – World History to 1500CE
Research Essay
Yasmin Kent – U1110375
Account for the rapid collapse of the Aztec empire
The Aztec Empire flourished for almost two hundred years, however even though the
empire was already in a state of economic and social decline, other factors
transpired such as religious sacrifice, disease and the Spanish conquest that
inevitably led to its demise. The Aztec Empire was a large prospering civilisation in
Central America that existed between about 1345 AD and 1521 AD. When the
Empire was at its largest, it spread across most of Mesoamerica. During that time,
the Aztecs built one of the world’s most advanced societies and became very
powerful. Its warriors took over many nearby states and helped spread Aztec culture
and religion across Mesoamerica. It was the religious sacrifices that had a big impact
on the population, with thousands of civilians killed to please the Gods which highly
motivated the Spanish to invade what they considered an evil culture. With the
arrival of the Spanish, a disease was brought into the civilisation, and without
knowing how to treat it, the population was diminishing. The Spaniards then took
over the weakened empire with ease and thus came the end of the once dominating
Aztec Empire.
While the Aztec empire controlled a large area and population, its internal system
was already in a fragile state due to increasing economic troubles, social tensions
