Cortez and Pizarro

By Kenyon Geetings

While it's often thought that Cortez and Pizarro were able to conquer the Incas and Aztecs fairly easily because of the deadly diseases they brought with them, I would argue that in addition to the diseases it was really the incompetence of the Inca and Aztec leaders, accompanied with the magnificent timing, leadership, and advanced technology of these attacks that really helped secure these victories. To attempt to explain these wins as just being a simple luck of the draw aided with deadly smallpox would severely undervalue the intellectual experience, decisions, and commands made by Cortez and Pizarro as well as misrepresent the technological advancements that were used by the Spaniards during this time.

While it would be foolish not to mention the amount of work that the deadly diseases did to aid in Cortes and Pizarro's victories, it would also be foolish to neglect the irresponsible leaders of the Incas and Aztecs. Both Cortes and Pizarro took advantage of these leaders' trust or belief in them to make their way far into the middle of the cities, where it was then impossible for the Incas or Aztecs to defend against. For Cortes, he was able to exploit Montezuma, the Aztec leader, with the fact that the Aztecs were surrounded by hostile city-states, making a divide and conquer technique suitable for his attack (Joseph 93). Pizarro also utilized this technique against Atahualpa , the Inca leader, but it was less of a prevailing issue since the Incas were not surrounded by hostile groups. What Pizarro was truly able to capitalize on was the civil war that was taking place against Atahualpa and his brother, Huascar. The previous leader, Huayna-Capac had died from an epidemic that was thought to be from the Spaniards, and because of his death a war over who should be the next successor was taking place. Taking a play out of Cortes' book of having “brilliantly manipulated rival factions during the conquest of Mexico twelve years before,” (Hemming 103) Pizarro attempted to do the same by using the element of surprise.

In addition to these powerful strategies made by Pizarro and Cortes - and the lack of one from Atahualpa and Montezuma - was the fact that the Spaniards also had technology way more advanced than any one of the Incas or Aztecs possessed. The Spaniards brought with them several sophisticated new machines of war that allowed for relatively quick and easy victories against their opponents. One such machine that was probably the most utilized, but the least appreciated, were their horses. While they were undoubtedly a good use of transportation, they also allowed the Spaniards to make surprise attacks quickly, and also served as a way to scare their attackers. Many of these groups had never seen such animals, and as such “troops drew back when they saw the horse coming toward them” (Hemming 109). Furthermore, the Spaniards brought cannons that were used not only for ambush and killing their opponents, but were also used as a way to place panic and confusion into competition.

In conclusion, the wars against the Incas and Aztecs were not simply won because of a deadly disease, but also thanks to the negligence of the leaders, the advanced technology of the Europeans, and the perspicaciousness of Cortes and Pizarro that flipped the outcome of the wars.