Mexico and the Spanish Conquest

Modern Wars in Perspective

by Ross Hassig

What role did indigenous peoples play in the Spanish conquest of Mexico? Ross Hassig explores this question in Mexico and the Spanish Conquest by incorporating primary accounts from the Indians of Mexico and revisiting the events of the conquest against the backdrop of the Aztec empire, the culture and politics of Mesoamerica, and the military dynamics of both sides. He analyzes the weapons, tactics, and strategies employed by both the Indians and the Spaniards, and concludes that the conquest was less a Spanish victory than it was a victory of Indians over other Indians, which the Spaniards were able to exploit to their own advantage. In this second edition of his classic work, Hassig incorporates new research in the same concise manner that made the original edition so popular and provides further explanations of the actions and motivations of Cortés, Moteuczoma, and other key figures. He also explores their impact on larger events and examines in greater detail Spanish military tactics and strategies.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hassig gives a great overview of what the Spanish Conquest did to Mesoamerica and how the conquest was achieved. I only give it four stars because Hassig’s writing is very structured and can become bland. Overall, great book and great content.

[Nathan Casebolt · Rating 4 out of 5]

From first-person Spanish accounts of Cortés’s conquest of the Aztecs, you might come away with the impression that a few hundred conquistadors single-handedly toppled an empire. Well, Ross Hassig is here to chew gum and correct the record, and he’s all out of gum.

Hassig posits the fall of the Aztecs as less a foreign conquest and more a power struggle internal to Mesoamerica. The superior technology of the Spanish made them an attractive armored fist for Indians hungry to shatter Aztec power. Only European disease and duplicity turned their triumph into slavery.

I had gleaned much of this already between the lines of the account of Bernal Díaz del Castillo. While it’s true he attributes the victory to Spanish mettle and divine favor, he doesn’t hide the huge numbers of Indian auxiliaries who prevented the Aztecs from attriting the Spanish out of existence.

Hassig brings this background to the foreground in a brief but compelling interpretation that emphasizes Indian agency in using the Spanish to bring Tenochtitlan to its knees. This is a salutary tonic for Eurocentric histories that too often reduce “the natives” to stage props in their own story.

Two points stood out to me. First, I hadn’t truly understood the “flower wars.” The Aztecs controlled a young empire bordering or enveloping a few unconquered tribes, such as the Tlaxcallans who nearly annihilated Cortés on contact. However, the Aztecs routinely sent skirmishers against these tribes.

The fact that these “flower wars” were frequently bloodless has led some historians to interpret them as mere training exercises for young Aztec warriors. Hassig, however, points out that Mesoamerican logistics made sustained campaigns against formidable opponents extraordinarily difficult.

The Aztec “flower wars” were instead a highly effective method of grinding down enemies too powerful to conquer in a single hot war. These slow, attritional campaigns kept targets in a state of unsustainable military expense until, resources exhausted, they fell helplessly into the Aztec orbit.

Second, even Hassig is unable to account for Montezuma’s behavior. Hassig is generous in his interpretations of Indian shrewdness, sometimes beyond what is strictly demonstrable from the sources. Some of his psychologizing strikes me as question begging, even when his speculations are plausible.

Montezuma leaves even Hassig without explanations. The Aztec king’s vacillation and quiescence in the face of Spanish aggression doomed his people for no discernible reason. Hassig barely tries to speculate: Montezuma is simply an unaccountable case study of what happens when a threat of historic proportions meets an historically weak leader.

Hassig makes a compelling case fluently and easily. This is not a holistic account of the Aztec’s end, but it’s an important if short companion to more complete histories. It’s especially helpful as a balance to traditional histories with its incisive recognition that the Mesoamericans had their own motivations and agency — however tragically their calculations recoiled on them in the end.

[Natalia P · Rating 3 out of 5]

genuinely interesting, but I read it for class 😔

[Jefferson Coombs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Learned so much.