Final answer:
Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztec Empire in 1521 with the help of alliances and the impact of new diseases. Montezuma II, the Aztec ruler, was initially mistaken for a deity but was later held captive by the Spanish. This momentous event ended the Aztec civilization and started Spanish rule in the Americas.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Aztec Empire and its downfall have been the subject of much historical study. Hernán Cortés, a Spanish conquistador, played a pivotal role in this history. Cortés landed in what is now Mexico in 1519 and, by 1521, had conquered the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan largely due to strategic alliances with local tribes, such as the Tlaxcalans, and the devastating impact of diseases brought by the Europeans, which the indigenous populations were not immune to.
Montezuma II, the ruler of the Aztecs, initially greeted the Spanish as gods, a misconception that Cortés exploited. As tensions escalated, the Spanish even held Montezuma captive in his own city. The fall of Tenochtitlan marked the end of the Aztec Empire and the beginning of Spanish dominion over the region. The conquest has been immortalized in various Spanish chronicles and more recently in indigenous accounts that offer a different perspective on the events and Spanish-Indian relations of the period.
Understanding the conquest is key to comprehending the complexities of pre-Columbian civilizations and the seismic changes wrought by the arrival of Europeans in the Americas.