Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire

16th-century Spanish invasion of Mesoamerica

The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, also known as the Conquest of Mexico (Spanish: Conquista española del Imperio azteca), was a pivotal event that took place during the Spanish colonization of the Americas (the broader European colonization of the Americas), marked by the collision of the Aztec Triple Alliance and the Spanish Empire with its American Indian allies. Between 1519 and 1521, Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and his small army of European soldiers and the large allied army of Indian auxiliaries, overthrew the most powerful pre-Columbian empire to exist in Mesoamerica. Led by the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II, the Aztec Empire had established dominance over modern central Mexico through military conquest and intricate alliances.

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