COLLAPSE;
The Aztecs
At the beginning of the 16th century a great civilization flourished in the land that is now Mexico. The Aztecs, who often referred to themselves as the Culhua-Mexica dominated Mesoamerica from Mexico and Guatemala through to the territories of Salvador and Honduras for what was almost a hundred years. At first the Aztecs had no land. They moved from place to place, trying to take land from other tribes. In about 1325 they settled on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco and began to build their capital city Tenochtitlan. Within 200 years the Aztecs controlled an empire that stretched right across Mexico. Tenochtitlan became one of the biggest cities in the world. At its pinnacle the Aztec culture had rich and complex mythological and religious traditions, as well as reaching remarkable architectural and artistic accomplishments. The Aztecs over time developed a remarkable system of agriculture, involving land cultivation, irrigation of high lands as well as the preservation and reclamation of swamp land. A particularly striking element of Aztec culture to many was the practice of human sacrifice. The Aztec Civilization eventually came to a collapse in 1521, for many debatable reasons.
In studying the collapse of ancient civilizations, what exactly does “collapse” mean? Collapse, is generally defined in dictionaries to be the break down, literally or metaphorically of a person, an object or in this case, a society. Another source, defines the collapse as: the complete or near-complete breakdown of a national or regional economy, often followed by economic depression, social chaos, and civil unrest. What caused the Aztec Society to break down?
Jared Diamond, author of Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed deals with “societal collapses" involving an environmental component, and in some cases, also contributions of climate change, hostile neighbors, and trade partners, plus questions of societal responses" (p. 15). Jared Diamond has carefully designed a five-point framework that gives reasons to why societies come to a collapse. His five-point framework consists of: environmental damage, response to crisis, hostile enemies, climate change and loss of friendly trade partners. These five points help people to better understand the real reasons behind a fall of a society. The points are environmental damage, response to crisis, hostile enemies, climate change and loss of friendly trade partners.
Environmental Damage:
The first of these factors: environmental damage was one of the main contributors to the fall of the Aztecs. The Aztecs were unlucky enough to experience considerable environmental problems before and leading up to the eventual collapse. When Tenochtitlan was at its greatest, about a million people lived in the Valley of Mexico. To feed all these people, farming was essential. Up to half to a third of people were farmers, and as the civilization grew more and more land was drained for farming and for construction. The Aztecs were not the first to use the land, and much of it had already made the best use of the land. The Aztecs experienced severe problems of over farming. As plagues of locusts hit the society, source to the main food supply such as maize were severely shortened. Over a period of time the food shortage worsened, causing a terrible famine that lead to the sickness and the death of a number of citizens. The Aztecs also seemed to have a problem with deforestation. Many sections of forest were cleared in order to make room for further farming, and resulted in an obvious lack of trees and forest area. They furthered into the hillsides, cutting into the highlands and causing problems with soil erosion.
The impact of the heavy farming on the land of Tenochtitlan resulted in the eventual break down of soil, leaving less fertile areas for crops to grow. The Aztecs, who relied so much on their agricultural resources found themselves to have a lack of food supply.
Hostile Enemies:
The Aztec rulers would start a fight for any reason. It’s hard to say that the Aztecs had many enemies; however the relationship between the Spanish and the Aztecs of the Mexican region was not always a positive one. Tenochtitlan came about through the manipulation of local factions and divisions by Spanish commander Hernan Cortes. Numerous battles were fought between the Aztecs and the Spanish army, but the siege of Tenochtitlan was the final, decisive battle that led to the downfall of the Aztec civilization and eventually marked the end of the first phase of the Spanish conquest in Mexico. The initial assault on the region was led by Diego Valasquez, the Spanish governor of Cuba. The Spanish settlement in Cuba was experiencing a shortage in slaves, and a lack of land to house the growing European population. Cortes was commissioned to lead the expedition into battle in the Yucatan Peninsula. Cortes was clever enough to understand the structure of the Aztecs; many small communities collected together as an empire. All that tied them together was the membership to the Aztec Civilization, and many of the smaller communities wanted to become independent. Cortes put a plan into action, and after recruiting thousands of his own native troops, began to break down the massive empire, meanwhile gathering the support of the independence seeking groups. The Aztecs put up a fight, recruiting from the three cities of its Triple Alliance and other supportive neighbours, however the attack of the Spanish was far too large to match. 250, 000 of the Aztecs were killed and thousands more lost their homes. They had been driven out of Tenochtitlan.
Climate Change:
Climate change, the third point of Jared Diamonds framework, did not have a foreseeable impact on the Aztecs. They simply did not have any of the problems we as a modern society experience today.
Response to Crisis:
The Aztecs were very much an independent group of people, each in their own little community. The ongoing fighting between the Aztecs and the Spanish warriors didn’t seem to have a noticeable impact on society, as the Aztecs usually won the small battles which would not usually last than more than a few days, or weeks at the most. Despite their very best efforts, the Aztecs could not compete with the Spanish attack. They did not take well to the loss of a battle, after coming out on top of the many previous attacks the surviving citizens had given up on saving their broken society. They took the loss very hard, and being such a religious civilization believed that they in some way had betrayed the wishes of the gods, and therefore were receiving punishment. The Aztecs had needed a bigger army and better tactics in order to conquer the Spanish, and simply didn’t have the resources to respond to the overpowering attacks.
Loss of friendly trade partners:
The Aztecs, being so independent, often preferred to trade with in their own civilization, rather than trade with neighbouring communities. They did however, have a trading alliance with the Tarascans; a small indigenous ethnic group of Mexico. The Aztecs traded their agricultural resources with the bronze owned by the Tarascans. Although they engaged in trading arrangements, the Aztecs and the Tarascans were not on a friendly basis. This turned in the favour of the Tarascans when Hernan Cortes spoke of his plans to invade Mexico, and they quickly joined sides. This resulted in a loss of resource for the Aztecs, but more importantly, a loss of a greatly needed Allie.
Looking at the five points of Diamonds well constructed framework, makes it easy to see the main areas in which the Aztec Civilization broke down. However, in comparing the framework of Jared Diamond, to that created by Joseph Tainter, we can see the notable differentiations in ideas of both discoverers. Joseph Tainter’s framework is constructed around three forms of collapse: The Dinosaur, the Runaway Train, and the House of Cards. The collapse of the Aztecs can be some what divided into Tainter’s framework.
The Dinosaur; the first of three theories is an example of a large scale society in which resources deplete at an exponential rate, and yet nothing is done to find a solution to the problem because the society refuses to, or is unable to adapt. This theory is most suitable to the downfall of the Aztecs. Their miscalculations of food supply, over farming and over hunting and the deforestation of their last 100 years caused an enormous blow to the well known agricultural society. The refusal to trade resources with other nations, and the ignorance of the problem caused the Aztecs great strife.
The Runaway Train and the House of Cards are not relevant ways to describe the fall of the Aztecs, as the collapse in the end came down to multiple reasons, some of which are not included in either framework. Firstly, there was the great plague that struck through Mexico. The Spanish soldiers brought with them disease such as small pox, that effected up to 50% of the population, leaving citizens sick, unable to work and in many cases, dead. The sickness was not a once off, three or four waves of disease were transferred from the Spanish to the Aztecs in times of battle, weakening and reducing the strength of the Aztec Army.
The Aztec’s pride of independence as a civilization, their refusal to call for help and to modify their way of life, in the end was their biggest downfall. The influx of the Spanish and the battles that killed so many were ultimately in the end what collapsed the Aztec’s in Mexico.
By Emma :)
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Pages; 4-6, 24, 28, 32, 52-58
Dineen, J. (1992), The Aztecs, Heinemann Educational Books, Oxford
The Aztecs, Encyclopedia Britannica, (2007), U.S.A, Volume 15, Pages 757-759
"Societal Collapse", (last modified 9th March 2008,)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Societal_collapse#Modes_of_societal_response
"How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed" (last modified 2oth March 2008)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse:_How_Societies_Choose_to_Fail_or_Succeed
"The Collapse of the Aztec Empire" (visited on the 6th March 2008)
http://www.xomba.com/the_collapse_of_the_aztec_empire_cortez_and_the_spanish
"The Aztec Empire" (visited on March 8th)http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/latinamerica/meso/cultures/aztec_empire.html
The Aztecs
At the beginning of the 16th century a great civilization flourished in the land that is now Mexico. The Aztecs, who often referred to themselves as the Culhua-Mexica dominated Mesoamerica from Mexico and Guatemala through to the territories of Salvador and Honduras for what was almost a hundred years. At first the Aztecs had no land. They moved from place to place, trying to take land from other tribes. In about 1325 they settled on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco and began to build their capital city Tenochtitlan. Within 200 years the Aztecs controlled an empire that stretched right across Mexico. Tenochtitlan became one of the biggest cities in the world. At its pinnacle the Aztec culture had rich and complex mythological and religious traditions, as well as reaching remarkable architectural and artistic accomplishments. The Aztecs over time developed a remarkable system of agriculture, involving land cultivation, irrigation of high lands as well as the preservation and reclamation of swamp land. A particularly striking element of Aztec culture to many was the practice of human sacrifice. The Aztec Civilization eventually came to a collapse in 1521, for many debatable reasons.
In studying the collapse of ancient civilizations, what exactly does “collapse” mean? Collapse, is generally defined in dictionaries to be the break down, literally or metaphorically of a person, an object or in this case, a society. Another source, defines the collapse as: the complete or near-complete breakdown of a national or regional economy, often followed by economic depression, social chaos, and civil unrest. What caused the Aztec Society to break down?
Jared Diamond, author of Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed deals with “societal collapses" involving an environmental component, and in some cases, also contributions of climate change, hostile neighbors, and trade partners, plus questions of societal responses" (p. 15). Jared Diamond has carefully designed a five-point framework that gives reasons to why societies come to a collapse. His five-point framework consists of: environmental damage, response to crisis, hostile enemies, climate change and loss of friendly trade partners. These five points help people to better understand the real reasons behind a fall of a society. The points are environmental damage, response to crisis, hostile enemies, climate change and loss of friendly trade partners.
Environmental Damage:
The first of these factors: environmental damage was one of the main contributors to the fall of the Aztecs. The Aztecs were unlucky enough to experience considerable environmental problems before and leading up to the eventual collapse. When Tenochtitlan was at its greatest, about a million people lived in the Valley of Mexico. To feed all these people, farming was essential. Up to half to a third of people were farmers, and as the civilization grew more and more land was drained for farming and for construction. The Aztecs were not the first to use the land, and much of it had already made the best use of the land. The Aztecs experienced severe problems of over farming. As plagues of locusts hit the society, source to the main food supply such as maize were severely shortened. Over a period of time the food shortage worsened, causing a terrible famine that lead to the sickness and the death of a number of citizens. The Aztecs also seemed to have a problem with deforestation. Many sections of forest were cleared in order to make room for further farming, and resulted in an obvious lack of trees and forest area. They furthered into the hillsides, cutting into the highlands and causing problems with soil erosion.
The impact of the heavy farming on the land of Tenochtitlan resulted in the eventual break down of soil, leaving less fertile areas for crops to grow. The Aztecs, who relied so much on their agricultural resources found themselves to have a lack of food supply.
Hostile Enemies:
The Aztec rulers would start a fight for any reason. It’s hard to say that the Aztecs had many enemies; however the relationship between the Spanish and the Aztecs of the Mexican region was not always a positive one. Tenochtitlan came about through the manipulation of local factions and divisions by Spanish commander Hernan Cortes. Numerous battles were fought between the Aztecs and the Spanish army, but the siege of Tenochtitlan was the final, decisive battle that led to the downfall of the Aztec civilization and eventually marked the end of the first phase of the Spanish conquest in Mexico. The initial assault on the region was led by Diego Valasquez, the Spanish governor of Cuba. The Spanish settlement in Cuba was experiencing a shortage in slaves, and a lack of land to house the growing European population. Cortes was commissioned to lead the expedition into battle in the Yucatan Peninsula. Cortes was clever enough to understand the structure of the Aztecs; many small communities collected together as an empire. All that tied them together was the membership to the Aztec Civilization, and many of the smaller communities wanted to become independent. Cortes put a plan into action, and after recruiting thousands of his own native troops, began to break down the massive empire, meanwhile gathering the support of the independence seeking groups. The Aztecs put up a fight, recruiting from the three cities of its Triple Alliance and other supportive neighbours, however the attack of the Spanish was far too large to match. 250, 000 of the Aztecs were killed and thousands more lost their homes. They had been driven out of Tenochtitlan.
Climate Change:
Climate change, the third point of Jared Diamonds framework, did not have a foreseeable impact on the Aztecs. They simply did not have any of the problems we as a modern society experience today.
Response to Crisis:
The Aztecs were very much an independent group of people, each in their own little community. The ongoing fighting between the Aztecs and the Spanish warriors didn’t seem to have a noticeable impact on society, as the Aztecs usually won the small battles which would not usually last than more than a few days, or weeks at the most. Despite their very best efforts, the Aztecs could not compete with the Spanish attack. They did not take well to the loss of a battle, after coming out on top of the many previous attacks the surviving citizens had given up on saving their broken society. They took the loss very hard, and being such a religious civilization believed that they in some way had betrayed the wishes of the gods, and therefore were receiving punishment. The Aztecs had needed a bigger army and better tactics in order to conquer the Spanish, and simply didn’t have the resources to respond to the overpowering attacks.
Loss of friendly trade partners:
The Aztecs, being so independent, often preferred to trade with in their own civilization, rather than trade with neighbouring communities. They did however, have a trading alliance with the Tarascans; a small indigenous ethnic group of Mexico. The Aztecs traded their agricultural resources with the bronze owned by the Tarascans. Although they engaged in trading arrangements, the Aztecs and the Tarascans were not on a friendly basis. This turned in the favour of the Tarascans when Hernan Cortes spoke of his plans to invade Mexico, and they quickly joined sides. This resulted in a loss of resource for the Aztecs, but more importantly, a loss of a greatly needed Allie.
Looking at the five points of Diamonds well constructed framework, makes it easy to see the main areas in which the Aztec Civilization broke down. However, in comparing the framework of Jared Diamond, to that created by Joseph Tainter, we can see the notable differentiations in ideas of both discoverers. Joseph Tainter’s framework is constructed around three forms of collapse: The Dinosaur, the Runaway Train, and the House of Cards. The collapse of the Aztecs can be some what divided into Tainter’s framework.
The Dinosaur; the first of three theories is an example of a large scale society in which resources deplete at an exponential rate, and yet nothing is done to find a solution to the problem because the society refuses to, or is unable to adapt. This theory is most suitable to the downfall of the Aztecs. Their miscalculations of food supply, over farming and over hunting and the deforestation of their last 100 years caused an enormous blow to the well known agricultural society. The refusal to trade resources with other nations, and the ignorance of the problem caused the Aztecs great strife.
The Runaway Train and the House of Cards are not relevant ways to describe the fall of the Aztecs, as the collapse in the end came down to multiple reasons, some of which are not included in either framework. Firstly, there was the great plague that struck through Mexico. The Spanish soldiers brought with them disease such as small pox, that effected up to 50% of the population, leaving citizens sick, unable to work and in many cases, dead. The sickness was not a once off, three or four waves of disease were transferred from the Spanish to the Aztecs in times of battle, weakening and reducing the strength of the Aztec Army.
The Aztec’s pride of independence as a civilization, their refusal to call for help and to modify their way of life, in the end was their biggest downfall. The influx of the Spanish and the battles that killed so many were ultimately in the end what collapsed the Aztec’s in Mexico.
By Emma :)
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Pages; 4-6, 24, 28, 32, 52-58
Dineen, J. (1992), The Aztecs, Heinemann Educational Books, Oxford
The Aztecs, Encyclopedia Britannica, (2007), U.S.A, Volume 15, Pages 757-759
"Societal Collapse", (last modified 9th March 2008,)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Societal_collapse#Modes_of_societal_response
"How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed" (last modified 2oth March 2008)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse:_How_Societies_Choose_to_Fail_or_Succeed
"The Collapse of the Aztec Empire" (visited on the 6th March 2008)
http://www.xomba.com/the_collapse_of_the_aztec_empire_cortez_and_the_spanish
"The Aztec Empire" (visited on March 8th)http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/latinamerica/meso/cultures/aztec_empire.html
