Aztec Empire | World History | Khan Academy

We've already talked about the Aztec civilization in several videos, but what we're going to focus on in this video is the Aztec Empire, which shouldn't be confused with the Aztec civilization. The civilization refers to the broader groups of people over hundreds of years, but the Aztec Empire is a very specific entity that formed in the hundred years before Spanish colonization.

What you see here is a zoomed-in version of what today would be southern Mexico. Right over here on the globe, you can see many city-states formed here. A city-state is a city that also considers itself a state, that has its own political organization, its own way of functioning; it's not dependent on any other government forms. It's analogous to what we see in Classical Greece, where you have the city-states of Athens and Sparta.

Now, what's particularly interesting is what's going on around Lake Texcoco in the 14th century. In 1325, you have the city of Tenochtitlan form on this island in Lake Texcoco. Initially, Tenochtitlan is one of the weaker city-states around Lake Texcoco. You see many of these city-states; some of the stronger ones you have Texcoco right here, and in particular, you have Ascapotzalco.

But as we fast forward roughly 100 years, you get to a situation where Ascapotzalco falls into a civil war. Their ruler dies, and there's a succession battle. The various city-states around Lake Texcoco take sides. What eventually happens is Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan form what is known as the Triple Alliance. They are able to conquer Ascapotzalco, and so in conquering Ascapotzalco, what you have forming is known as the Aztec Empire.

Now, it starts as an alliance between these three city-states and other city-states in the area. But over time, Tenochtitlan, which is sometimes referred to as Mexitlan because it is a city-state of the Mexica people, becomes the capital of this alliance, or the capital of this Aztec Empire, which continues on for roughly 100 years until 1521 when it is defeated by Hernán Cortés.

Now, the story of how Hernán Cortés is able to conquer this Empire is fascinating. I'm not going to be able to go into all of the details in this video, but needless to say, he's able to convince several hundred conquistadors to come and try to conquer the Empire. He's able to do so by recruiting tens of thousands; some estimates I've seen are 100,000 soldiers from neighboring city-states who had issues with the Mexica or with the Aztec Empire. So, he's eventually able to take over the famed city of Tenochtitlan.

It's really important to recognize how advanced they were at the time. You see these causeways, these bridges leading into the island. They had a fairly advanced dam system to collect fresh water from the rain while also controlling flooding. In fact, a lot of that was destroyed when the conquistadors came in. Mexico City, which eventually gets founded over this lake, is going to have issues with flooding for some time in the future.

In fact, the Spanish, in order to control the flooding, end up draining this lake, and is where Mexico City forms. But the big takeaway here is near the end of the Aztec civilization, as we get to the hundred years before the Spaniards arrive, you have this Empire form. This Empire starts as an alliance of city-states but eventually becomes a tributary Empire.

Unlike the neighboring Mayans, which were on the Yucatan Peninsula, the Aztec tributary state means the other city-states are paying tribute to Tenochtitlan. They are paying revenue; they're paying service to what essentially is the capital or the seat of that Empire until it is conquered by the Spanish. Remember, the Spanish are able to do this with several hundred conquistadors, with the help of neighboring city-states and a smallpox epidemic which kills 50% of the population of the region.