WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Spanish weaponry was far superior to anything used by the Aztecs or Incas. Cortés and his men used over a dozen large portable guns, mainly for their shock value against the Aztecs. Pizarro’s conquest of the Incas was also made possible by the use of gunpowder, a substance the Incas didn’t have at their disposal.

Detailed explanation-2: -First, their weapons and armor were better than the Aztecs’. Aztec warriors had only cotton armour and shields made of wood or reeds to protect them. The Spanish had metal armor and shields.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Spanish were able to defeat the Aztec and the Inca not only because they had horses, dogs, guns, and swords, but also because they brought with them germs that made many native Americans sick. Diseases like smallpox and measles were unknown among the natives; therefore, they had no immunity to them.

Detailed explanation-4: -What advantage did better weaponry give Spanish conquistadors over the Aztec and Inca Empires? It allowed fewer men to control large populations.

Detailed explanation-5: -The Inca, by comparison, had never worked iron or discovered the uses of gunpowder. Geography had not endowed them with these resources. Nor had they received technologies from other advanced societies within the Americas. This included a technology even more critical to Spanish success than their weapons, writing.