Key events and actors of the conquest
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Flip to reveal answersWho conquered the Aztec Empire, and when did its capital fall?
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Question
Who conquered the Aztec Empire, and when did its capital fall?
Answer
Hernán Cortés. The Aztec capital Tenochtitlan fell on 13 August 1521.
Question
Who conquered the Inca Empire, and when?
Answer
Francisco Pizarro. He captured Atahualpa in 1532 and took Cusco in 1533.
Question
Define conquistador.
Answer
A Spanish soldier-adventurer who conquered territory in the Americas, seeking gold, glory and land.
Question
Who was Moctezuma II?
Answer
The Aztec ruler taken prisoner by Cortés in the capital Tenochtitlan.
Question
Who was Atahualpa?
Answer
The Inca emperor captured by Pizarro at Cajamarca in 1532 and executed in 1533.
Question
Who was Doña Marina (La Malinche)?
Answer
An enslaved native woman who acted as Cortés's interpreter and adviser and helped him form alliances.
Question
What was the shared pattern of both conquests?
Answer
Land and found a base, win native allies, seize the emperor, then take the capital.
Question
How did smallpox affect the conquests?
Answer
It was a European disease that killed huge numbers of Aztecs and Inca, weakening them far more than weapons did.
Question
Why did the Inca Empire fall so fast?
Answer
It was already split by a civil war between Atahualpa and Huáscar, and disease and Spanish surprise did the rest.
Question
Compare the roles of Cortés and Pizarro.
Answer
Cortés destroyed the Aztecs in Mexico (Tenochtitlan, 1521); Pizarro destroyed the Inca in Peru (Cusco, 1533). Both used native allies and captured the emperor.
Question
Why does the case study run to 1551, not just 1533?
Answer
After the conquest the Spanish fought each other; Pizarro was assassinated in 1541 and royal control was only restored around 1551.
Question
What is OPVL in a Paper 1 source question?
Answer
Judging a source by its Origin, Purpose and Content to find its Value and Limitation for a historian.
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Topic 2.2 hub
Conquest of Mexico and Peru (1519–1551)
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