<P> The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire , or the Spanish - Aztec War ( 1519 - 21 ) was one of the most significant and complex events in world history . There are multiple sixteenth - century narratives of the events by Spanish conquerors , their indigenous allies , and the defeated Aztecs . It was not solely a contest between a small contingent of Spaniards defeating the Aztec Empire , but rather the creation of a coalition of Spanish invaders with tributaries to the Aztecs , and most especially the Aztecs ' indigenous enemies and rivals . They combined forces to defeat the Mexica of Tenochtitlan over a two - year period . For the Spanish , the expedition to Mexico was part of a project of Spanish colonization of the New World after twenty - five years of permanent Spanish settlement and further exploration in the Caribbean . The Spanish made landfall in Mexico in 1517 . A Spanish settler in Cuba , Hernán Cortés , led an expedition ( entrada ) to Mexico , landing in February 1519 , following an earlier expedition led by Juan de Grijalva to Yucatán in 1517 . Two years later Cortés and his retinue set sail , thus beginning the expedition of exploration and conquest . The Spanish campaign against the Aztec Empire had its final victory on August 13 , 1521 , when a coalition army of Spanish forces and native Tlaxcalan warriors led by Cortés and Xicotencatl the Younger captured the emperor Cuauhtemoc and Tenochtitlan , the capital of the Aztec Empire . The fall of Tenochtitlan marks the beginning of Spanish rule in central Mexico , and they established their capital of Mexico City on the ruins of Tenochtitlan . </P>
<P> The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire , or the Spanish - Aztec War ( 1519 - 21 ) was one of the most significant and complex events in world history . There are multiple sixteenth - century narratives of the events by Spanish conquerors , their indigenous allies , and the defeated Aztecs . It was not solely a contest between a small contingent of Spaniards defeating the Aztec Empire , but rather the creation of a coalition of Spanish invaders with tributaries to the Aztecs , and most especially the Aztecs ' indigenous enemies and rivals . They combined forces to defeat the Mexica of Tenochtitlan over a two - year period . For the Spanish , the expedition to Mexico was part of a project of Spanish colonization of the New World after twenty - five years of permanent Spanish settlement and further exploration in the Caribbean . The Spanish made landfall in Mexico in 1517 . A Spanish settler in Cuba , Hernán Cortés , led an expedition ( entrada ) to Mexico , landing in February 1519 , following an earlier expedition led by Juan de Grijalva to Yucatán in 1517 . Two years later Cortés and his retinue set sail , thus beginning the expedition of exploration and conquest . The Spanish campaign against the Aztec Empire had its final victory on August 13 , 1521 , when a coalition army of Spanish forces and native Tlaxcalan warriors led by Cortés and Xicotencatl the Younger captured the emperor Cuauhtemoc and Tenochtitlan , the capital of the Aztec Empire . The fall of Tenochtitlan marks the beginning of Spanish rule in central Mexico , and they established their capital of Mexico City on the ruins of Tenochtitlan . </P>
who led the army that defeated the aztecs
who led the army that defeated the aztecs
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés