Part 14/20:
The Spanish conquest brought an unprecedented trauma, akin to a social catastrophe—an apocalypse of spiritual and physical destruction. Cortés, with a small force of 500 men, capitalized on Aztec internal dissent and the devastating impact of European disease—particularly smallpox—to conquer the vast empire within a few years. The Europeans' arrival was perceived as a divine punishment or fulfillment of prophecy, as the Aztecs believed their gods would return—possibly in the form of pale, mighty strangers.