Day 14
Karl A. Frank: Als der Sonnenadler stürzte
Der Kampf um die Schätze der Azteken
-
The Sun Eagle's Fall
The fight for the Aztecs' Gold
1/?
#BooksThatInfluencedYou
#20books20days
#20days20books
@HistoPol @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
Yesterday, I presented Galeano's history of the continent, but this book, which focusses on a single event, the conquest of Mexico by the Spanish, actually introduced me first to the history of colonialism and Latin America.
Whilst its intended target audience are young people, it is detailed, nuanced, quotes original sources and …
2/?
@HistoPol @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
…
is full of references, so I would call it a proper history book.
Unlike, what I expected, Hernán Cortez and his men did not conquer Mexico through the superiority of their weapons. It played a role, but not enough to give a few hundred men sufficient advantage over the huge Aztec army.
No. The Spanish victory was caused by a combination of factors:
3/?
@HistoPol @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
1. The exceptional weakness of the Aztec government at the time, namely the one of its ruler Montezuma, who was an extremely cautious and superstitious man.
2. The existence of a prophecy about the return of the red haired God Quetzalcoatl, who was supposed to come from the East. In fact, the Spanish arrived from the East, their colony in Cuba, and …
4/?
@HistoPol @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
… their leader, Cortez, in fact had a reddish hair colour. Both facts impressed the Aztecs deeply, especially their superstitious ruler.
3. The most important fact, though, was the widespread support, the Spanish found among the many people, which had previously been conquered by the Aztecs and who were only too happy to retaliate against their oppressors. …
5/?
@HistoPol @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
The indigenous allies actually won the decisive battles.
4. The Spanish were only able to forge these alliances through the help of a young woman (she was only 14, when she fell into the hands of the Spanish), Malintzin, who was fluent in the languages of the region, Maya, Nahuatl and others and learned Spanish at an incredible speed. …
6/?
@HistoPol @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
…
As a former slave, she probably hated the Aztecs deeply and helped them as interpreter, chief diplomat and strategic adviser to form the necessary alliances as well as to deal with the Aztec government. Her role was so central that the Mexican called Cortez "Capitán Malinche" as they perceived him to be in her service.
…
7/8
@HistoPol @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
…
Malintzin's figure is, understandably, widely perceived as negative in modern Latin America, as she enabled the Spanish to invade and conquer Mexico.
8/8 (end)
@HistoPol @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
Addendum (9/8)
To all my friends from #Mexico here:
Please correct me, if I messed up your history too much!
@HistoPol @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
Thanks Mina for the great book description
Really great
@HistoPol @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
#MexicanHistory
#SpanishConquest of the #AztecEmpire
#History
#LatinAmerica
#ClimateChange
The real-world implications of #GaryJennigs #AztecSeries (a long thread)
(1/n)
Preface and spoiler alert:
👉For those of you who bear with me till the end of this thread, I guarantee that the revelation will blow your mind.👈
I agree with everything you write, Mina, but...
@mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
#MexicanHistory
#SpanishConquest of the #AztecEmpire
#History
#LatinAmerica
#ClimateChange
(2/n)
...but IMO, the largest factor was not anthropogenic this time round. The root cause was the same as that of the #alien invaders in #TheWarOfTheWorlds:
The viruses of smallpox, cholera, and the plague.
"#TheGreatDying...
@mina @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
#MexicanHistory
#SpanishConquest of the #AztecEmpire
#LatinAmerica
#ClimateChange
(3/n)
...["c. 1520 – 1700 CE" 2))...
There was a death rate of more than 90 percent of the people (labeled “depopulation” in the scientific report) [..other sources say up to 95% 2)]...
...the University College London team...
2)
https://www.science.smith.edu/climatelit/the-great-dying-c-1520-1700-ce/
@mina
@mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
What happened? During the 1400s, between 54 and 61 million Indigenous peoples lived in North, Central, and South America. They engaged in agriculture, lived in complex and varied societies, managed their land, and supported their communities (image below). In 1492, Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas, beginning an era of European colonialism that completely disrupted […]
#MexicanHistory
#SpanishConquest of the #AztecEmpire
#LatinAmerica
#ClimateChange
(4/n)
...concluded that the Indigenous population reached more than 60 million people before contact. That would have been about 10 percent of the world’s population,..." 1)
In other words, if that were true, and in fact there is evidence that that is so, the European...
@mina @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
#MexicanHistory
#SpanishConquest of the #AztecEmpire
#LatinAmerica
#History
#ClimateChange
(5/n)
...👉viruses killed 54 million people!* [90% of the 60m] (According to other sources, "...between 54 and 61 million Indigenous peoples)👈...the Indigenous population was reduced to a mere 6 million people in the genocide event termed the...
@mina @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
#MexicanHistory
#SpanishConquest of the #AztecEmpire
#LatinAmerica
#ClimateChange
(6/n)
...‘Great Dying’ by Western scholars." 2)
Even IF the European invaders (#Conquistadores/#Colonizers) had managed to kill 100k in all of the Americas by force, let's round that up to 1m, that would still be within the limits of...
2)
https://www.science.smith.edu/climatelit/the-great-dying-c-1520-1700-ce/
@mina @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
What happened? During the 1400s, between 54 and 61 million Indigenous peoples lived in North, Central, and South America. They engaged in agriculture, lived in complex and varied societies, managed their land, and supported their communities (image below). In 1492, Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas, beginning an era of European colonialism that completely disrupted […]
#MexicanHistory
#SpanishConquest of the #AztecEmpire
#LatinAmerica
#ClimateChange
(7/n)
... a rounding imprecision.
In other words, seen (only statistically,) the wartime deaths were, in this sense, "almost negligible."
Over time, when the original awe and "godliness" of the conquistadores had worn off, the 50-60 m people would have simply overrun the...
@mina @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
#MexicanHistory
#SpanishConquest of the #AztecEmpire
(8/n)
...mere couple of thousands European invaders-turned-#colonizers at some point.
Let's put things in perspective first:
But this is NOT, what I originally said would blow your mind, it is rather the breathtaking impact on Earth itself that #TheGreatDying had.
#MaxRoser, the Professor of Practice in...
@mina @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
#MexicanHistory
#SpanishConquest of the #AztecEmpire
#ClimateChange
(9/n)
...Global Data Analytics at #OxfordUniversity has put together an incredible chart:
"Global deaths in conflicts since
the year 1400" 3)
Each circle represents but 1 armed cobflict.
"The size represents the absolute number of...
3)
https://www.vox.com/2015/6/23/8832311/war-casualties-600-years
@mina @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
#MexicanHistory
#SpanishConquest of the #AztecEmpire
#ClimateChange
(10/n)
...fatalities (military + civilian fatalities).
The biggest circle, as you had expected, was #WWII:
"An estimated total of 70–85 million people perished, or 👉about 3% of the estimated global population👈 of 2.3 billion in 1940." 4) (#WWI 15-20m) 5)
👉So,...
4)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties
@mina @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
#MexicanHistory
#SpanishConquest of the #AztecEmpire
#ClimateChange
(11/n)
...👉if #TheGreatDying as part of the European conquest of the Americas were to be counted as but ONE conflict, the c. 54m casualties of the indigenous population would already be the 2nd biggest death bubble of humanity ever.👈
With...
5)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_casualties
@mina @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
#MexicanHistory
#SpanishConquest of the #AztecEmpire
#ClimateChange
(12/n)
...approximately 90% of the population of the Americas that would be at least 10% of the global population in 1500 (430-500 m 6))--👉that would be the relatively biggest extinction-level event of humanity in historic times!👈
Mind-blowing?
Maybe (still) not...
6)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estimates_of_historical_world_population
@mina @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
#MexicanHistory
#SpanishConquest of the #AztecEmpire
#ClimateChange
(13/n)
...However, save the best for last:
For this, we have to go back to the original research paper 1):
"The paper explores a big question:
👉Did the invasion and #depopulation of the Americas in the 16th and 17th centuries result in the decline in temperatures,...
@mina @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
Discover insightful articles on How Colonization of the Americas Killed 90 Percent of Their Indigenous People—and Changed the Climate. Join us in exploring solutions for a just, sustainable, and compassionate world. #How Colonization of the Americas Killed 90 Percent of Their Indigenous People—and Changed the Climate
#MexicanHistory
#SpanishConquest of the #AztecEmpire
#ClimateChange
(14/n)
...the #LittleIceAge?👈
And was that a result of “natural forces” or because of the “large-scale #depopulation of the Americas after European arrival, subsequent land use change and secondary succession...”?!?
The authors say their study shows that the “global carbon budget of...
@mina @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
#MexicanHistory
#SpanishConquest of the #AztecEmpire
#ClimateChange
(15/n)
...the 1500s cannot be balanced until large-scale vegetation regeneration in the Americas is included. 👉#TheGreatDying of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas resulted in a human-driven global impact on the Earth system👈 in the two centuries prior to the Industrial Revolution.”
And what...
@mina @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
#MexicanHistory
#SpanishConquest of the #AztecEmpire
#ClimateChange
(16/n)
...we see from this study is 👉the scale of what’s required [to battle anthropogenic #ClimateChange], because #theGreatDying resulted in an area the size of France being reforested👈 and that gave us only a few parts per million."
Picture this:
"Indigenous...
@mina @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
#MexicanHistory
#SpanishConquest of the #AztecEmpire
#ClimateChange
(17/n)
...America was 10 percent of the world’s population before #Columbus. If that were true today, 👉there would be 700 million in the Indigenous world.👈" Imagine that.
Besides, carbon use per person has increased dramatically, ...
@mina @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
#MexicanHistory
#SpanishConquest of the #AztecEmpire
#ClimateChange
(18/n)
...in particular in the present-day "developed" world.
And yet another thought:
Neither the biggest death bubble (WWII) im human history, nor any of the pandemics of the 20th and 21st century seems to have been able to cause a similar small "Ice Age" as did #TheGreatDying in...
@mina @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
#MexicanHistory
#SpanishConquest of the #AztecEmpire
#History
#LatinAmerica
#LittleIceAge
#ClimateChange
(19/19)
...the 16th century.
How can this still/ever be resolved?
//
PS
I'm sorry for the tedious page break, forced upon me by the Mastodon limit of 500k and the issue of counting handles, hyperlinks, as well as hashtags, too. 👎👎👎
@mina @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
Biden-Harris Administration Commits on Climate Change – Creating Jobs, Building Infrastructure, and Delivering Environmental Justice Today, President Biden will take executive action to tackle the climate crisis at home and abroad while creating good-paying union jobs and equitable clean energy future, building modern and sustainable infrastructure, restoring scientific integrity and evidence-based policymaking across the federal…
Very interesting. The time of
#Ghenghis and #Kublai Khan is a fascinating period of time. Do you happen to have a source?
@mina @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
@HistoPol @mina @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
I just grabbed that number from wikipedia when I noticed that the Vox article you linked didn't go back to the Mongol invasion.
That seems to be a period of colonialization that doesn't come up all that much, but because of how it changed the Rus culture of Moscow I've been thinking about quite a bit for a few years.
"...Vox article you linked didn't go back to the Mongol invasion.
That seems to be a period of colonialization that doesn't come up all that much, but because of how it changed the Rus culture of Moscow I've been thinking about quite a bit for a few years."
Me, too!--Thanks for being today's inspiration, for my book! 🤗
@mina @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MAJ1 @scb
Mina
si_irini
HistoPol (#HP) 🏴 🇺🇸 🏴
Kevin Leecaster