Failed Aztec Invasion

Yeah. Plus--you're kind of ignoring the fact that Spain had a lot of other things that they had to do with those soldiers. Deciding to send troops in Mexico en masse, because... well, apparently just because, may not be as reasonable as you think.
Ack, I should've said that earlier! :p But yeah, I'd think that in 1560 even the Spanish would have far more important things to do with their army than shipping them across the ocean to get gold they could've traded for, namely fighting the English and other Europeans!
I don't want to prolong an argument too much, but in 1520 "Mexico" (the urbanized area of central Mexico dominated by the Aztec Empire) was really not all that much bigger than the area of Cuba and Hispanola. Also, the record or European conquest in the new world might suggest that civilizations of tens of millions living in massive cities were more easily conquered than less well organized, non-urbanized peoples. In Mexico, Peru, and Yucatan, the Spanish dominance was obtained by very focused campaigns aimed at eliminating or coopting the leadership cast in the capital cities, and putting Spaniards in charge of existing tribute systems, with the rest falling into place.
Geographical size isn't as important as the other factors, namely the amount of people. And again, without Cortez not only would there be no precedent for the Spanish to trust in regards to being able to topple massive native empires (if it weren't for Cortez it's damned certain Pizarro won't take down the Inca), but the conquest of one state made it easier for them to get all the others. A ton of the troops in the Yucatan were Mexican. Even then the Yucatan was a tough nut to crack. Without large armies of natives backing them up, the Spanish were in trouble. The first battle between Spaniards and Mesoamericans ended with a minor Mayan warleader or governor routing at least a hundred Spanish, about half of them having died and the rest were wounded. That it took until 1697 to take the last Mayan city even with a massive Spanish empire all around them is rather telling of the difficulties in such a campaign.
 
Top