The Aztec Empire Was a Scam. That's Why It Fell So Fast.

Everyone calls it the mighty Aztec Empire. The truth is it was barely an empire at all... and that is exactly why a few hundred Spaniards could topple it. In this video we break down how the Triple Alliance of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan actually worked: a tribute network with almost no central administration, held together by fear instead of loyalty. We look at the Codex Mendoza tribute rolls, the stewards who collected them, the cities that were never truly integrated, and why the whole system came apart the moment Hernán Cortés offered its furious subjects a way out in 1519. This is the story of an empire built to extract, not to belong. 🔺 SUBSCRIBE to OBSIDIAN — the ancient Americas, without the myths. New videos every week. Everything here is built from the archaeological and historical record. Where the evidence is debated, we say so. #Aztecs #AztecEmpire #Tenochtitlan #Mesoamerica #AncientHistory #History