Those who don’t understand history are condemned to repeat it, the saying goes, and there are lessons to be learned from the Spanish conquest of the Aztec and Inca civilizations. These are things we can apply to our situation today as we again face the specter of fascism — or perhaps continue to face the specter of fascism.
- Superior Weapons: The weapons wielded by the Spanish were superior to those of the native people that they destroyed. Spain had portable cannons, steel swords, pikes and crossbows, whereas the Aztecs and Incas had wood swords and spears tipped with obsidian blades. Of course, the Aztecs and Incas did not have a choice regarding weapon technology, but we do; if we are to successfully resist the march of fascism, we must not give up our access to modern weapon technology.
- Human Sacrifice: Three main city states of the Aztec empire ruled over the rest of the surrounding areas and would regularly require that sacrificial victims be sent to the capitol — their hearts cut out and their bodies literally consumed by elite members of Aztec society. Historians will talk at length about the supposed religious significance of these rituals, but any leftist will note the fact that it was outsiders (based on genetic analysis) who made up almost all of victims, and conclude that human sacrifice was used by the ruling Aztec city states as a tool of intimidation (probably also used against rebellious citizens as well). It was a clear and ever-present message of domination, and as you might expect, those communities who were required to send victims to the ruling class had a hatred of them that the Spanish found easy to take advantage of. When Cortes asked them to help destroy those city states, all the surrounding communities were happy to oblige. The United States of today is also practicing human sacrifice, just not in such an overt way. As a few examples: Our homeless community members, people who can’t afford good food, everyone who loses their savings in the stock market, people who join the military because their economic situation makes it seem like a good idea — these are all victims of human sacrifice waiting for the right person (or the wrong one, as was the case with both Cortes and Trump) to lead them against the elites.
- Chaos: The Spaniards brought smallpox with them, which infected the Aztecs, sending their civilization into chaos. The Spaniards were able to leverage the chaos of that epidemic to end the Aztecs. We have to recognize that fascists will strike in times of chaos and be ready to fight them precisely in those moments where all our time is already taken up by some other disaster.
- Tolerance/Appeasement: First, their leader, Moctezuma, tried appeasing Cortes with gifts; but Cortes saw through that tactic and took Moctezuma captive. Next, the Aztecs continued to tolerate the Spanish invaders and allowed them to continue holding their leader hostage for quite some time, only fighting back once he had died. Perhaps Moctezuma and the Aztecs as a whole tolerated the Spanish because they thought they couldn’t win — and maybe they were right — but allowing the Spaniards to have marginal control only allowed the situation to get worse over time. The lesson here is that you must fight back immediately and never resort to appeasement — the goal of fascism is to destroy you, so there’s no downside to fighting back.
In the case of the Spanish invasion of the Aztec and Inca societies, the existing society was also fascistic, but the invading Spanish were worse. This feels very familiar to me. If we were able to go back in time and try to convince the Aztecs and Incas to have some solidarity with one another and fight off the Spanish, would we be able to succeed? My guess is no. My guess is that the Aztecs would not be able to stop being evil and that the Incas would harbor too much hatred of the Aztecs to allow them to rationally choose the lesser evil — even if the Aztecs managed to reform. Even Aztecs in the lesser city states might still be ready to throw their lot in with the Spanish in order to put their rage against abusive elites into action.