아스텍 제국의 몰락 원인 : 전염병인가, 신화인가? = The Cause of the Downfall of the Aztec Empire : The Epidemic or the Myth of Quetzalcoatl?

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This article attempts to analyse the cause of the collapse of the Aztec empire. It is difficult to explain it by only one factor. The fall of the Aztec empire resulted from various causes like spanish excellent weapons and indigenous alliances. In 1428, Tenochtitl？n, Texcoco and Tlacopan formed the Triple Alliance and developed into the great empire through the war of conquest. A loose and indirect structure of rule brought about the internal conflicts. To make matters worse, flooding and severe feminine outbroke by the early 16th, and the empire became to face a economic crisis. Omens and gloomy prophecies made people feel anxiety for the future of the empire.
Under such a situation, Cortes and his military landed on Veracruz. Cortes marched into the inland area with superior weapons like canons, steel swords. These weaponry made it easier to drag a cooperatioin from indigenous people. These two factors, that is, weapons and collaborations of natives were most important for the success of conquest of the Aztec empire. A smallpox caused the death of many natives, but it doesn’t seem to have had a decisive influence on the collapse of the empire. There’s no strong evidence that a smallpox broke out from 1519 to 1520 and a third of indigenous population decreased. Probably europeans invented the myth of return of Quetzalcoatl to justify the Conquest.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Ⅰ. 서론
• Ⅱ. 천연두와 케찰코아틀 신화
• Ⅲ. 아스텍 제국 말기의 상황
• Ⅳ. 원주민의 협력과 유럽인의 무기
• Ⅴ. 결론
• Abstract