Editing Amerindian Genocide (section)

==== [[Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire]] ====
An army of Spanish conquistadors led by [[Hernán Cortés]] led an invasion of the Aztec Empire, resulting in a two-year war between the Spaniards and the Aztecs. Cortés also recruited several indigenous allies that happened to be enemies of the Aztec Empire, such as the Tlaxcaltecs to assist in his invasion. Although Cortés managed to convince Emperor Montezuma II to surrender peacefully, he quickly left Tenochtitlan to deal with Pánfilo Narvez challenging his command, leaving several conquistadors and Tlaxcaltec rulers in charge. When Cortés returned, he discovered that the Aztecs are on the brink of rebellion after the subordinates he left in charge had massacred several Aztec chiefs. When Cortés tried to flee the city with the Aztecs' gold, many conquistadors drowned in Lake Texcoco, in what's known as the "Night of Sadness". Eventually, Cortés returned to Tenochtitlan and invaded the city, to which they managed to successfully conquer Tenochtitlan, execute Emperor Cuauhtémoc, and rule the empire.