Final Aztec resistance ends; the Spanish capture the city and begin colonization.

In August 1521, the final Aztec resistance collapsed as the Spanish forces, led by Hernán Cortés, captured Tenochtitlán after a brutal three-month siege. This marked the official fall of the Aztec Empire and the beginning of Spanish colonization in what would become New Spain. The once-great city, renowned for its intricate architecture and vast wealth, was reduced to rubble. Starvation, disease, and relentless assault weakened the defenders, ultimately leading to the surrender of Cuauhtémoc, the last Aztec tlatoani. Despite fierce and courageous resistance, the combination of Spanish weaponry, alliances with indigenous enemies of the Aztecs, and the devastating impact of smallpox proved insurmountable. With the fall of Tenochtitlán, Spanish colonization rapidly took root. The Spaniards dismantled Aztec institutions, imposed Christianity, and rebuilt the city as Mexico City, which would become the capital of New Spain. Indigenous populations were subjected to a new colonial order, their cultures suppressed, and their labor exploited under the encomienda system. The end of the Aztec resistance did not just signify a military conquest—it heralded a seismic cultural transformation, the merging of two worlds, and the beginning of a complex, often painful, colonial legacy that would shape the history of the Americas for centuries to come. \#FallOfAztecEmpire #ConquestOfMexico #ColonialBeginnings #EndOfResistance #NewSpain #MomentsOfLife #MoofLife\_Moment #MoofLife