The Spaniards and the Aztecs deserved each other-they shared a lot of the same really bad characteristics-and unfortunately for the rest of the tribes, their rumble ended up including everyone. The Spaniards devised certain methods of torture as a terror tool, too...
Cortez’ native interpreter-and mistress-Malinche was the daughter of a tribal chief who was a bitter enemy of Moctezuma’s-so she was more than eager to assist in his takedown, but even though she let Cortez take their son back to Spain when he left, she refused to go there with him, so maybe she’d just used him to get revenge for her tribe-I suppose you could say they both got what they wanted out of the deal...
Mexico, and the American Southwest was indeed a brutal place. The Spanish missionaries often chopped off half an Indian’s foot if he or she tried to run away from the mission. The slaughter of the Aztecs at Cholula, an estimated 6,000 dead, by the Spanish and Indian allies makes the modern day actions of ISIS pale in comparison. El Diablo was certainly hard at work back then as he is now.