Edexcel GCSE History 1HI0
Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, c1060–88British depth
British America, 1713–83: Empire and RevolutionPeriod study
Conflict in the Middle East, 1945–95Period study
Crime and Punishment in Britain, c1000–presentPaper 1 option
Early Elizabethan England, 1558–88British depth
Henry VIII and His Ministers, 1509–40British depth
London and the Second World War, 1939–45Paper 1 option
Mao’s China, 1945–76Modern depth
Medicine in Britain, c1250–presentPaper 1 option
Migrants in Britain, c800–presentPaper 1 option
Notting Hill, c1948–c1970Paper 1 option
Russia and the Soviet Union, 1917–41Modern depth
Spain and the ‘New World’, c1490–c1555Period study
Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941–91Period study
The American West, c1835–c1895Period study
The British Sector of the Western Front, 1914–18: Injuries, Treatment and the TrenchesPaper 1 option
The Reigns of King Richard I and King John, 1189–1216British depth
The USA, 1954–75: Conflict at Home and AbroadModern depth
Warfare and British Society, c1250–presentPaper 1 option
Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918–39Modern depth
Whitechapel, c1870–c1900: Crime, Policing and the Inner CityPaper 1 option
Spain and the ‘New World’, c1490–c1555
The conquest of Mexico
- 3 things to know
- Paper 2 booklet P
Overview
Cortés's force of 1519, Vera Cruz and the wrecked ships, Malinche, the Tlaxcalan alliance, Montezuma's welcome and death, the Noche Triste, the siege of Tenochtitlan, Cuauhtémoc's surrender and why the Aztecs fell.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
How did Cortés free himself from the governor's control once he had landed?
What became of Montezuma?
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What force did Cortés take to the mainland in 1519?
Model answer
Eleven ships carrying about 500 soldiers, sixteen horses and a handful of cannon.
- 2
How did Cortés free himself from the governor's control once he had landed?
Model answer
Velázquez had cancelled his commission, so Cortés founded the town of Vera Cruz and had its council appoint him, then wrecked his own ships so no one could sail back.
- 3
Who was Malinche, and why was she so valuable to Cortés?
Model answer
A Nahua woman given to him in 1519 who spoke both Nahuatl and Maya; with a shipwrecked Spaniard who knew Maya she gave him a chain of translation into the Aztec court.
- 4
Why did the Tlaxcalans, having fought Cortés for two weeks, then become his allies?
Model answer
They were an unconquered people ringed by Aztec land and raided for sacrificial victims, so they joined him with thousands of warriors to strike at the empire.
- 5
How did Montezuma treat the Spanish when they reached his capital in November 1519?
Model answer
He let them walk into Tenochtitlan unopposed, lodged them in a palace and gave them gifts of gold, rather than fighting them at the causeways.
- 6
What became of Montezuma?
Model answer
Cortés seized him and governed through him as a puppet, and he died in June 1520; Spanish accounts say his own people stoned him, Aztec accounts that the Spanish killed him.
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