Ancient history

Decline - Victories over Ruins

Decline

Victory over Ruins

In 1523, when the Spaniards arrived on the Yucatan Peninsula, the Mayan empire was just a shadow of what it once was.

The Mayans were already in decline at the time of the clash. Even so, the Europeans brought another asset to the caravels:horses. The horses were few, but covered in harness of war sowed, the terror among the people.

The Mayans of Yucatan resisted until 1546. Soon after, they were subjected to forced labor, gradually lost their cultural identity and the primitive population was practically destroyed.

Invisible allies

In addition to military might, the conquerors had unexpected allies:viruses and bacteria. Europeans brought in various strains of diseases such as; smallpox, tetanus, lung, intestinal and other diseases.

The immune systems of the natives who survived the bullets could not resist smallpox, the first epidemic to appear.
Contact with the Spaniards led to an epidemic of infectious diseases such as smallpox, which helped to bring down the Mayan resistance.