Hernán (sometimes referred to as Fernando or Hernando) Cortés, a Spanish adventurer lured by stories of the riches of the Aztec, assembles a fleet of eleven ships, ammunition, and over seven hundred men and in 1519 sets sail from Cuba to Mexico.

The party lands near present-day Veracruz in eastern Mexico and starts its march inland.

Superior firepower, resentment against the Aztec by conquered tribes in eastern Mexico, and considerable luck all aid the Spanish in their conquest of the Aztec.

The Aztec and their allies have never seen horses or guns, the Spanish have interpreters who can speak Spanish, Maya, and Nahuatl (the Aztec language), and perhaps what is most important, Cortés unwittingly has the advantage of the legend of Quetzalcoatl, in which the Aztec are said to have believed that a white god would arrive in ships from the east in 1519 and destroy the native civilizations.

The Aztec emperor, Moctezuma II (anglicized as Montezuma), unwilling to confront the mysterious arrival whom he considers a god, initially welcomes the Spanish party to the capital in November 1519.

Montezuma soon is arrested, and the Spanish take control of Tenochtitlan.

The Aztec chieftains stage a revolt, however, and the Spanish are forced to retreat to the east.