It is generally believed that the earliest colony occupied by modern Western countries was Ceuta, which was occupied by Portugal in 1415. The port originally belonged to Morocco, in order to extinguish the local pirates, and control the import of West African gold and ivory through the transit of Ceuta, Portugal occupied the port of Ceuta after a well-designed deployment, and then in order to establish a direct link with the black empire of West Africa, gold production, and along the coast of Africa to the south, occupied the archipelagos of Madeira Islands, Cape Verde Islands and other archipelagos. With the development of the Renaissance movement in Europe, the desire for commercial capital and wealth emerged in Europe. At that time, the main trade object of Europe was the East, especially from the silk, precious stones, spices and other luxury goods from China, India and the archipelagos in the South Seas. As the trade with the East was monopolized by Venice and Genoa, Western European countries decided to explore the shipping routes to the East by themselves. The first to explore the eastern route were Portugal and Spain, and in 1498 Da Gama arrived in India via the Cape of Good Hope. In order to ensure that trade with India was not interfered with by the Mughal Empire, Oman and the Indian Ocean coastal states, Portugal established its first colony in Goa in 1510, built a fort and equipped with troops to protect the security of Portuguese traders, and at the same time occupied a number of islands and coastal strongholds off the coast of Africa as a midway supply station to India. As the route to the East through the Cape of Good Hope was monopolized by Portugal, Spain had to look for new routes to the East to the west. 1492 Columbus discovered the American continent, Spain launched the conquest and colonization of the Americas, in a very short period of time, eliminated the various empires set up by the Indians, and set up an extremely vast colony. 1494 by the Pope's arbitration, Portugal in the longitude 50 ° west of the East American continent also gained an extremely large area of land. In 1494, by the arbitration of the Pope, Portugal also obtained a very large area of colonies in the American continent east of 50°W. As the Spanish conquered areas were rich in gold and silver, a large amount of precious metals flowed into Europe through Spain, stimulating price changes and industrial and commercial development in other parts of Europe. At the same time, due to coffee, cocoa, tea, tobacco, sugar, potatoes and other new consumer goods introduced into Europe, the European dietary habits have also changed substantially, resulting in an increase in demand for these consumer goods, which prompted Spain and Portugal in the newly conquered vast areas of the Americas to develop the cultivation of cash crops. In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, Britain and France seized the Caribbean islands from the Spanish, and the Netherlands seized the Natal region on the northeast coast of Brazil from Portugal. The black slave plantation system, pioneered by the Portuguese in Africa's Madeira and Cape Verde Islands, spread to these areas controlled by Britain, France, and Holland, and the demand for labor skyrocketed. As a result of the brutal massacre of the indigenous Indians by the colonizers (especially the Spaniards), the number of Indians plummeted from 50 million at the end of the fifteenth century to 4 million in the seventeenth century, so the European colonists had to look for a new source of labor from Africa. The Portuguese used Berbers as slaves (in Portugal itself) from 1442 onwards, and the Spanish began shipping black Africans into the Americas from 1502 onwards. Demand for the slave trade prompted both countries, as well as emerging capitalist nations such as Britain, the Netherlands, France, and Denmark, to build trading posts along the coast of West Africa to sell slaves, ivory, gold, and chili peppers (then known as "seeds of paradise," and the Ivory Coast (today's C?te d'Ivoire), which is also known as the Seed Coast). However, due to the inaccessibility of the West African coast and the unsuitable terrain and climate for European habitation, European colonization of Africa was limited to a few coastal strongholds over the centuries. As can be seen from the names given to these colonies by European countries - Gold Coast, Ivory Coast, Slave Coast - the colonies in West Africa were basically resource-raiding colonies.
In 1492, Columbus reached the Caribbean islands. Since then, the advanced "Old World" and the Americas "New World" began to collide. Accompanied by religious fervor and the dream of treasure hunting, a batch of European colonists set foot on the land of the Americas. Among them, the most dramatic, is the Spanish colonizer Pizarro led 169 soldiers to conquer the huge Inca Empire.
Smallpox stirred up civil unrest in the Incas
The ancestors of the Incas crossed the Bering Strait to the American continent about 11,000 years ago. In the dozens of centuries after the Incas arrived in the Americas, the inhabitants of Eurasia had little contact with the Incas. In the long course of history, the Indians created their own civilization in South America and established the Inca Empire with an unprecedentedly vast territory. Now widely eaten corn, sweet potatoes and tobacco and other crops, are the crystallization of the wisdom of the Inca ancestors. Americas rich in gold and silver more greedy European colonizers rushed. With the arrival of the Europeans, smallpox, which was not present in the American continent, became widespread. 1526, smallpox took the life of the Inca emperor, Waina Kapak, and then many of his ministers, as well as the original heir to the throne, Ninang Cuyuchi. At this time, there was a civil war between Huascar, another heir to the throne, and his half-brother Atahualpa. The Inca army had been torn apart and had lost one tenth of its men in the civil war, a chaotic situation that played right into the hands of the colonizers, and in 1531, 169 Spanish colonists, led by Francisco Pizarro, launched an attack on the Inca Empire.
The Spaniards spend the night in fear
One of Pizarro's men once wrote in his memoirs, "Pizarro, wishing to obtain information from the Incas from Cajamarca, had them tortured. The Incas confessed that they had heard that Atahualpa was waiting for Pizarro in Cajamarca. The camp of the Indians looked like a beautiful city. They had so many tents that they filled us with fear."
Before entering the Cajamarca plaza, which was walled on all sides, the Spaniards carefully discussed their strategy. After all, they were outnumbered - only 169 men, including Pizarro - and there was no chance of support. The Inca Empire's elite forces, however, numbered 80,000 men.
That night, the Spanish colonial army took up arms and stood guard, regardless of rank, or whether they were infantry or cavalry; even Pizarro himself kept running around cheering up his men. Pizarro's brother Hernando, in an attempt to reassure his soldiers, lied to them that there were only 40,000 Inca soldiers - a number that was enough to send shivers down the spines of his soldiers.
Facing the Inca army, the Spaniards wet their pants
On November 16, 1532, the day after the Spaniards arrived in Cajamarca, a messenger from Atahualpa arrived among the Spaniards. Pizarro told the messenger, "Please tell your monarch that he is welcome to come in great numbers. As to when and how he comes, do as he wishes. In whatever way he comes, I will receive him as a friend and brother. I beg him to come quickly, for I long to meet him. He will not be harmed or insulted in any way."
After the messenger had gone, Pizarro quickly set up a defense around the Plaza de Cajamarca. He divided the 106 infantry into two, led by him and his brother Juan; the 62 cavalry were also divided into two parts, commanded by his other brothers, Hernando and De Soto. The use of cavalry benefited the Spaniards greatly. For although the Inca Empire was powerful at this time, the Indians on the South American continent had no idea of domesticating the horse. In their view, the Spanish colonial army, clad in chest armor and riding a warhorse, was simply a god in heaven.
Meanwhile, Pizarro ordered Candia and three infantrymen to ambush a small fort on the edge of the Plaza de Cajamarca with a horn and a small cannon. Their plan was that Pizarro would give Candia a code word when the Inca army flanking Atahualpa entered the Plaza de Cajamarca. When he got the signal, Candia and his men blew trumpets, and the Spanish cavalry ambushed on both flanks came out together to surround the Inca army.
At noon that day, Atahualpa concentrated his troops toward the square where the Spaniards were stationed. At the forefront were 2,000 Indians sweeping the road, dressed in colorful checkerboard patterns, picking up stones and grasses from the roadside as they marched. Behind them were three groups of Indians dressed in different colors, singing and dancing. Further back were large groups of Inca warriors. They carried huge metal platters and crowns made of gold and silver and many gold and silver articles.
Surrounded by the crowds, the Inca emperor Atahualpa appeared seated on a gondola. The machete, whose wooden supports were wrapped in silver and surrounded by colorful parrot feathers and decorated with gold and silver ornaments, was carried on the shoulders of 80 Inca lords. Atahualpa himself, dressed in a brocade suit, wearing a crown and a huge necklace of emeralds around his neck, was seated on an ornately decorated saddle-type stool in the mikoshi. On the palanquins and hammocks on either side of the moped sat high lords adorned with great quantities of gold and silver ornaments, followed again by Inca warriors carrying gold and silver articles. The Indians entered the Plaza de Cajamarca singing loud and clear, filling every corner of the square. The Spaniards ambushed around the square were so filled with fear that many of them peed their pants.
The Massacre of Cajamarca
In the center of the plaza, Atahualpa was striking up a conversation with Vincent de Valverde, a friar of the Order of the Torah sent by Pizarro. De Valverde, Bible in hand, proclaimed that Atahualpa was being asked to convert to Christianity "in the name of God and the King of Spain." Atahualpa took the Bible from Brother de Valverde's hands to see what mysterious powers were in this little booklet. The Incas did not know how to make paper, much less print books, so the emperor did not know how to open the book. Friar de Valverde put his hand out to help, and Atahualpa, feeling scorned, punched the friar in the arm. Atahualpa then turned the book over and, finding nothing magical inside, threw the book a few meters away in a fit of rage, saying, "We believe only in the sun, not in God or Christ."
Atahualpa's action gave the Spaniards a reason to strike. De Valverde returned to Pizarro and shouted, "Come out! Come out! Christians!
Charge at these enemies who reject the Gospel of God! How dare that tyrant throw the Bible on the ground! ...... Charge at them and I will forgive your sins!"
Meanwhile, Pizarro signaled Candia. In a moment, trumpets and cannons blared, and heavily armed Spanish colonial troops shouted and killed from both flanks. The Spaniards had beforehand fastened to their horses a number of rattles that made a great deal of noise. Pizarro's troops were armed with only a dozen or so front
rifled guns, which were difficult to fill and fire, but had a great deterrent effect on the Incas. Although the Inca Empire was vast, its productivity was backward. The Inca warriors were armed only with stones, bronze or wooden clubs and rods, short axes, slingshots, and body armor pads. The Inca warriors were hacked into pieces by the Spaniards, and the Inca clubs could not kill the Spanish colonists outright, although they could also wound their men or horses.
Under the onslaught of the Spanish cavalry, the Inca army was thrown into confusion, trampling on each other, and many suffocated to death. Pizarro himself rushed into the mass of Indians with a sword in one hand and a dagger held high in the other. He wanted to capture the Inca emperor Atahualpa himself. Pizarro rushed to the side of Atahualpa's machete and swung his sword to kill a few Inca lords carrying the machete, but immediately a few more men ran over to carry the machete. Seeing that Pizarro could not get his hands on the machete, seven or eight Spanish cavalrymen rushed forward and knocked over the emperor's machete. The emperor of the Inca Empire was captured alive.
The Incas, who had lost the emperor, managed to knock down a section of the plaza's wall and escape, and dozens of Spanish cavalrymen continued to chase them down, leaving the valley full of the wailing of the Incas. If the Spaniards had not withdrawn their troops at nightfall, it is feared that the 80,000-strong Inca army would have been wiped out.
According to statistics, about 7000 Incas were killed in the battle of Cajamarca, while the Spaniards lost very little. More importantly, they captured Atahualpa, the incomparable emperor of the Inca Empire. Those high-ranking lords and ministers around the emperor were killed in full in this massacre.
Conquest of the Land of Gold
The Spaniards made the Incas fill a room 22 feet long, 17 feet wide, and 8 feet high with gold. Atahualpa's subjects obeyed his orders from prison despite his imprisonment. When a steady stream of gold from all over the empire filled the Spanish treasury, the Spanish colonizers treacherously killed Atahualpa.
In the months leading up to Atahualpa's death, the once mighty Inca Empire offered no effective resistance to the 169 Spanish colonists, giving Pizarro enough time and energy to divide his forces to conquer the rest of the Inca Empire and bring in reinforcements from Panama. It was not until the death of Atahualpa that the Inca war against the Spanish really began, and by this time the Spanish colonial army had been greatly strengthened.
Pizarro on the way to the Inca Empire's capital of Cusco, relying on steel and cavalry advantage, and then successively in the Hauha, Bilcasuaman, Bilcacanga and Cusco four battles in the great defeat of the Inca army, to participate in these battles of the Spaniards were only 80 people, 30 people, 110 people and 40 people, while each battle to crush the Inca army is often tens of thousands of people.