Motivations

 Motivations:

Ross Hassig asserts in his essay Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control “many of the religious explanations were ex post facto rationalizations for warfare—ideological overlays to justify actions they were determined to take.” Political and economic desires have long been motivations for pursuing warfare. Along with many empires, the Aztecs definitely had imperialistic reasons for waging war with their neighbors. This imperialistic war might have arisen by the power differences between the societies as well as the need for the Aztec Empire to expand (Hassig). As the Aztec empire increased in size and complexity, the amount of warfare perpetrated by the Aztecs also increased.



One economic possibility is the growing need for food that a small empire was not able to meet. Tenochtitlan was established on an island in Lake Texcoco. It is a good place from a military standpoint to build a city. The surrounding water makes attacks on Tenochtitlan difficult for prospective invaders and it is an incredibly defensible position for the Aztecs. The problem arises when the empire begins to grow. Agricultural adaptations were created to better exploit the unusual environment. When the number of people in the empire grows, so does the demand for food. To gain access to larger swatches of land, the Aztecs turned to war and conquest. Many of the areas that were seized in war were situated in a valley floor; an area generally with a large amount of prime agricultural land.



﻿ There were also aspects of religion that motivated warfare. In the Aztec religion, the people believed that they owed a blood debt to the gods, which could be repaid through human sacrifice. Another belief was that the gods were nourished by the blood of human sacrifices. Huitzilopochtli was their god of the sun and warfare, and was a primary god in the Aztec beliefs. Wars provided a convenient environment to capture potential sacrifices for the numerous ceremonies to appease the gods.

One such ceremony was Tlacaxipehualiztli, The Feast of the Flaying of Men. This was a month long ceremony in which warfare was reestablished as an integral part of Aztec life. During the festival, there were many mock battles, depictions of the gods on the Templo mayor, human sacrifices and public displays of hearts, heads and skins. Warriors played an important role in the ritual, many participating in the battles and providing other ceremonial aid.

