February 18 2023, 01:02

When people say that history does not repeat itself, I remember Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro.

The Spanish conquistador Cortés arrived at the Aztecs in 1519, presented himself as an envoy of the Spanish king, demanded an audience with the local king Montezuma II, and immediately captured him. He then organized the local Indians and killed almost all the Aztecs, taking Tenochtitlan.

Ten years later, Francisco Pizarro, in South America among the Incas, also introduced himself as an envoy of the Spanish king, asked for an audience with the ruler of the Incas, Atahualpa, and captured him. Pizarro then quickly subdued the paralyzed empire with the help of local tribes.

Obviously, in the 16th century, there was no way for the Aztecs to send a message to the Incas. They didn’t even know about each other (well, you know, the internet back then was still slow, like on modems, 9600 baud).