How did the Aztecs create an empire?

How and why did the once mighty Aztec Empire crumble in the 16th century? Ask HISTORY ... wild turkey. Their relatively sophisticated system of agriculture (including intensive cultivation of land and irrigation methods) and a powerful military tradition would enable the Aztecs to build a successful state, and later an empire. read more

The Aztec Empire was an example of an empire that ruled by indirect means. Like most European empires, it was ethnically very diverse, but unlike most European empires, it was more a system of tributes than a single unitary form of government. read more

Aztec empire history Many years after the Mexica people first built their proud city, Tenochtitlan (later to become Mexico City), they formed an alliance with two other cities - Texcoco (Tetzcoco) and Tlacopan (these three cities are shown as yellow dots in the map above). read more

Maximum extent of the Aztec Empire shortly before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in 1519 It was the work of the Aztec's first emperor, Itzcoatl, that did much to expand the empire. read more