For my 'There goes the Neighbourhood' comparison, I will be comparing the nations involved in the conquest of America, specifically the Mesoamerican empires and Spain. I will be lumping together the Mesoamerican empires such as the Maya, Olmec, Aztec, and Inca together for practical purposes. From these peoples perspective, it is quite possible they may have heard of the Europeans before they arrived, since they spent many years subjugating the Caribbean islands before landing in Mexico and Central America. If I'm not mistake it was Hernan Cortes who first landed in Mexico, and he was probably most famous as a conqueror. As far as how the Aztecs would react, I'm not sure they would be particularly upset, or think that the European concept of righteous conquest or early 'Manifest Destiny' was wrong, as their own religion called for holy war, slavery, subjugation, and the sacrifice of war prisoners after a conflict. Also, the Spaniards had a lot of support from other tribes that lived under Aztec rule, so in some ways maybe the Aztecs had it coming.  However, I can imagine from an Aztec civilian’s perspective, it would be absolutely terrifying. First, to hear of the arrival of shining, bearded men on horses, with magical sticks that exploded and killed people. Also the first thing to strike the Native Americans was disease that the Europeans bought with them, which scholars say was comparable the Black Plague in effect, so for many Indians it may have seemed like the end of the world.

I think the clash of cultures between Spain and the Aztecs is the story of any conquest. Whether it be the Australian aborigines, or peoples in the Pacific islands, European expansion has always been swift, and, somewhat sadly, seemingly inevitable. With the European mercantilist system, colonizing and then trading on a global scale is what kept economies afloat long after Europe was starved of resources. To a large extent, this is still true today.