NOT A SINGLE SPANISH LIFE WAS LOST IN THE PROCESS.
SEARCHING FOR CLUES IN THE MOST UNLIKELY PLACES.
IS THE LAND ITSELF-- GEOGRAPHY.
WHILE OTHERS WERE LEFT BEHIND.
SHED LIGHT ON THE EVENTS OF 1532?
BY GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL?
LED BY A RETIRED ARMY CAPTAIN- FRANCISCO PIZARRO.
NOW HE'S TAKING HIS MEN SOUTH INTO UNKNOWN TERRITORY.
AND VENTURED THIS FAR INTO THE CONTINENT OF SOUTH AMERICA.
THEY'VE REACHED THE EDGE OF THE MIGHTY INCA EMPIRE.
AND HAVE NO IDEA OF THE THREAT THEY REPRESENT.
THESE STRANGERS WILL TURN THEIR WORLD UPSIDE DOWN.
PRIZED POSSESSIONS OF THE SPANISH EMPIRE.
BY ISLAMIC MOORS.
WORKING AS A SWINEHERD IN THE FIELDS NEARBY.
AND HIS FAMILY HOME HAS BEEN TURNED INTO A MUSEUM.
AND UNDERSTAND THE SECRET OF THEIR SUCCESS.
THIS ENORMOUS POWER?
BUT MOST OF HIS FIELD WORK HAS BEEN DONE IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA.
THE ROOTS OF INEQUALITY IN THE MODERN WORLD...
HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DOMINATE AND CONQUER OTHERS.
BECAME THE MOST PRODUCTIVE FARMERS.
WHERE THEY TRIGGERED AN EXPLOSION OF CIVILIZATION.
[CATTLE LOWING]
NONE WERE NATIVE TO EUROPE.
AND CRUCIALLY, THEY PROVIDED MUSCLE POWER.
COULD TRANSFORM THE PRODUCTIVITY OF FARMLAND.
WHO COULD THEN BUILD BIGGER AND MORE COMPLEX SOCIETIES.
BUT THESE DOCILE CREATURES HAVE NEVER BEEN HARNESSED TO A PLOW.
THEY COULD NEVER BE AS PRODUCTIVE AS EUROPEAN FARMERS.
THEY COULD BE RIDDEN.
PASSING THROUGH THEIR LAND IS EXTRAORDINARY.
PART HUMAN, PART BEAST.
HAD ALREADY BEEN USED IN SPAIN FOR 4,000 YEARS.
THEY ALLOWED PEOPLE TO BE MOBILE AND CONTROL THEIR LAND.
HE GIVES DISPLAYS OF TRADITIONAL SPANISH HORSEMANSHIP.
FROM THE MORE FORMAL STYLE OF MEDIEVAL KNIGHTS.
THIS IS HOW THE CONQUISTADORS WOULD HAVE RIDDEN THEIR HORSES.
ABOUT TO LANCE YOU AND KILL YOU.
GUARDED BY AN ARMY OF 80,000 MEN.
A SON OF THE SUN ITSELF.
AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
SENDING PRESENTS, ASKING THEM TO COME.
ATAHUALPA KNEW THAT THE SPANIARDS WERE NOT GODS.
VIRTUALLY NOTHING!
WITH SOME OF THE BEST WEAPONS IN THE WORLD.
ORCHESTRATED FROM THE IMPERIAL CAPITAL--TOLEDO.
WITH THE LATEST IN WEAPONS TECHNOLOGY.
BY FOOT SOLDIERS ON THE BATTLEFIELD.
THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN SHOCK AND AWE, 1532 STYLE.
AAH!
WHUH! WHUH!
WITH THE PRODUCTION OF STEEL.
WHILE THE INCAS WERE STILL MAKING SIMPLE BRONZE TOOLS?
THAT ALLOWED THEM TO BE THE ONES TO MAKE HIGH-QUALITY SWORDS.
EUROPEANS INHERITED THIS METAL TECHNOLOGY.
STRONGER, LONGER, SHARPER SWORDS.
COULD KILL DOZENS OF PEOPLE WITHIN A SHORT TIME.
SO LONG AND ELEGANT AND FINE AND DEADLY AS THE RAPIER.
IT WAS THE SWORD OF CHOICE FOR ANY ASPIRING GENTLEMAN.
THAT OVERBEARING AVARICE.
PIZARRO'S BAND OF ADVENTURERS ENTERS THE VALLEY OF CAJAMARCA.
BUT THEY'RE NOT PREPARED FOR THE SIGHT THAT GREETS THEM.
IS THE IMPERIAL INCA ARMY- 80,000 MEN IN FULL BATTLE ORDER.
BEAR WITNESS TO THEIR FIRST IMPRESSIONS.
BECAUSE WE WERE SO FEW AND SO DEEP IN THIS LAND."
INTO THE HEART OF THE INCA CAMP.
THEY ARE LED BY CAPTAIN DE SOTO.
AND AGREE TO MEET THEM.
BUT THE INCA NEVER MOVED."
[ATAHUALPA SHOUTING]
THE SPANIARDS SPENT THE NIGHT BEFORE IN EXTREME FEAR.
FACING AN ARMY OF 80,000 INCAS.
LIKE A BRILLIANTLY STAR-STUDDED NIGHT."
AND EXPLOITING THE ENSUING CHAOS.
IN NORTHERN SPAIN.
COMPARED TO THE SPANIARDS, BECAUSE OF WRITING.
WHY COULDN'T THE INCAS READ OR WRITE?
BY THE BASICS OF CUNEIFORM.
BY THE INVENTION OF PAPER, INK AND MOVEABLE TYPE...
THE PRINTING PRESS.
ACROSS EUROPE AND ASIA.
WITHOUT THE DEVELOPMENT OF WRITING.
WHERE A NEW SYSTEM OF WRITING WAS INVENTED INDEPENDENTLY.
THAT EVOLVED INTO THE MAYAN SCRIPT.
AND HELP THE INCAS BECOME LITERATE?
FOR DIAMOND, THE ANSWER LIES IN THE SHAPE OF THE CONTINENTS.
WERE ROTATED 90 DEGREES OF EACH OTHER.
AND DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT VEGETATION.
AS WELL AS PEOPLE, IDEAS AND TECHNOLOGIES.
FROM ELSEWHERE IN THE AMERICAS.
THAT HAD SPREAD EASILY ACROSS EURASIA.
GEOGRAPHY WAS TILTED IN FAVOR OF EUROPEANS.
THAT HIS SOLDIERS SHOULD NOT CARRY WEAPONS.
[DRUMS BEATING, FLUTES PLAYING]
MANY OF US PISSED OURSELVES OUT OF SHEER TERROR."
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Narrator: PIZARRO SENDS OUT HIS PRIEST TO CONFRONT ATAHUALPA.
[SPEAKING QUECHUA]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT.
THE HORSES COME, THERE WAS MASSIVE PANIC.
YOU COULD SCYTHE, HACKING ALL ABOUT YOU.
AND THEY CUT THEM DOWN.
[YELLING]
[GUNFIRE]
ONE CARRIER WOULD FALL, AND ANOTHER ONE WOULD REPLACE HIM.
BECAUSE THERE WERE NO MORE CARRIERS LEFT.
PIZARRO HIMSELF CAPTURES ATAHUALPA.
HIS PLAN HAS WORKED TO PERFECTION.
CHRISTIANS ONLY KILL IN THE HEAT OF THE BATTLE."
THE REST OF THE ARMY HAS RETREATED TO THE HILLS.
SPANISH HORSES, SWORDS AND STRATEGY HAVE PROVED DECISIVE.
THAT HAD MARCHED INVISIBLY AHEAD OF THEM.
AGAINST THE WORLD'S DEADLIEST VIRUSES.
FROM THE RAMPANT SPREAD OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE.
A SPANISH SHIP SAILED TO MEXICO.
FROM THE FIRST SIGNS OF A FEVER.
THE DISEASE WAS SMALLPOX.
IS TAKEN OVER BY THE SMALLPOX BLISTERS.
WILL BE SPILLED ONTO WHATEVER IT TOUCHES.
TREMENDOUS DEVASTATION IN THE POPULATION.
SWEPT THROUGH CENTRAL AMERICA AND REACHED THE INCA EMPIRE.
MAKING THEM EASIER PREY FOR SPANISH CONQUEST.
AND NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND?
WITH OUR BELOVED DOMESTIC ANIMALS.
AND CLAIMED MILLIONS OF LIVES.
MADE EUROPEANS MORE RESILIENT.
IN THE PROCESS, THEY'’’D PASS ON THEIR GENETIC RESISTANCE.
A PROTECTION THE INCAS NEVER HAD.
AND THE DEATH TOLL WOULD BE ENORMOUS.
TO PASS ON TO THE SPANIARDS?
AND THEY DON'’’T LIVE IN BAR NS AND HUTS ALONGSIDE HUMANS.
BETWEEN LLAMAS AND PEOPLE.
WITH DEADLY EFFECT.
A CONTINENT VIRTUALLY EMPTIED OF ITS PEOPLE.
HE LEARNED TO SPEAK SPANISH AND PLAY CHESS WITH HIS CAPTORS.
AS LONG AS HE ORDERED HIS PEOPLE TO ACCEPT SPANISH RULE.
IN RETURN FOR THE GOLD.
IT PROVED TO BE AN EMPTY PROMISE.
[PRIEST SPEAKING SPANISH]
EIGHT MONTHS EARLIER.
RELYING ON THE POWER OF THEIR GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL.
AMONG THE MOST IMPORTANT, BUSIEST PORTS IN THE WORLD.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OLD WORLD AND NEW.
THEY WERE THE FIRST PEOPLE TO ACQUIRE GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL.
AND COLONIZED AFRICA, AUSTRALIA AND MUCH OF ASIA.
EUROPEAN GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL WERE RE-SHAPING THE WORLD.