History of Spain
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The '''history of Spain''' spans the period from [[Prehistoric Iberia|pre-historic]] times, through the rise and fall of the first [[Spanish Empire|global empire]], to [[Spain]]'s modern-day renaissance in the post-[[Francisco Franco|Franco]] era. At numerous times Spain's political and military history was tumultuous and violent, marked by the [[Reconquista]] and repeated attempts to deal with differences among [[social strata]].
[[Modern humans]] entered the [[Iberian Peninsula]], from the north, more than 35,000 years ago. Waves of invaders and colonizers followed over the millennia, including the [[Celts]], [[Phoenicians]], [[Carthaginians]], and [[Greeks]], and by about 200 B.C., the area was controlled by the [[Roman Republic]]. Roman control was followed by the [[Visigoths]], and in [[711]], the [[Arabs]] and North African [[Berbers]] (as the largest Muslim tribes were from Morocco, they were called [[Moors]] , or ''moros'', by the Spanish) began arriving. During the next 750 years, independent Muslim states were established, and the entire area of Muslim control became known as [[Al-Andalus]]. Most of this period also saw what became known as the ''[[Reconquista]]'', the Christian re-conquest of Spain, which advanced southward, concluding in [[1492]] with the fall of [[Granada]]. During this period Christian kingdoms and principalities developed, including the [[Kingdom of Castile]] and the [[Kingdom of Aragon]]. The [[Catholic Monarchs|union]] of these two kingdoms led to the creation of the [[Kingdom of Spain]].<ref>[http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/Imperial.html European Voyages of Exploration: Imperial Spain]</ref>
The year 1492 also saw the accomplishments of [[Christopher Columbus]] in the [[New World]], beginning the development of the [[Spanish Empire]]. The next several centuries saw Spain as a colonial power become the most important European nation on the global stage. [[Spanish Golden Age#Literature|Spanish literature]] and [[Spanish Golden Age#Painting|fine arts]] flourished during this time; the period was, however, marred by the [[Alhambra decree|expulsion of the Jews and Muslims]], the [[Spanish Inquisition|Inquisition]], and the treatment of [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous peoples]] during the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|colonization of the Americas]]. Over the next few centuries, Spain's empire in the New World would stretch from [[California]] to [[Patagonia]]. Financed in substantial part by the riches pouring in from its colonies<!---Most of the finance actually originated in taxation from Spain, especially Castile, most of the time--->, Spain became embroiled in wars and intrigues in continental Europe, including, for example, obtaining and losing possessions in today's [[Netherlands]] and [[Italy]], and engaging in wars with [[France]] and [[England]] (including the sea battle involving the famous [[Spanish Armada]]). The dynastic family of the [[Habsburgs]] took control of the Spanish throne, followed by the crown being worn by the [[House of Bourbon|Bourbon]] family. Spain's European adventures led, however, to successive bankruptcies, and the next several centuries saw a gradual decline in Spanish power. By the end of the nineteenth century, French occupation, colonial rebellions and defeat in the [[Spanish-American War]] had cost Spain nearly all of her empire.
Following a period of growing political instability in the early twentieth century, in 1936 Spain was plunged into a bloody [[Spanish Civil War|civil war]] which by some accounts cost 1,000,000 lives. The war ended in a nationalist dictatorship, led by [[Francisco Franco]] which controlled the Spanish government until 1975. Spain was officially neutral during the [[Second World War]]; the post-war decades were relatively stable (with the notable exception of an armed independence [[ETA|movement]] in the [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque Country]]), and the country experienced rapid economic growth in the 1960s and early 1970s. The death of Franco in 1975 resulted in the return of the Bourbon monarchy headed by Prince Juan Carlos. While tensions remain (for example, with Muslim immigrants and in the Basque region), modern Spain has seen the development of a robust, modern democracy (a [[constitutional monarchy]] with popular [[King Juan Carlos]]), one of the fastest-growing standards of living in Europe, entry into the [[European Community]], and the [[1992 Summer Olympics]].
{{History of Spain}}
==Early history==
{{main|Prehistoric Iberia}}
The earliest record of [[hominids]] living in Europe has been found in the Spanish cave of [[Atapuerca]]; [[fossils]] found there are dated to roughly 780,000 years ago.<ref name="encarta">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Spain|url=http://encarta.msn.com/text_761575057___0/Spain.html|encyclopedia=Encarta Online Encyclopedia|year=2007}}</ref> Modern humans in the form of [[Cro-Magnons]] began arriving in the Iberian Peninsula from north of the [[Pyrenees]] some 35,000 years ago. The most conspicuous sign of prehistoric human settlements are the famous [[cave paintings|paintings]] in the northern Spanish [[Altamira (cave)|Altamira]], which were done ca. 15,000 [[Before Christ|BC]] and are regarded as paramount instances of [[cave art]].<ref name="britannica prehistory">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Spain - History - Pre-Roman Spain - Prehistory|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/557573/Spain/214578/History#toc=toc70344|encyclopedia=Britannica Online Encyclopedia|year=2008}}</ref>
The seafaring Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians successively settled along the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] coast and founded [[Emporia (ancient Greece)|trading colonies]] there over a period of several centuries. Around 1100 BC, Phoenician merchants founded the trading colony of [[Gadir]] or Gades (modern day Cádiz) near Tartessos. In the 9th century BC the first Greek colonies, such as Emporion (modern [[Empúries]]), were founded along the Mediterranean coast on the East, leaving the south coast to the Phoenicians. The Greeks are responsible for the name ''Iberia'', apparently after the river Iber ([[Ebro]] in Spanish). In the 6th century BC the [[Carthaginian]]s arrived in Iberia while struggling first with the Greeks and shortly after with the Romans for control of the Western Mediterranean. Their most important colony was [[Carthago Nova]] (Latin name of modern day [[Cartagena, Spain|Cartagena]]).<ref name="britannica phoenicians">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Spain - History - Pre-Roman Spain - Phoenicians|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/557573/Spain/70346/Phoenicians#toc=toc70346|encyclopedia=Britannica Online Encyclopedia|date=2008}}</ref>
The native peoples whom the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] met at the time of their [[invasion]] in what is now known as Spain were the [[Iberians]], inhabiting from the Southwest part of the Peninsula through the Northeast part of it, and then the [[Celts]], mostly inhabiting the north and northwest part of the Peninsula. In the inner part of the peninsula, where both groups were in contact, a mixed, distinctive, culture was present, the one known as [[Celtiberian]].<ref name="encarta"/> The [[Celtiberian Wars]] or Spanish Wars were fought between the advancing [[Roman legion|legions]] of the Roman Republic and the Celtiberian tribes of Hispania Citerior from 181 to [[133 BC]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Grout|first=James|title=The Celtiberian War|url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/hispania/celtiberianwar.html|work=Encyclopaedia Romana|publisher=University of Chicago|date=2007|accessdate=2008-06-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Major Phases in Roman History|url=http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~corbett/clab42/RomChron.htm|work=Rome in the Mediterranean World|publisher=University of Toronto|accessdate=2008-06-08}}</ref>
==Roman Spain==
{{main|Roman conquest of Hispania|Hispania}}
[[Image:Cordoba, Roman Bridge and Mosque-Cathedral.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Roman Republic|Roman]] bridge in Cordoba]]
[[Roman Iberia]] was divided: [[Hispania Ulterior]] and [[Hispania Citerior]] during the late [[Roman Republic]]; and, during the [[Roman Empire]], [[Hispania Taraconensis]] in the northeast, [[Hispania Baetica]] in the south (roughly corresponding to [[Andalucia]]), and [[Lusitania]] in the southwest (corresponding to modern [[Portugal]]).
Hispania supplied Rome with food, olive oil, wine and metal. The emperors [[Trajan]], [[Theodosius I]], the philosopher [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]] and the poets [[Martial]], [[Quintilian]] and [[Lucan (poet)|Lucan]] were born in Spain. The Spanish Bishops held the Council at Elvira in 306. The collapse of the [[Western Roman Empire]] did not lead to the same wholesale destruction of Western classical society as happened in areas like [[Roman Britain|Britain]], [[Gaul]] and [[Germania Inferior]] during the [[Dark Ages]], even if the institutions, infrastructure and economy did suffer considerable degradation. Spain's present languages, its religion, and the basis of its laws originate from this period. The centuries of uninterrupted Roman rule and settlement left a deep and enduring imprint upon the culture of Spain.
==Visigothic Hispania (5th–8th centuries) ==
{{seealso|Visigoths#Kingdom of Toledo}}
After the decline of the [[Roman Empire]], [[Germanic tribes]] invaded the former empire. Several turned sedentary and created successor-kingdoms to the Romans in various parts of Europe. [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberia]] was taken over by the [[Visigoths]] after 410.
[[Image:Visigoth Kingdom.jpg|thumb|225px|left|Visigothic kingdom by 500 AD, before the incorporation of the kingdom of the [[Suebi]].]]
In the Iberian peninsula, as elsewhere, the Empire fell not with a bang but with a whimper. Rather than there being any convenient date for the "fall of the Roman Empire" there was a progressive "de-Romanization" of the Western Roman Empire in Hispania and a weakening of central authority, throughout the 3rd, 4th and 5th centuries. At the same time, there was a process of "Romanization" of the Germanic and Hunnic tribes settled on both sides of the ''[[limes]]'' (the fortified frontier of the Empire along the [[Rhine]] and [[Danube]] rivers). The Visigoths, for example, were converted to [[Arianism|Arian Christianity]] around 360, even before they were pushed into imperial territory by the expansion of the [[Huns]]. In the winter of 406, taking advantage of the frozen Rhine, the ([[Germanic tribes|Germanic]]) [[Vandals]] and [[Sueves]], and the ([[Sarmatian]]) [[Alans]] invaded the empire in force. Three years later they crossed the [[Pyrenees]] into [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberia]] and divided the Western parts, roughly corresponding to modern Portugal and western Spain as far as [[Madrid]], between them. The Visigoths meanwhile, having sacked Rome two years earlier, arrived in the region in 412 founding the Visigothic kingdom of [[Toulouse]] (in the south of modern France) and gradually expanded their influence into the Iberian peninsula at the expense of the Vandals and Alans, who moved on into North Africa without leaving much permanent mark on Hispanic culture. The [[Visigoths#Visigothic kingdom in Hispania|Visigothic Kingdom]] shifted its capital to [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] and reached a high point during the reign of [[Leovigild]].
Importantly, Spain never saw a decline in interest in classical culture to the degree observable in Britain, Gaul, Lombardy and Germany. The Visigoths tended to maintain more of the old Roman institutions, and they had a unique respect for legal codes that resulted in continuous frameworks and historical records for most of the period between 415, when Visigothic rule in Spain began, and 711, when it is traditionally said to end. The proximity of the Visigothic kingdoms to the Mediterranean and the continuity of western Mediterranean trade, though in reduced quantity, supported Visigothic culture. Arian Visigothic nobility kept apart from the local Catholic population. The Visigothic ruling class looked to [[Constantinople]] for style and technology while the rivals of Visigothic power and culture were the Catholic bishops— and a brief incursion of Byzantine power in Cordoba.
The period of Visigothic rule saw the spread of [[Arianism]] briefly in Spain. In 587, [[Reccared]], the Visigothic king at Toledo, having been converted to Catholicism put an end to dissension on the question of Arianism and launched a movement in Spain to unify the various religious doctrines that existed in the land. The Council of Lerida in 546 constrained the clergy and extended the power of law over them under the blessings of Rome.
The Visigoths inherited from Late Antiquity a sort of [[feudal]] system in Spain, based in the south on the Roman [[villa]] system and in the north drawing on their vassals to supply troops in exchange for protection. The bulk of the Visigothic army was composed of slaves, raised from the countryside. The loose council of nobles that advised Spain's Visigothic kings and legitimized their rule was responsible for raising the army, and only upon its consent was the king able to summon soldiers.
The impact of Visigothic rule was not widely felt on society at large, and certainly not compared to the vast bureaucracy of the Roman Empire; they tended to rule as barbarians of a mild sort, uninterested in the events of the nation and economy, working for personal benefit, and little literature remains to us from the period. They did not, until the period of Muslim rule, merge with the Spanish population, preferring to remain separate, and indeed the Visigothic language left only the faintest mark on the modern languages of Iberia. The most visible effect was the depopulation of the cities as they moved to the countryside. Even while the country enjoyed a degree of prosperity when compared to the famines of France and Germany in this period, the Visigoths felt little reason to contribute to the welfare, permanency, and infrastructure of their people and state. This contributed to their downfall, as they could not count on the loyalty of their subjects when the Moors arrived in the 8th century.
==Muslim Occupation and the Reconquest (8th–15th centuries) ==
{{main|Umayyad conquest of Hispania|Al-Andalus|Reconquista}}
By 711 [[Arab]]s and [[Berber people|Berbers]] had converted to [[Islam]], which by the 8th century dominated all the north of Africa. A raiding party led by [[Tariq ibn-Ziyad]] was sent to intervene in a civil war in the Visigothic kingdoms in Iberia. Crossing the [[Strait of Gibraltar]], it won a decisive victory in the summer of 711 when the Visigothic king [[Roderic]] was defeated and killed on [[July 19]] at the [[Battle of Guadalete]]. Tariq's commander, [[Musa bin Nusair]] quickly crossed with substantial reinforcements, and by 718 the Muslims dominated most of the peninsula. The advance into Europe was stopped by the [[Franks]] under [[Charles Martel]] at the [[Battle of Tours]] in 732.
[[Caliph]] [[Al-Walid I]] paid great attention to the expansion of an organized military, building the strongest navy in the Umayyad era. It was this tactic that supported the ultimate expansion to Spain. Caliph Al-Walid I's reign is considered as the apex of Islamic power {{Fact|date=May 2008}}. [[Valladolid]] is an industrial city and it is a municipality in north-central Spain, upon the Rio Pisuerga and within the Ribera del Duero region. It is the capital of the province of Valladolid and of the autonomous community of Castile and Leon, therefore is part of the historical region of Castile. The name "Valladolid" is linked with the Arabic name for the city بلد الوليد meaning The City of [[Al-Walid I]]).
The rulers of Al-Andalus were granted the rank of [[Emir]] by the [[Umayyad]] [[Caliph]][[Al-Walid I]] in [[Damascus]]. After the Umayyads were overthrown by the [[Abbasids]], some of their remaining leaders escaped to Spain under the leadership of [[Abd-ar-rahman I]] who challenged the Abbasids by declaring Cordoba an independent emirate. Al-Andalus was rife with internal conflict between the Arab Umayyad rulers and the Visigoth-Roman Christian population.
[[Image:Castilla 1210.png|right|250px|thumb|Limits of the Kingdom of Castile and Kingdom of Aragon in 1210.]]
The first navy of the [[Caliph of Cordoba|Emirate]] was built after the humiliating [[Viking]] ascent of the [[Guadalquivir]] in 844 when they sacked [[Seville]]. In 942, pagan [[Magyars]] raided as far west as Al-Andalus.<ref>[http://www.zum.de/whkmla/timelines/wh/tlvikings.html Timelines - Vikings, Saracens, Magyars]</ref>
In the 10th century [[Abd-ar-rahman III]] declared the [[Caliphate of Cordoba]], effectively breaking all ties with the Egyptian and Syrian caliphs. The Caliphate was mostly concerned with maintaining its power base in North Africa, but these possessions eventually dwindled to the [[Ceuta]] province. Meanwhile, a slow but steady migration of Christian subjects to the northern kingdoms was slowly increasing the power of the northern kingdoms. Even so, Al-Andalus remained vastly superior to all the northern kingdoms combined in population, economy, culture and military might, and internal conflict between the Christian kingdoms contributed to keep them relatively harmless.
Al-Andalus coincided with ''[[La Convivencia]]'', an era of religious tolerance and with the [[Golden age of Jewish culture in the Iberian Peninsula]] (912, the rule of [[Abd-ar-Rahman III]] - 1066, [[1066 Granada massacre|Granada massacre]]).<ref>[http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=412&letter=G&search=Granada Granada] by Richard Gottheil, Meyer Kayserling, ''[[Jewish Encyclopedia]]''. 1906 ed. </ref>
Muslim interest in the peninsula returned in force around the year 1000 when [[Al-Mansur (Abi Amir)|Al-Mansur]] (also known as ''Almanzor''), sacked Barcelona (985). Under his son, other Christian cities were subjected to numerous raids.<ref>[http://libro.uca.edu/rc/rc1.htm Ransoming Captives in Crusader Spain: The Order of Merced on the Christian-Islamic Frontier ]</ref> After his son's death, the caliphate plunged into a civil war and splintered into the so-called "[[Taifa]] Kingdoms". The Taifa kings competed against each other not only in [[war]], but also in the protection of the arts, and culture enjoyed a brief upswing. The Taifa kingdoms lost ground to the Christian realms in the north and, after the loss of Toledo in 1085, the Muslim rulers reluctantly invited the [[Almoravides]], who invaded Al-Andalus from North Africa and established an empire. In the 12th century the Almoravid empire broke up again, only to be taken over by the [[Almohad]] invasion, who were defeated in the decisive [[battle of Las Navas de Tolosa]] in 1212.
[[Spain in the Middle Ages|Medieval Spain]] was the scene of almost constant warfare between Muslims and Christians. The Almohads, who had taken control of the Almoravids' Maghribi and Andalusian territories by [[1147]], far surpassed the Almoravides in fundamentalist outlook, and they treated the ''[[dhimmi]]s'' harshly. Faced with the choice of death, conversion, or emigration, many [[Jews]] and Christians left.<ref>[http://www.myjewishlearning.com/history_community/Medieval/IntergroupTO/JewishMuslim/Almohads.htm The Almohads]</ref> By the mid-13th century [[Granada|Emirate of Granada]] was the only independent Muslim realm in Spain, which would last until [[1492]].
The Kings of Aragón ruled territories that consisted of not only the present administrative region of [[Aragon]] but also [[Catalonia]], and later the [[Balearic Islands]], [[Valencia (autonomous community)|Valencia]], [[Sicily]], [[Naples]] and [[Sardinia]] (see [[Crown of Aragon]]). Considered by most to have been the first [[mercenary]] company in Western Europe,
the [[Catalan Company]] proceeded to occupy the [[Duchy of Athens]], which they placed under the protection of a prince of the House of Aragon and ruled until 1379.<ref>[http://www.umiacs.umd.edu/~kuijt/dba165/dba165.html Catalan Company (1302-1388 AD)]</ref>
==Kingdom of Spain==
[[Image:CastillaLeon 1360.png|300px|left|thumb|Iberian polities circa 1360]]
As the ''Reconquista'' continued, Christian kingdoms and principalities developed. By the [[15th century]], the most important among these were the [[Kingdom of Castile]] (occupying a northern and central portion of the Iberian Peninsula) and the [[Kingdom of Aragon]] (occupying northeastern portions of the peninsula). The rulers of these two kingdoms were allied with dynastic families in [[Portugal]], [[France]], and other neighboring kingdoms. The death of [[Henry IV of Castile|Henry IV]] in 1474 set off a struggle for power between contenders for the throne of Castile, including [[Juana la Beltraneja]], supported by Portugal and France, and [[Isabella of Castile|Queen Isabella I]], supported by the Kingdom of Aragon, and by the Castilian nobility. Following the [[War of the Castilian Succession]], Isabella retained the throne, and ruled jointly with her husband, [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|King Ferdinand II]].
Isabella of [[Crown of Castile|Castile]] and Ferdinand of [[Crown of Aragon|Aragon]] were known as the "Catholic Monarchs" ([[Spanish language|Spanish]]: ''los Reyes Católicos''), a title bestowed on them by [[Pope Alexander VI]]. They married in 1469 in [[Valladolid]], uniting both crowns and effectively leading to the creation of the [[Spain|Kingdom of Spain]], at the dawn of the modern era. They oversaw the final stages of the [[Reconquista]] of [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberian]] territory from the [[Moors]] with the conquest of [[Granada]], conquered the [[Canary Islands]] and expelled the [[Jew]]s and [[Muslims]] from Spain under the [[Alhambra decree]]. They authorized the expedition of [[Christopher Columbus]], who became the first European to reach the [[New World]] since [[Leif Ericson]], which led to an influx of wealth into Spain, funding the coffers of the new state that would prove to be a dominant power of Europe for the next two centuries.
Isabella ensured long-term political stability in [[Spain]] by arranging strategic marriages for each of her five children. Her firstborn, a daughter named [[Isabella of Asturias|Isabella]], married [[Afonso, Crown Prince of Portugal|Alfonso of Portugal]], forging important ties between these two neighboring countries and hopefully to ensure future alliance, but Isabella soon died before giving birth to an heir. [[Joanna of Castille|Juana]], Isabella’s second daughter, married Philip the Handsome, the son of [[Maximilian I]], King of Bohemia (Austria) and entitled to the crown of the [[Holy Roman Emperor]]. This ensured alliance with the [[Holy Roman Empire]], a powerful, far-reaching territory which assured Spain’s future political security. Isabella’s first and only son, [[Juan, Prince of Asturias|Juan]], married [[Margaret of Austria]], maintaining ties with the Habsburg dynasty, on which Spain relied heavily. Her fourth child, [[Maria of Aragon (1482-1517)|Maria]], married [[Manuel I of Portugal]], strengthening the link forged by her older sister’s marriage. Her fifth child, [[Catherine of Aragon|Catherine]], married [[Henry VIII]], King of England and was mother to [[Mary I of England|Queen Mary I]].
If until the [[13th century]] religious minorities (Jews and Muslims) had enjoyed quite some tolerance in Castilla and Aragon - the only Christian kingdoms where Jews were not restricted from any professional occupation - the situation of the Jews collapsed over the [[14th century]], reaching a climax in 1391 with large scale [[wiktionary:massacre|massacres]] in every major city, with the exception of Avilla. Over the next century, half of the estimated 200,000 [[Spanish Jews]] converted to Christianity (becoming "conversos"). The final step was taken by the Catholic Monarchs, who, in 1492, ordered the remaining Jews to convert or face expulsion from Spain. Depending on different sources, the number of Jews actually expelled is estimated to be anywhere from 40,000 to 120,000 people. Over the following decades, [[Muslims]] faced the same fate and about 60 years after the Jews, they were also compelled to convert ("[[moriscos]]") or be expelled. Jews and Muslims were not the only people to be persecuted during this time period. [[Roma in Spain|Gypsies]] also endured a tragic fate. As a matter of fact, all Gypsy males were forced to serve in [[galleys]] between the age of 18 and 26 - which was equivalent to a death sentence - but the majority managed to hide and avoid arrest.
==== The Spanish language and universities====
In the 13th century, there were many languages spoken in the Christian sections of what is now Spain, among them [[Spanish language|Castilian]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]], [[Basque Language|Basque]], [[Galician Language|Galician]], [[Aranese language|Aranese]] and [[Astur-Leonese language|Asturian-Leonese]]. But throughout the century, what is known today as the Spanish language gained more and more prominence in the Kingdom of Castile as the language of culture and communication. One example of this is the ''El Cid''. In the last years of the reign of [[Ferdinand III of Castile]], Castilian began to be used for certain types of documents, but it was during the reign of [[Alfonso X of Castile|Alfonso X]] that it became the official language. Henceforth all public documents were written in Castilian, likewise all translations were made into Castilian instead of Latin.
Furthermore, in the 13th Century many universities were founded in Castile, some, like those of [[University of Salamanca|Salamanca]] and Palencia were among the earliest universities in Europe. In 1492, under the [[Catholic Monarchs]], the first edition of the Grammar of the Castilian Language by [[Antonio de Nebrija]] was published.
==Spanish Empire==
[[Image:Iberian Union Empires.png|thumb|350px|A map of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires in the period of [[Iberian Union]] under the [[personal union]] of the Spanish monarchs (1580-1640).]]
{{main|Spanish Empire}}
[[Image:Columbus Taking Possession.jpg|thumb|180px|left| Columbus setting foot in the New World]]
The Spanish Empire was one of the first modern [[Global Empire|global empires]]. It was also one of the largest empires in world history. In the [[16th century]] Spain and Portugal were in the vanguard of European global exploration and colonial expansion and the opening of trade routes across the oceans, with trade flourishing across the Atlantic between Spain and the [[Americas]] and across the [[Pacific]] between [[East Asia]] and [[Mexico]] via the [[Philippines]]. [[Conquistador]]s toppled the [[Aztec]], [[Inca Empire|Inca]] and [[Maya civilization|Maya]] civilizations and laid claim to vast stretches of land in [[North America|North]] and South America. For a time, the Spanish Empire dominated the oceans with its experienced [[Spanish navy|navy]] and ruled the European battlefield with its fearsome and well trained infantry, the famous ''{{lang|es|[[tercio]]s}}'': in the words of the prominent French historian [[Pierre Vilar]], "enacting the most extraordinary epic in human history". Spain enjoyed a [[Spanish Golden Age|cultural golden age]] in the 16th and [[17th centuries]].
This American empire was at first a disappointment, as the natives had little to trade, though settlement did encourage trade. The diseases such as [[smallpox]] and [[measles]] that arrived with the colonizers devastated the native populations, especially in the densely populated regions of the Aztec, Maya and Inca civilizations, and this reduced economic potential of conquered areas.<ref>There is simply no consensus as to the extent, with estimates varying by many orders of magnitude, but that it occurred is not doubted - See [[Population history of American indigenous peoples]].</ref> In the 1520s large scale extraction of silver from the rich deposits of Mexico's [[Guanajuato]] began, to be greatly augmented by the silver mines in Mexico's [[Zacatecas]] and Peru's [[Potosi]] from 1546. These silver shipments re-oriented the Spanish economy, leading to the importation of luxuries and grain. They also became indispensable in financing the military capability of [[Habsburg Spain]] in its long series of [[Europe]]an and [[North African]] wars, though, with the exception of a few years in the seventeenth century, Spain itself (Castile in particular) was by far the most important source of revenue. From the time beginning with the incorporation of the [[Portuguese empire]] in 1580 (lost in 1640) until the loss of its American colonies in the 19th century, Spain maintained the largest empire in the world even though it suffered fluctuating military and economic fortunes from the [[1640s]]. Confronted by the new experiences, difficulties and suffering created by empire-building, Spanish thinkers formulated some of the first [[Modernity|modern]] thoughts on [[natural law]], [[sovereignty]], [[international law]], war, and [[economics]]; there were even questions about the legitimacy of [[imperialism]] — in related schools of thought referred to collectively as the [[School of Salamanca]].
==Spain under the Habsburgs (16th–17th centuries) ==
{{main|Habsburg Spain}}
Spain's powerful world empire of the 16th and 17th centuries reached its height and declined under the [[Habsburgs]]. The [[Spanish Empire]] reached its maximum extent in Europe under [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles I of Spain]], as Charles V also [[Holy Roman Emperor|emperor]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]].
[[Image:Emperor charles v.png|thumb|left|180px|[[Charles I of Spain]] was one of the most powerful European monarchs during his reign]]
Charles V became king in 1516, and the history of Spain became even more firmly enmeshed with the dynastic struggles in Europe. The king was not often in Spain, and as he approached the end of his life he made provision for the division of the Habsburg inheritance into two parts: on the one hand Spain, and its possessions in the Mediterranean and overseas, and the [[Holy Roman Empire]] itself on the other. The Habsburg possessions in [[The Netherlands]] also remained with the Spanish crown.
This was to prove a difficulty for his successor [[Philip II of Spain]], who became king on Charles V's abdication in 1556. Spain largely escaped the religious conflicts that were raging throughout the rest of Europe, and remained firmly Roman Catholic. Philip saw himself as a champion of Catholicism, both against the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Turks]] and the [[Christian heresy|heretics]]. In the 1560s, plans to consolidate control of the Netherlands led to unrest, which gradually led to the [[Calvinism|Calvinist]] leadership of the revolt and the [[Eighty Years' War]]. This conflict consumed much Spanish expenditure, and led to an attempt to conquer [[England]] – a cautious supporter of the Dutch – in the unsuccessful [[Spanish Armada]], an early battle in the [[Anglo-Spanish War (1585)|Anglo-Spanish War]] (1585–1604) and war with France (1590–1598).
Despite these problems, the growing inflow of American silver from mid 16th century, the justified military reputation of the Spanish infantry and even the navy quickly recovering from its Armada disaster, made Spain [[hegemony|the leading European power]], a novel situation of which its citizens were only just becoming aware. The [[Iberian Union]] with [[Portugal]] in 1580 not only unified the peninsula, but added that country's worldwide resources to the Spanish crown. However, economic and administrative problems multiplied in [[Castile (historical region)|Castile]], and the weakness of the native economy became evident in the following century: rising [[price revolution|inflation]], the ongoing aftermath of the expulsion of the Jews and Moors from Spain, and the growing dependency of Spain on the gold and silver imports, combined to cause several bankruptcies that caused economic crisis in the country, especially in heavily burdened Castile.
The coastal villages of Spain and of the [[Balearic Islands]] were frequently attacked by [[Barbary pirates]] from North Africa. [[Formentera]] was even temporarily left by its population. This occurred also along long stretches of the Spanish and Italian coasts, a relatively short distance across a calm sea from the pirates in their North African lairs. The most famous corsair was the Turkish [[Hayreddin Barbarossa|Barbarossa]] ("Redbeard"). According to Robert Davis between 1 million and 1.25 million Europeans were captured by [[North African]] pirates and sold as [[slavery|slaves]] in [[North Africa]] and [[Ottoman Empire]] between the [[16th century|16th]] and [[19th century|19th centuries]] This was gradually alleviated as Spain and other Christian powers began to check Muslim naval dominance in the Mediterranean after the 1571 victory at [[Battle of Lepanto|Lepanto]], but it would be a scourge that continued to afflict the country even in the next century.<ref>[http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/whtslav.htm ''When Europeans were slaves: Research suggests white slavery was much more common than previously believed'']</ref>
The [[Great Plague of Seville|great plague]] of 1596-1602 killed 600,000 to 700,000 people, or about 10% of the population. Altogether more than 1,250,000 deaths resulted from the extreme incidence of plague in [[17th century]] Spain.<ref>[http://libro.uca.edu/payne1/payne15.htm The Seventeenth-Century Decline]</ref>
Philip II died in 1598, and was succeeded by his son [[Philip III of Spain|Philip III]], in whose reign a ten year truce with the Dutch was overshadowed in 1618 by Spain's involvement in the European-wide [[Thirty Years' War]]. Government policy was dominated by favorites, but it was also the reign in which the geniuses of [[Miguel de Cervantes|Cervantes]] and [[El Greco]] flourished.
Philip III was succeeded in 1621 by his son [[Philip IV of Spain]]. Much of the policy was conducted by the minister [[Gaspar de Guzmán, Conde de Olivares]]. In 1640, with the war in central Europe having no clear winner except the French, both Portugal and [[Catalonia]] rebelled. Portugal was lost to the crown for good, in Italy and most of Catalonia, French forces were expelled and Catalonia's independence suppressed. In the reign of Philip's [[Mental retardation|developmentally disabled]] son and successor [[Charles II of Spain|Charles II]], Spain was essentially left leaderless and was gradually being reduced to a second-rank power.
The [[Habsburg]] dynasty became extinct in Spain and the [[War of the Spanish Succession]] ensued in which the other European powers tried to assume control of the Spanish monarchy. King [[Louis XIV of France]] eventually "won" the War of Spanish Succession, and control of Spain passed to the [[Bourbon dynasty]] but the peace deals that followed included the relinquishing of the right to unite the French and Spanish thrones and the partitioning of Spain's European empire.
===The Golden Age ('''Siglo de Oro''')===
{{main|Spanish Golden Age}}
[[Image:Toledo by El Greco.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''[[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]]'' by [[El Greco]]]]
The Spanish Golden Age (in [[Spanish language|Spanish]], ''[[Siglo de Oro]]'') was a period of flourishing arts and letters in the [[Spanish Empire]] (now [[Spain]] and the [[Spanish language|Spanish]]-speaking countries of [[Latin America]]), coinciding with the political decline and fall of the [[Habsburg]]s ([[Philip III of Spain|Philip III]], [[Philip IV of Spain|Philip IV]] and [[Charles II of Spain|Charles II]]). The last great writer of the age, Sor [[Juana Inés de la Cruz]], died in [[New Spain]] in 1695.
The [[Habsburgs]], both in [[Spain]] and [[Austria]], were great patrons of art in their countries. ''[[El Escorial]]'', the great royal monastery built by King [[Philip II of Spain]], invited the attention of some of Europe's greatest architects and painters. [[Diego Velázquez]], regarded as one of the most influential painters of European history and a greatly respected artist in his own time, cultivated a relationship with King Philip IV and his chief minister, the [[Count-Duke of Olivares]], leaving us several portraits that demonstrate his style and skill. [[El Greco]], another respected Spanish artist from the period, infused Spanish art with the styles of the Italian renaissance and helped create a uniquely Spanish style of painting. Some of Spain's greatest music is regarded as having been written in the period. Such composers as [[Tomás Luis de Victoria]], [[Luis de Milán]] and [[Alonso Lobo]] helped to shape [[Renaissance music]] and the styles of [[counterpoint]] and [[polychoral]] music, and their influence lasted far into the [[Baroque music|Baroque period]].
Spanish literature blossomed as well, most famously demonstrated in the work of [[Miguel de Cervantes]], the author of ''[[Don Quixote|Don Quixote de la Mancha]]''. Spain's most prolific playwright, [[Lope de Vega]], wrote possibly as many as one thousand plays over his lifetime, over four hundred of which survive to the present day.
==The Enlightenment: Spain under the Bourbons (18th century) ==
{{main|Enlightenment Spain}}
[[Philip V of Spain|Philip V]], the first Bourbon king, of French origin, signed the ''Decreto de Nueva Planta'' in 1715, a new law that revoked most of the historical rights and privileges of the different kingdoms that conformed the Spanish Crown, unifying them under the laws of Castile, where the [[Cortes Generales|Cortes]] had been more receptive to the royal wish. Spain became culturally and politically a follower of absolutist France. The rule of the Spanish Bourbons continued under [[Ferdinand VI of Spain|Ferdinand VI]] and [[Charles III of Spain|Charles III]].
[[Image:Iberian Peninsula antique map.jpg|right|thumb|250px|An 18th century map of the [[Iberian Peninsula]]]]
[[Image:Attacking spanish infantry (about 1740).jpg|thumb|right|250px|Attacking spanish infantry (about 1740)]]
Under the rule of Charles III and his ministers, [[Leopoldo de Gregorio, Marquis of Esquilache]] and [[José Moñino y Redondo, conde de Floridablanca|José Moñino, Count of Floridablanca]], Spain embarked on a program of [[enlightened despotism]] that brought Spain a new prosperity in the middle of the eighteenth century. After losing alongside [[France]] against the [[United Kingdom]] in the [[Seven Years' War]], Spain recouped most of her territorial losses in the [[American Revolutionary War]]. The reforming spirit of Charles III was extinguished in the reign of his son, [[Charles IV of Spain|Charles IV]], seen by some as mentally handicapped. Dominated by his wife's lover, [[Manuel de Godoy]], Charles IV embarked on policies that overturned much of Charles III's reforms. After briefly opposing [[Revolutionary France]] early in the [[French Revolutionary Wars]], Spain soon allied with its northern neighbor, only to be [[blockade]]d by the British. The loss of commercial and political ties to its colonies and, more importantly, the occupation of Spain by Napoleon's forces, would lead to the independence of most of the [[Spanish Empire]] in the [[New World]]. Charles IV's vacillation as a French ally led [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon I]], Emperor of the French, to invade Spain in 1808, beginning the [[Peninsular War]].
During most of the eighteenth century Spain had made substantial economic progress since the impoverished days of the mid [[17th century]]. But it continued to seriously lag in the enlightenment and mercantile developments transforming other parts of Europe, most notably in the United Kingdom, France, the Low Countries and, in some respects, parts of the Holy Roman Empire. The chaos unleashed by the Napoleonic intervention would cause this gap to widen greatly.
==Napoleonic Wars: War of Spanish Independence (1808–1814)==
{{Seesubarticle|Peninsular war}}
[[Image:Francisco de Goya y Lucientes 023.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[The Third of May 1808]] by [[Francisco Goya]], showing Spanish resisters being executed by Napoleon's troops.]]
Spain initially sided against France in the [[Napoleonic Wars]], but the defeat of her army early in the war led to [[Charles IV of Spain|Charles IV]]'s pragmatic decision to align with the revolutionary French. A major Franco-Spanish fleet was annihilated, at the decisive [[Battle of Trafalgar]] in 1805, prompting the vacillating king of Spain to reconsider his alliance with France. Spain broke off from the [[Continental System]] temporarily, and Napoleon — aggravated with the Bourbon kings of Spain — [[invasion|invaded]] and deposed Charles. The Spanish people vigorously resisted the move and ''juntas'' were formed across Spain that pronounced themselves in favor of Charles's son [[Ferdinand VII of Spain|Ferdinand]].
Spain was put under a British blockade, and her colonies — for the first time separated from their colonial rulers — began to trade independently with Britain. The defeat of the [[British invasions of the Río de la Plata|British invasions of the River Plate]] in South America emboldened an independent attitude in Spain's American colonies. Initially, the juntas declared their support for Ferdinand, expecting greater autonomy from Madrid under the liberal constitution that the juntas had drafted. The [[Cortes Generales|Cortes]] took refuge at [[Cádiz]]. In 1812 the [[Cádiz Cortes]] created the first modern Spanish constitution, the [[Spanish Constitution of 1812|Constitution of 1812]] (informally named ''La Pepa'').
The British, led by the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]], fought Napoleon's forces in the [[Peninsular War]], with [[Joseph Bonaparte]] ruling as king at Madrid. The brutal war was one of the first [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla war]]s in modern Western history; French supply lines stretching across Spain were mauled repeatedly by Spanish guerrillas. The war in [[Iberian peninsula|Iberia]] fluctuated repeatedly, with Wellington spending several years behind his fortresses in [[Portugal]] while launching occasional campaigns into Spain. The French were decisively defeated at the [[Battle of Vitoria]] in 1813, and the following year, Ferdinand was restored as King of Spain.
==Spain in the nineteenth century (1814–1873)==
{{Seesubarticle|Mid-nineteenth century Spain}}
Although the ''juntas'' that had forced the French to leave Spain had sworn by the liberal [[Constitution of 1812]], [[Ferdinand VII of Spain|Ferdinand VII]] openly believed that it was too liberal for the country. On his return to Spain, he refused to swear by it himself, and he continued to rule in the authoritarian fashion of his forebears.
Although Spain accepted the rejection of the Constitution, the policy was not warmly accepted in Spain's empire in the [[New World]]. Revolution broke out. Spain — nearly bankrupt from the war with France and the reconstruction of the country — was unable to pay her soldiers, and in 1820, an expedition intended for the colonies (which, at the time, were on the verge of being lost themselves, to rebels and the [[Monroe Doctrine]]) revolted in [[Cadiz]]. When armies throughout Spain pronounced themselves in sympathy with the revolters, led by [[Rafael del Riego]], Ferdinand relented and was forced to accept the liberal Constitution of 1812. Ferdinand himself was placed under effective house arrest for the duration of the liberal experiment.
The [[Trienio liberal|three years]] of liberal rule that followed coincided with a [[Spanish Civil War, 1820-1823|civil war in Spain]] that would typify Spanish politics for the next century. The liberal government, which reminded European statesmen entirely too much of the governments of the [[French Revolution]], was looked on with hostility by the [[Congress of Verona]] in 1822, and France was authorized to intervene. France crushed the liberal government with massive force, and Ferdinand was restored as absolute monarch. The American colonies, however, were completely lost; in 1824, the last Spanish army on the American mainland was defeated at the [[Battle of Ayacucho]] in southern [[Peru]].
A period of uneasy peace followed in Spain for the next decade. Having borne only a female heir presumptive, it appeared that Ferdinand would be succeeded by his brother, [[Infante Carlos of Spain]]. While Ferdinand aligned with the conservatives, fearing another national insurrection, he did not view the reactionary policies of his brother as a viable option. Ferdinand — resisting the wishes of his brother — decreed the [[Pragmatic Sanction of 1830]], enabling his daughter Isabella to become Queen. Carlos, who made known his intent to resist the sanction, fled to [[Portugal]].
Ferdinand's death in 1833 and the accession of Isabella (only three years old at the time) as Queen of Spain sparked the [[First Carlist War]]. Carlos invaded Spain and attracted support from reactionaries and conservatives in Spain; Isabella's mother, [[Maria Cristina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies]], was named [[regent]] until her daughter came of age.
The insurrection seemed to have been crushed by the end of the year; Maria Cristina's armies, called "Cristino" forces, had driven the Carlist armies from most of the Basque country. Carlos then named the [[Basque people|Basque]] general [[Tomás de Zumalacárregui]] his [[commander-in-chief]]. Zumalacárregui resuscitated the Carlist cause, and by 1835 had driven the Cristino armies to the [[Ebro River]] and transformed the Carlist army from a demoralized band into a professional army of 30,000 of quality superior to the government forces.
Zumalacárregui's death in 1835 changed the Carlists' fortunes. The Cristinos found a capable general in [[Baldomero Espartero]]. His victory at the [[Battle of Luchana]] (1836) turned the tide of the war, and in 1839, the [[Convention of Vergara]] put an end to the first Carlist insurrection.
Espartero, operating on his popularity as a [[war hero]] and his sobriquet "Pacifier of Spain", demanded liberal reforms from Maria Cristina. The Queen Regent, who resisted any such idea, preferred to resign and let Espartero become regent instead. Espartero's liberal reforms were opposed, then, by moderates; the former general's heavy-handedness caused a series of sporadic uprisings throughout the country from various quarters, all of which were bloodily suppressed. He was overthrown as regent in 1843 by [[Ramón María Narváez]], a moderate, who was in turn perceived as too reactionary. Another Carlist uprising, the [[Matiners' War]], was launched in 1846 in [[Catalonia]], but it was poorly organized and suppressed by 1849.
[[Isabella II of Spain]] took a more active role in government after she came of age, but she was immensely unpopular throughout her reign. She was viewed as beholden to whoever was closest to her at court, and that she cared little for the people of Spain. In 1856, she attempted to form a pan-national coalition, the [[Union Liberal]], under the leadership of [[Leopoldo O'Donnell]] who had already marched on Madrid that year and deposed another Espartero ministry. Isabella's plan failed and cost Isabella more prestige and favor with the people.<br>
Isabella launched a successful [[Spanish-Moroccan War (1859)|war]] against [[Morocco]], waged by generals O'Donnell and [[Juan Prim]], in 1860 that stabilized her popularity in Spain. However, a campaign to reconquer [[Peru]] and [[Chile]] during the [[Chincha Islands War]] proved disastrous and Spain suffered defeat before the determined South American powers.
In 1866, a revolt led by [[Juan Prim]] was suppressed, but it was becoming increasingly clear that the people of Spain were upset with Isabella's approach to governance. In 1868, the [[Glorious Revolution (Spain)|Glorious Revolution]] broke out when the ''[[progresista]]'' generals [[Francisco Serrano y Dominguez|Francisco Serrano]] and [[Juan Prim]] revolted against her, and defeated her ''[[moderado]]'' generals at the [[Battle of Alcolea (1868)|Battle of Alcolea]]. Isabella was driven into exile in [[Paris]].
Revolution and anarchy broke out in Spain in the two years that followed; it was only in 1870 that the Cortes declared that Spain would have a king again. As it turned out, this decision played an important role in European and world history, for a [[Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern|German prince's]] candidacy to the Spanish throne and French opposition to him served as the immediate motive for the [[Franco-Prussian War]]. [[Amadeus I of Spain|Amadeus of Savoy]] was selected, and he was duly crowned [[King of Spain]] early the following year.
Amadeus — a liberal who swore by the liberal constitution the Cortes promulgated — was faced immediately with the incredible task of bringing the disparate political ideologies of Spain to one table. He was plagued by internecine strife, not merely between Spaniards but within Spanish parties.
==First Spanish Republic (1873–1874)==
{{Seesubarticle|First Spanish Republic}}
Following the [[Hidalgo affair]], Amadeus famously declared the people of Spain to be ungovernable, and fled the country. In his absence, a government of radicals and Republicans was formed that declared Spain [[First Spanish Republic|a republic]].
The republic was immediately under siege from all quarters — the [[Carlist]]s were the most immediate threat, launching a violent insurrection after their poor showing in the 1872 elections. There were calls for socialist revolution from the [[International Workingmen's Association]], revolts and unrest in the autonomous regions of [[Navarre]] and [[Catalonia]], and pressure from the [[Roman Catholic Church]] against the fledgling republic.
==The Restoration (1874–1931)==
{{Seesubarticle|Spain under the Restoration}}
Although the former [[Queen regnant|queen]], [[Isabella II of Spain|Isabella II]] was still alive, she recognized that she was too divisive as a leader, and abdicated in 1870 in favor of her son, Alfonso, who was duly crowned [[Alfonso XII of Spain]]. After the tumult of the [[First Spanish Republic]], Spaniards were willing to accept a return to stability under [[Bourbon dynasty|Bourbon]] rule. The Republican armies in Spain — which were resisting a [[Carlism|Carlist]] [[Third Carlist War|insurrection]] — pronounced their allegiance to Alfonso in the winter of 1874–1875, led by [[Brigadier General]] [[Martinez Campos]]. The Republic was dissolved and [[Antonio Canovas del Castillo]], a trusted advisor to the king, was named [[President of the Government of Spain|Prime Minister]] on [[New Year's Eve]], 1874. The Carlist insurrection was put down vigorously by the new king, who took an active role in the war and rapidly gained the support of most of his countrymen.
A system of ''[[turnos]]'' was established in Spain in which the [[liberalism|liberals]], led by [[Práxedes Mateo Sagasta]] and the [[conservatism|conservatives]], led by [[Antonio Canovas del Castillo]], alternated in control of the government. A modicum of stability and economic progress was restored to Spain during Alfonso XII's rule. His death in 1885, followed by the assassination of Canovas del Castillo in 1897, destabilized the government.
[[Cuba]] rebelled against Spain in the [[Ten Years' War]] beginning in 1868, resulting in the [[abolition of slavery]] in Spain's colonies in the [[New World]]. [[United States|American]] interests in the island, coupled with concerns for the people of Cuba, aggravated relations between the two countries. The explosion of the [[USS Maine (ACR-1)|USS Maine]] launched the [[Spanish-American War]] in 1898, in which Spain fared disastrously. [[Cuba]] gained its independence and Spain lost its remaining New World colony, [[Puerto Rico]], which together with [[Guam]] and the [[Philippines]] it ceded to the United States for 20 million dollars. In 1899, Spain sold its remaining Pacific islands—the [[Northern Mariana Islands]], [[Caroline Islands]] and [[Palau]]—to [[Germany]] and Spanish colonial possessions were reduced to [[Spanish Morocco]], [[Spanish Sahara]] and [[Spanish Guinea]], all in Africa.
The "disaster" of 1898 created the [[Generation of '98]], a group of statesmen and intellectuals who demanded change from the new government. [[Anarchism|Anarchist]] and [[fascism|fascist]] movements were on the rise in Spain in the early twentieth century. A revolt in 1909 in [[Catalonia]] was bloodily suppressed.
Spain's neutrality in the [[First World War]] allowed it to become a supplier of material for both sides to its great advantage, prompting an economic boom in Spain. The outbreak of [[Spanish influenza]] in Spain and elsewhere, along with a major economic slowdown in the postwar period, hit Spain particularly hard, and the country went into debt. A major worker's strike was suppressed in 1919.
Mistreatment of the Moorish population in [[Spanish Morocco]] led to an uprising and the loss of this North African possession except for the enclaves of [[Ceuta]] and [[Melilla]] in 1921. (See [[Abd el-Krim]], [[Annual, Morocco|Annual]]). In order to avoid accountability, King [[Alfonso XIII of Spain|Alfonso XIII]] decided to support the dictatorship of General [[Miguel Primo de Rivera]], ending the period of constitutional monarchy in Spain.
In joint action with France, the Moroccan territory was recovered (1925–1927), but in 1930 bankruptcy and massive unpopularity left the king no option but to force Primo de Rivera to resign. Disgusted with the king's involvement in his dictatorship, the urban population voted for republican parties in the municipal elections of April 1931. The king fled the country without abdicating and a republic was established.
==Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939)==
{{Seesubarticle|Second Spanish Republic}}
Under the Second Spanish Republic, [[Women's suffrage|women were allowed to vote]] in general elections for the first time. The Republic devolved substantial autonomy to the [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque Country]] and to [[Catalonia]].
The first governments of the Republic, were center-left, headed by [[Niceto Alcalá-Zamora]], and [[Manuel Azaña]]. Economic turmoil, substantial debt inherited from the [[Miguel Primo de Rivera|Primo de Rivera]] regime, and fractious, rapidly changing governing coalitions led to serious political unrest. In 1933, the [[right-wing politics|right-wing]] [[Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas|CEDA]] won power; an armed rising of workers of October 1934, which reached its greatest intensity in [[Asturias]] and [[Catalonia]], was forcefully put down by the CEDA government. This in turn energized political movements across the spectrum in Spain, including a revived [[anarchism|anarchist]] movement and new [[reactionary]] and [[fascist]] groups, including the [[Falange]] and a revived [[Carlism|Carlist]] movement.
==Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)==
{{Seesubarticle|Spanish Civil War}}
In the 1930s, Spanish politics were [[polarization|polarized]] at the left and right of the [[political spectrum]]. The left wing favoured [[class struggle]], [[land reform]], autonomy to the regions and reduction in church and monarchist power. The right-wing groups, the largest of which was [[CEDA]], a right wing [[Roman Catholic]] coalition, held opposing views on most issues. In 1936, the left united in the [[Popular Front (Spain)|Popular Front]] and was elected to power. However, this coalition, dominated by the centre-left, was undermined both by the revolutionary groups such as the [[anarchist]] [[Confederación Nacional del Trabajo|CNT]] and [[Federación Anarquista Ibérica|FAI]] and by anti-democratic far-right groups such as the [[Falange]] and the [[Carlists]]. The political violence of previous years began to start again. There were gunfights over strikes, landless labourers began to seize land, church officials were killed and churches burnt. On the other side, right wing militias (such as the [[Falange]]) and gunmen hired by employers assassinated left wing activists. The Republican democracy never generated the consensus or mutual trust between the various political groups that it needed to function peacefully. As a result, the country slid into civil war. The right wing of the country and high ranking figures in the army began to plan a [[coup]], and when Falangist politician [[José Calvo-Sotelo]] was shot by Republican police, they used it as a signal to act.
On [[July 17]], [[1936]], General [[Francisco Franco]] led the colonial army from [[Morocco]] to attack the mainland, while another force from the north under General Sanjurjo moved south from [[Navarre]]. Military units were also mobilised elsewhere to take over government institutions. Franco's move was intended to seize power immediately, but successful resistance by Republicans in places such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, the Basque country and elsewhere meant that Spain faced a prolonged civil war. Before long, much of the south and west was under the control of the Nationalists, whose [[regular army|regular]] [[Spanish Army of Africa|Army of Africa]] was the most professional force available to either side. Both sides received foreign military aid, the Nationalists, from [[Nazi Germany]], [[Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)|Fascist Italy]] and [[Portugal]], the Republic from the [[USSR]] and communist organised volunteers in the [[International Brigades]].
The [[Siege of the Alcázar]] at [[Toledo (Spain)|Toledo]] early in the war was a turning point, with the Nationalists winning after a long siege. The Republicans managed to [[Siege of Madrid|hold out in Madrid]], despite a Nationalist assault in November 1936, and frustrated subsequent offensives against the capital at [[battle of Jarama|Jarama]] and [[battle of Guadalajara|Guadalajara]] in 1937. Soon, though, the Nationalists began to erode their territory, starving Madrid and making inroads into the east. The north, including the [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque country]] fell in late 1937 and the Aragon front collapsed shortly afterwards. The [[bombing of Guernica]] was probably the most infamous event of the war and inspired [[Guernica (painting)|Picasso's painting]]. It was used as a testing ground for the German [[Luftwaffe]]'s [[Condor Legion]]. The [[Battle of the Ebro]] in July-November 1938 was the final desperate attempt by the Republicans to turn the tide. When this failed and [[Barcelona]] fell to the Nationalists in early 1939, it was clear the war was over. The remaining Republican fronts collapsed and Madrid fell in March 1939.
The war, which cost between 300,000 to 1,000,000 lives, ended with the destruction of the Republic and the accession of Francisco Franco as dictator of Spain. Franco amalgamated all the right wing parties into a reconstituted Falange and banned the left-wing and Republican parties and trade unions.
The conduct of the war was brutal on both sides, with massacres of civilians and prisoners being widespread. After the war, many thousands of Republicans were imprisoned and up to 151,000 were executed between 1939 and 1943. Many other Republicans remained in exile for the entire Franco period.
==The dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1936–1975)==
{{Seesubarticle|Spain under Franco}}
Spain remained officially neutral in [[World War I|World Wars I]] and [[Spain in World War II|II]], but suffered through a devastating [[Spanish Civil War|Civil War (1936–1939)]]. During [[Francisco Franco|Franco]]'s rule, Spain remained largely economically and culturally isolated from the outside world, but began to catch up economically with its European neighbors.
Under Franco, Spain actively sought the return of [[Gibraltar]] by the [[United Kingdom|UK]], and gained some support for its cause at the [[United Nations]]. During the 1960s, Spain began imposing restrictions on Gibraltar, culminating in the closure of the border in 1969. It was not fully reopened until 1985.
Spanish rule in [[Morocco]] ended in 1956. Though militarily victorious in the 1957–1958 [[Ifni War|Moroccan invasion of Spanish West Africa]], Spain gradually relinquished its remaining African colonies. Spanish Guinea was granted independence as [[Equatorial Guinea]] in 1968, while the Moroccan enclave of [[Ifni]] had been ceded to Morocco in 1969.
The latter years of Franco's rule saw some economic and political liberalization, the [[Spanish Miracle]], including the birth of a tourism industry. Francisco Franco ruled until his death on [[November 20]] [[1975]], when control was given to [[Juan Carlos I of Spain|King Juan Carlos]].
In the last few months before Franco's death, the Spanish state went into a paralysis. This was capitalized upon by [[Hassan II of Morocco|King Hassan II]] of [[Morocco]], who ordered the '[[Green March]]' into [[Western Sahara]], Spain's last colonial possession.
==Spain since 1975==
===Transition to democracy===
{{Seesubarticle|Spanish transition to democracy}}
The Spanish transition to democracy or new Bourbon restoration was the era when Spain moved from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to a liberal democratic state. The transition is usually said to have begun with Franco’s death on [[November 20]], [[1975]], while its completion is marked by the electoral victory of the socialist PSOE on [[October 28]], [[1982]].
Between 1978 and 1982, Spain was led by the ''Unión del Centro Democrático'' governments.
In 1981, the [[23-F]] coup d'état attempt took place. On [[February 23]] [[Antonio Tejero]], with members of the [[Guardia Civil (Spain)|Guardia Civil]] entered the Congress of Deputies, and stopped the session, where [[Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo]] was about to be named prime minister of the government. Officially, the [[coup d'état]] failed thanks to the intervention of King [[Juan Carlos of Spain|Juan Carlos]]. Spain joined the [[NATO]] before Calvo-Sotelo left office.
Along with political change came [[Spanish society after the democratic transition|radical change in Spanish society]]. Spanish society had been extremely conservative under Franco, but the transition to democracy also began a liberalization of values and societal mores.
===Modern Spain===
{{Seesubarticle|Modern Spain}}
From 1982 until 1996, the social democratic PSOE governed the country, with [[Felipe González]] as prime minister. In 1986, Spain joined the [[European Economic Community]] (EEC, now [[European Union]]), and the country hosted the
[[1992 Barcelona Olympics]] and [[Seville Expo '92]].
In 1996, the centre-right ''Partido Popular'' government came to power, led by [[José María Aznar]]. On [[January 1]], [[1999]] Spain exchanged the ''[[Peseta]]'' for the new [[Euro]] currency. On [[March 11]] [[2004]] a number of [[March 11, 2004 Madrid attacks|terrorist bombs exploded on busy commuter trains in Madrid]] during the morning rush-hour days before the general election, killing 191 persons and injuring thousands. Although [[José María Aznar]] and his ministers were quick to accuse [[ETA]] of the atrocity, soon afterwards it became apparent that the bombing was the work of an extremist [[Islamic]] group linked to [[Al-Qaeda]]. Many people believe that the fact that qualified commentators abroad were beginning to doubt the official Spanish version the very same day of the attacks while the government insisted on ETA's implication directly influenced the results of the election. Opinion polls at the time show that the difference between the two main contenders had been too close to make any accurate prediction as to the outcome of the elections. The election, held three days after the attacks, was won by the PSOE, and [[José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero]] replaced Aznar as prime minister.
On [[July 3]], [[2005]], the country became the first country in the world to give full marriage and adoption rights to homosexual couples (Belgium [[Same-sex marriage in Belgium|allows same-sex marriage]] since 2003 and co-parenting since April 2006, and the Netherlands [[Same-sex marriage in the Netherlands|allows same-sex marriage]] since 2001 and has a law being prepared now to provide full adoption rights in equal conditions to opposite-sex marriages).
At present, Spain is a [[constitutional monarchy]], and is comprised of 17 [[autonomous communities of Spain|autonomous communities]] ([[Andalusia|Andalucía]], [[Aragon|Aragón]], [[Asturias]], [[Balearic Islands|Islas Baleares]], [[Canary Islands|Islas Canarias]], [[Cantabria]], [[Castile and León]], [[Castile-La Mancha]], [[Catalonia|Cataluña]], [[Extremadura]], [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], [[La Rioja (Spain)|La Rioja]], [[Community of Madrid]], [[Region of Murcia]], [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|País Vasco]], [[Valencian Community|Comunidad Valenciana]], [[Navarre|Navarra]]) and two autonomous cities ([[Ceuta]] and [[Melilla]]).
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*Henry Kamen. ''Spain. A Society of Conflict'' (3rd ed.) London and New York: Pearson Longman 2005. ISBN
*[http://www.badley.info/history/Spain.country.year.index.html Spain Chronology World History Database]
*''[http://www.trustedtranslations.com/castilian_spanish.asp Castilian Spanish and the History of Spanish language]''
*[http://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/History_of_Spain:_Primary_Documents History of Spain: Primary Documents]
*[http://libro.uca.edu/payne1/payne15.htm Stanley G. Payne The Seventeenth-Century Decline]
*[http://www.art.man.ac.uk/SPANISH/courses/sp2490/Kamen_decline.html Henry Kamen, "The Decline of Spain: A Historical Myth?", Past and Present,) (Explains the complexities of this subject)]
*Carmen Pereira-Muro. ''Culturas de España''. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company 2003. ISBN
== See also ==
*[[Black Legend]]
*[[Economic history of Spain]]
*[[Global Empire]]
*[[Spanish Empire]]
*[[List of Spanish wars]]
*[[Spanish Armada in Ireland]]
*[[Ottoman-Habsburg wars]]
*[[Timeline of the Muslim presence in the Iberian peninsula]]
{{History of Europe}}
[[Category:History of Spain| ]]
[[Category:National histories|Spain]]
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[[be:Гісторыя Іспаніі]]
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[[ca:Història d'Espanya]]
[[cs:Dějiny Španělska]]
[[cy:Hanes Sbaen]]
[[de:Geschichte Spaniens]]
[[es:Historia de España]]
[[eo:Historio de Hispanio]]
[[eu:Espainiako historia]]
[[fr:Histoire de l'Espagne]]
[[fy:Skiednis fan Spanje]]
[[gl:Historia de España]]
[[hr:Povijest Španjolske]]
[[it:Storia della Spagna]]
[[he:היסטוריה של ספרד]]
[[la:Historia Hispanica]]
[[lv:Spānijas vēsture]]
[[lb:Geschicht vu Spuenien]]
[[lt:Ispanijos istorija]]
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[[ja:スペインの歴史]]
[[no:Spanias historie]]
[[nn:Spansk historie]]
[[pl:Historia Hiszpanii]]
[[pt:História de Espanha]]
[[ro:Istoria Spaniei]]
[[ru:История Испании]]
[[simple:History of Spain]]
[[sr:Историја Шпаније]]
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[[tr:İspanya tarihi]]
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