Essay on A Short History of the Basque Country

The sixteenth century for the Spanish monarchy under the crown of Castile was a significant historical period due to the encounter of the New World, and is often referred to as the Golden Age of Spain. The Spaniard conquest of America was a cataclysmic event of the history as once Spain had discovered the New World, they began to take over the control throughout the century, continuously colonizing many parts of America. In ruling the New World empires, their expansion of Spanish cities and towns had continued, and had brought them with absolute control over the land, as well as wealth and income from precious primary resources, which applied as strengths for them, however, on the other hand, some of the variables associated with the native

The Carthaginians need to make up for their losses so they take Spain! The new Carthaginian general went to fight against Rome but he and his troops lost. His son, Hannibal takes over and Hannibal is 26 at the time. The Second Punic War has begun and in 218 BC, Hannibal marches across the Alps with his troops to sneak attack the Romans! Hannibal used a Fabian tactic called, “attrition warfare”! Attrition warfare is when you corner the enemy into submission and force them to surrender. Two years after he defeats the Romans he travels to Cannae in 216 BC, and defeats the Romans again! His soldiers formed a crescent, then the cavalry went behind and made a complete circle. Having been in the Alps, he did not leave until 203 BC, when a Roman army threatened Carthage. He arrived at Zama. a place in Northern Tunisia in 202 BC and he is

The Spanish the ruling class revealed little attentiveness in their restored colony, and the following period is recalled as La España Boba- “The Era of Foolish Spain”

Culture is a word that describes the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievements over a period of its existence. When speaking of the Spanish culture people tend to focus on the music, dancing, and bull fighting. However Spain offers more than just that when referring to its culture. The Spanish culture gives us a vast artistic heritage. With artists such as El Greco, and Diego Velasquez placing their mark on the Golden Age art movement. Representing Spain with every stroke of the brush and amazing sculptures produced. Spain is also the home of outstanding architecture. From the Minorca monuments forged thousands of years ago with nothing more than hard work and sweat of the backs of the Spanish people, to the grand castles built to protect the Spanish people during the time of the Christian crusades. The people of Spain have been the

To begin with, the Basques have wanted independence for years. They say that they had more autonomy in a time where they had a system called the fueros. In this system the balance of power was tipped towards regional councils and not Madrid. The councils could tax the people, send soldiers to serve the Spanish crown, review laws enacted by the national government, and commute death sentences that were passed by the national government ("Basque Country"). After the first Carlist War, the fueros system pretty much ended. Power was transferred from the regions to Madrid and in 1856 Madrid

When the citizens’ belief that Napoleon was invincible started to wear off, and Napoleon’s reign and power started to decline, the decision was made to compensate for this loss. Napoleon, being the power hungry tyrant that he is, decided to annex Spain, to have access to Portugal. He brought over 100,000 men into war with Spain, which is now known as the peninsular war. At the time, Spain was regarded as technologically behind, so Napoleon charged into battle, overconfident. The French mercilessly killed spaniards, but the fight continued for five more years. Guerrillas, or spanish tribes armed with weapons, kept France at bay for a long period of time, resulting in a huge loss for the french people, in terms of manpower. After five long

The Basque Separatist Conflict began most likely in 1937, during the Spanish war between groups that lived in Spain, General Francisco Franco called on his friends Nazi Germany and Italy to launch an attack on the Basque town of Guernica. Franco ordered to punish the Basques for their support of the Republican cause. Two years later, Franco declared victory and became mean ruler of Spain. The punishment of the Basque people continued making the Basque feel like outlaws.

This site contains 4000 years of history and is immensely significant to us as it has provided us with an understanding into the early development of European civilisation. The site appears to have been inhabited from the Early Bronze Age to arounder—bout 1180 B.C. Troy was the name given to the Bronze Age City displayed in the Trojan War of ancient Greek. Other names for this site are ‘Hisarlik’, ‘Iliios', ‘Ilion’ and ‘Ilium’. The Trojan War is said to be what destroyed the city of Troy in 1180 B.C. The war was waged against the city of Troy by the Greek’s after the King of Sparta’s wife Helen was taken by the Prince of Troy. The war was an intense battle which is thought to of lasted

Given my Spanish roots, I felt compelled to write about the Roman conquest of Spain, and how Romans were later forced out of Spain by the Visigoths. Spain has been the center of attention many times throughout history, and Roman times were no exception. Spain’s riches convinced the Carthaginians to settle in and trade from Carthago Nova to Saguntum and, inevitably, caught the eye of Rome. It is because of its riches that Spain has been conquered many times, although, in the end, Spaniards have always prevailed. Romans, Moors, French; they all found Spanish delights irresistible, however, it was the Romans who impacted us the most.

In the modern European Union, lies an ancient culture and language unrelated to the dominant cultures around it. These are the Basques who have struggled to retain their customs through invasions and cultural repression. The territory which they call home is a small but powerful force within Spain. Spanish ideologies exerted upon them in recent memory have put a damper on Basque cultural practices and language, but out of this came Basque nationalism. The means used by Basque nationalists to gain independence are sometimes questionable and violent, and have had an impact on the economic health of the region. The Basque Country gained autonomy in the Spanish Constitution of 1978, but many feel that autonomy doesn’t go far enough.

The Moors were Muslims who invaded and ruled Spain for about 700 years. The Moors overtook Spain from the Goths, and in the action of the Moors taking over Spain, they brought along not only their Islamic religion, but also their culture. Stanley Lane-Poole writes about the rise and fall of Moorish Spain from the 8th to the 15th century in his book, The Moors in Spain (1896). The Moors in Spain was published around the time that British occupied Egypt. In his book, Lane-Poole uses the known term “Moor,” but before reading this book, I had no idea what a Moor was. It turns out Lane-Poole uses the term Moor as a way of representing the Muslims. This was interesting to me, because it turns out the word Moor refers to Muslim, but a Muslim also refers to many other names.

ETA is a terrorist organization that has its roots in ethnic nationalism. Basque separatists have long desired independence, based on a culture that is dramatically different from that of the Spanish. Their language (Euskara) predates French, Spanish, German and most other Continental languages, and their customs and traditions are unique to the area. Nationalism is a prevalent theme and dates back to the turn of the nineteenth century when the Republican government granted autonomy to the Basque country under the leadership of Sabina de Arana y Goiri. During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) the Basque people supported the Republicans. As a result, Franco targeted them, decimating the Basque town of Guernica, killing over a thousand people. After the war, Franco continued to oppress and discriminate against the

The Spanish War was a Civil War that occurred in 1936 that led through 1939. The war started when a couple of the most dominant generals had led an army to rebel against the new Republican government. The Civil War had left Spain in a bad economy and left up to thousands dead. Germany was mainly involved in helping with the country’s personal conflict, Hitler had tremendously helped with economical needs, and sent in several thousands of troops. Hitler’s actions lead into many foreign interest, such as France, Britain, Soviet Union, and Central and Western Europe. The Spanish War had affected World War II because other countries were active in this war, these

The settlements of the Phoenicians in the long run declined in force taking after the disintegration of the Phoenician domain. The following major political power to develop in the locale was the city of Carthage, whose accentuation on exchange gave the straits of Gibraltar and the Andalusia district monetary significance. As an exchanging focus, Carthage saw the monetary estimation of controlling the strait, and started a battle to pick up control of the area. Between the first and second Carthaginian wars, Carthage developed its control over Andalusia, utilizing the coast to dispatch a hefty portion of its attacks into Roman domain. Carthage, on the other hand, was unsuccessful in its crusade against Rome. With the decrease of Carthage, Andalusia stayed, for a brief period, without an in number political personality. Rome ventured into fill the force vacuum, renaming the region Betica.

The resistance started forming after the civil war had ended. The Basque government had had headquarters in France and felt as if Spain had come and torn them apart from their country and their