Birth Of Modern Day Spain

With the defeat of the Spanish armada in 1588, Spain began a steady decline to a second rate power. Consequently shifting their original goal of exploring to maintaining or colonizing what lands they still possess.

In the mid-1500s, there was an unsettled dispute between religions and the King of Spain named Charles V. The Peace of Augsburg was then released in 1555, giving the princes of Germany the ability to choose their territories religion. Charles soon after left and divided his territory between his son Philip II and his brother Ferdinand. Philip II inherited the Spanish Netherlands, the American Colonies, and Spain, while Ferdinand was given the Holy Roman Empire and Austria. After Charles V left, Spain itself began to decline economically and in power. There were four main reasons Spain declined; inflation, taxation, spending choices, and The Dutch

In Spain, the Spanish succession of 1701 created a division of lands once the Habsburgs died out. Places like Milan, Naples and Sicily were transferred out of the control of the Austrian Habsburgs. During this time the kingdom of Piedmont Sardinia appeared. By 1735, the Habsburgs surrendered Naples and Sicily to the

A section on the north east of Spain known as Catalonia has been wanting to become independent and have their own country. Catalonia has its own government and is a wealthy region that pays more taxes to Spain than it gets back from the Government.

Philip I. (The Beautiful) of Castilian dies, his 6 year old son becomes Carl I., king of Spain and Carl V., king of the Netherlands

From 1469-1516, the King of Aragon, and the Queen of Castile were married. They ruled their kingdoms in union, yet each kingdom kept its own parliament, and constitutions. 100 years later, when King Philip IV ruled the Franco-Spanish war had begun, this put a huge strain on Spain resources. The king’s union of arms caused a major uproar in Catalonia because they were being forced to house Castilian troops. This was evidently the cause of multiple Catalan revolts, and a still ongoing conflict. In 1975, Catalonia adopted the Spanish Constitution, in order for them to gain back their autonomy. Due to the fact that Catalonia decided to adopt the Spanish Constitution, they are not allowed to secede from Spain. In light of this, Catalans are still

Spanish monarchs who united Aragon and Castile in 1469 and launched the Spanish golden age and Reconquista.

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

Until the fall of the Banu Qasi in 907, the Kings of Pamplona often intermarried with the Banu Qasi in order to maintain alliances that helped preserve the safety of the kingdom. During this time period, the Kingdom of Pamplona expanded greatly, taking in the former Frankish county of Aragon in 834 through marriage. In 925, The kingdom stretched even further in 925,

“The independence of the Crown, its political neutrality and its wish to embrace and reconcile the different ideological standpoints to enable it to contribute to the stability of our political system, facilitating a balance with the other constitutional and territorial bodies, promoting the orderly functioning of the State and providing a channel for cohesion among Spaniards.” His Majesty King Felipe VI Madrid, 19.6.2014. This is the moral that the spanish monarchy believes in. Spanish royalty has dated way back and has influenced Europe in many ways. Ihe Monarchy in its different conceptions and modes, has been the widespread form of government and is the institution holding the utmost political power in Spain. The political and institutional history of Spain is, in part, the history of its Monarchy and its kings and queens. The specific titles used by the Kings of Spain are very important to the spanish culture. Together with the short title - King of Spain or of the Spains, which makes summary reference to the Monarchy's place of origin, the grand or long title was used officially in each reign up until the 19th century. Said long title explicitly mentioned the territories and titles with which the Spanish monarch reigned, with which his ancestors had reigned or over which he was considered to have legitimate rights. Some important kings in history were Sancho III the Older, King of Navarre, in the 11th century brought together under his throne a substantial part of

There were many political causes for the decline of the Spanish Monarchy in the seventeenth century. “Seventeenth-century Spain was the age of the “lesser Habsburgs” – Philip III (1598–1621), Philip IV, and Charles II (1665–1700) – who are widely thought to have been less able and less energetic than Ferdinand and Isabella, Charles V and Philip II.” (Storrs, 1). In the seventeenth century the leaders (kings) were weaker and they couldn’t find solutions to problems (economic problems, social problems, etc.) occurring in Spain. These leaders couldn’t keep Spain out of war and battles either, and consequently, despite periods of truce with its rivals, Spain was at odds with one or more countries for much of the seventeenth century. Although

Spain the beautiful, known for its historic monuments and culture. Spain stretched with amazing cities and towns complimented with modern and ancient architecture. Not only does it`s architecture and culture speak volumes, but it`s physical geography is breath taking. My personal interest in the country of Spain is based primarily on my heritage and being of Spanish decent myself. Spain is one of the cultural centers of Europe. It`s flag is yellow and red, the yellow emphasizes cheerfulness and hope while the red represents strength leadership and confidence. The flag was adopted in 1785, consist of three horizontal stripes a yellow stripe between two red stripes with the coast of arms on the yellow stripe.” ("Spain.” Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations). We will explore Spain`s communication, its geography, military

Catalonia, the Northeastern region of Spain, is engaged in a true and realistic conflict over gaining sovereignty and independence from Spain. This conflict, which is rooted in Catalonian nationalism, has been ongoing for years and has evolved significantly over time (Alexander, 2014). Since the conquering of Catalonia many centuries ago, the Catalonian people have worked resiliently to resist the loss of their language and culture by struggling against assimilating to the common cultures, laws, and language of its conqueror (Alexander, 2014). Throughout Spanish history, Catalonia has employed different methods in achieving their goal of independence from Spain. The manifestation of this conflict has taken the form of protests, laws, political parties, and certain acts of violence which indicates the severity of it, the passion of its participants, and provides concrete evidence that this conflict not only exists but is highly prevalent in Spanish history.

During Spain’s reign as the leading force in Europe, their social rise and fall materialized from religion and unity. Nationalism was important for most countries because it helped connect the people to their kingdom. Spain was no exception. As the soon-to-be empire began to explore, they conquered many individuals and places, such as the Aztecs or Incans. This instilled a sense of pride in the people of Spain. Because of victories in battles such as the Battle of Lepanto, in which the Spanish Empire defeated the Ottoman Empire, the Spanish united in the belief that their people were the greatest. They were also bound by their thoughts on Christianity and that they should be the ones to spread the religion. On the other hand, Spain’s empire was separated by religious tensions and the expulsion of other religions. Violence towards other religions was common in this time, and rulers such as Ferdinand and Isabella decided to rid their empire of the Jews and the Muslims. They began the Spanish

The objective of my thesis is to better understand the factors that underlie Catalonia’s desire to secede from Spain. Borrowing from academic literature, this thesis will identify the economic, ethnic/social and political factors that have played a role in the movement towards Catalan independence. The method for my thesis will be a case study and historical methodology and possibly a non-participant observation. This methodology will allow me to address the research