HISTORY OF SPAIN
The history of Spain dates to contact between the pre-Roman peoples of
the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula with the Greeks and Phoenicians.
During Classical Antiquity, the peninsula was the site of multiple successive
colonizations of Greeks, Carthaginians, and Romans. Native peoples of the
peninsula, such as the Tartessos, intermingled with the colonizers to create a
uniquely Iberian culture. The Romans referred to the entire peninsula as Hispania,
from which the name "Spain" originates. As was the rest of the Western Roman
Empire, Spain was subject to numerous invasions of Germanic tribes during the 4th
and 5th centuries AD, resulting in the end of Roman rule and the establishment of
Germanic kingdoms, marking the beginning of the Middle Ages in Spain.
Germanic control lasted until the Umayyad conquest of Hispania began in 711. The
region became known as Al-Andalus, and except for the small Kingdom of Asturias,
the region remained under the control of Muslim-led states for much of the Early
Middle Ages, a period known as the Islamic Golden Age. By the time of the High
Middle Ages, Christians from the north gradually expanded their control over Iberia,
a period known as the Reconquista. As they expanded southward, a number of
Christian kingdoms were formed, including the Kingdom of Navarre, the Kingdom of
León, the Kingdom of Castile, and the Kingdom of Aragon. They eventually
consolidated into two roughly equivalent polities, the Crown of Castile and
the Crown of Aragon. The early modern period is generally dated from the union of
the Crowns of Castile and Aragon in 1469.
The joint rule of Isabella I and Ferdinand II is historiographically considered the
foundation of a unified Greater Spain. The conquest of Granada, and the first
voyage of Columbus, both in 1492, made that year a critical inflection point in
Spanish history. The voyages of the explorers and conquistadors of Spain during the
subsequent decades helped establish a Spanish colonial empire which was among
the largest ever. King Charles I established the Spanish Habsburg dynasty. Under his
son Philip II the Spanish Golden Age flourished, the Spanish Empire reached its
territorial and economic peak, and his palace at El Escorial became the center of
artistic flourishing. However, Philip's rule also saw the calamitous destruction of
the Spanish Armada, numerous state bankruptcies and the independence of
the Northern Netherlands, which marked the beginning of the slow decline of
Spanish influence in Europe. Spain's power was further tested by its participation in
the Eighty Years' War, whereby it tried and failed to recapture the newly
independent Dutch Republic, and the Thirty Years' War, which resulted in continued
decline of Habsburg power in favor of the French Bourbon dynasty. Matters came to
a head during the reign of Charles II of Spain; upon his death, the War of the
Spanish Succession broke out between the French Bourbons and the Austrian
Habsburgs. The Bourbons prevailed, resulting in the ascension of Philip V of Spain,
who took Spain into the various wars to recapture the Spanish-controlled lands in
Southern Italy recently lost.
During the Napoleonic era, Spain became a French puppet state. Concurrent with,
and following, the Napoleonic period the Spanish American wars of
independence resulted in the loss of most of Spain's territory in the Americas.
During the re-establishment of the Bourbon rule in Spain, constitutional
monarchy was introduced in 1813. Spain's history during the nineteenth century
was tumultuous, and featured alternating periods of republican-liberal and
monarchical rule. The Spanish–American War led to losses of Spanish colonial
possessions and a series of military dictatorships, during which King Alfonso XIII was
deposed and a new Republican government was formed. Ultimately, the political
disorder within Spain led to a coup by the military which led to the Spanish Civil
War. After much foreign intervention on both sides, the Nationalists emerged
victorious; Francisco Franco led a fascist dictatorship for almost four decades.
Franco's death ushered in a return of the monarchy under King Juan Carlos I, which
saw a liberalization of Spanish society and a re-engagement with the international
community. A new liberal Constitution was established in 1978. Spain entered
the European Economic Community in 1986 (transformed into the European
Union in 1992), and the Eurozone in 1998. Juan Carlos abdicated in 2014, and was
succeeded by his son Felipe VI.
HISTORY
OF
SPAIN
Submitted to: Mr. Oscar Peralta JD.
Submitted by: Lacay, Godelyn N.
