History of The mighty Spanish Empire .
After the fall of the mighty Roman empire the powers of Europe were all but spent but that all changed when the Spanish discovered America . When Christopher Columbus discovered America the old world was a flame with excitement and the Spanish saw an opportunity to expand the lands under their rule and to fill their coffers .After 50 years the Spanish had conquered and explored a vast amount of the American continent and they had established a rich empire . Alas the money gained in the Americas was to be swallowed up by the massive war efforts of the Spanish in their attempts to conquer their enemies .At their height they controlled much of America as well as areas in Italy , Austria , some of the Netherlands , Africa and Oceania.
As previously mentioned massive amounts of riches were to be gained by the Spanish when they conquered vast areas of the Americas . The money that was gained from their conquests went into the construction of churches and monasteries and a vast amount of these were built in America because the Spanish had a compulsion to turn the people of the Americas from Pagan heathens into righteous Christians .This ultimately had dire ramifications for the Spanish empire because they did not use the money to establish a sustainable economy or to create a dependable agriculture system .
In the 17th century the Spanish suffered under weak rulers and thus the Spanish empire started to decline because of a lack of interest in commerce and industry unlike the rest of Europe .During this tumultuous time the Spanish fought with the French and as a result lost land in the Netherlands and Italy . Also the Spanish started to isolate themselves from the rest of the world and stopped sending Spaniards to the Americas because they no longer wanted to learn from the rest of the world . Thus the treasures coming from the Americas were getting smaller and now many foreign businessman controlled the Spanish empires treasury and economy .
In the beginning of the 18th century a new line of kings would take the throne , they were known as the Hasburg kings and the heir to the throne was a Bourbon who had french connection . During this period (age of enlightenment ) the Spanish would have a renaissance but alas the church was still a thorn in the way of the Spanish empire expanding and the inquisitions were still happening .
During this time Spain was still actively involved in warfare and it was during this period that Lord Nelson would destroy the Spanish fleet. These events lead to the occupation of Spain by the French ( the rule of Spain was handed over to the brother of Napoleon Joseph ).
When the Spanish finally regained the throne they found out that they no longer had the support of the people of Spain and thus the country was poised to enter a civil war . During the 19th century the people of Spain revolted and soon rebellions were to plague the Spanish empire . The people of the Americas saw that the mighty Spanish empire was weakened and so they took their opportunity and they fought for their freedom and in the resulting wars much of the colonial possession of Spain in the Americas was lost by 1824.
With the death of the king Fernando VII in 1833 the Spanish empire entered another civil war because the supporters wanted the brother of the past king to take the throne instead of the daughter of the king Isabel . In 1873 a republic was formed but this fledgling power would not last even a year as the 4 presidents that ruled in that period could not form the strong government that Spain needed so dearly . Thus the short lived republic came to an end with the third Carlist in which the carlists were as with the previous wars unsuccessful . In a very interesting turn of events the army installed the son of Isabel to the throne (Alfonso XII) so the people that had originally fought to keep the Bourbon monarchs out of power had installed one .
The new king brought about a period of stability because he let the government deal with the real politics but alas he died in 1885 and his wife would take the throne and rule for 17 years . During her rule the land of Cuba was taken by the United States during the 3 month Spanish American war and meanwhile the Spanish were forced to leave Puerto Rico , the Philippians and Guam .
These events signaled the effective end of the Spanish empire but during their Golden period they had done many great things and they will go down in history because the mighty empire would rule over 13% of the world surface and also because they were responsible for introducing the new world to the riches of the Americas .
As previously mentioned massive amounts of riches were to be gained by the Spanish when they conquered vast areas of the Americas . The money that was gained from their conquests went into the construction of churches and monasteries and a vast amount of these were built in America because the Spanish had a compulsion to turn the people of the Americas from Pagan heathens into righteous Christians .This ultimately had dire ramifications for the Spanish empire because they did not use the money to establish a sustainable economy or to create a dependable agriculture system .
In the 17th century the Spanish suffered under weak rulers and thus the Spanish empire started to decline because of a lack of interest in commerce and industry unlike the rest of Europe .During this tumultuous time the Spanish fought with the French and as a result lost land in the Netherlands and Italy . Also the Spanish started to isolate themselves from the rest of the world and stopped sending Spaniards to the Americas because they no longer wanted to learn from the rest of the world . Thus the treasures coming from the Americas were getting smaller and now many foreign businessman controlled the Spanish empires treasury and economy .
In the beginning of the 18th century a new line of kings would take the throne , they were known as the Hasburg kings and the heir to the throne was a Bourbon who had french connection . During this period (age of enlightenment ) the Spanish would have a renaissance but alas the church was still a thorn in the way of the Spanish empire expanding and the inquisitions were still happening .
During this time Spain was still actively involved in warfare and it was during this period that Lord Nelson would destroy the Spanish fleet. These events lead to the occupation of Spain by the French ( the rule of Spain was handed over to the brother of Napoleon Joseph ).
When the Spanish finally regained the throne they found out that they no longer had the support of the people of Spain and thus the country was poised to enter a civil war . During the 19th century the people of Spain revolted and soon rebellions were to plague the Spanish empire . The people of the Americas saw that the mighty Spanish empire was weakened and so they took their opportunity and they fought for their freedom and in the resulting wars much of the colonial possession of Spain in the Americas was lost by 1824.
With the death of the king Fernando VII in 1833 the Spanish empire entered another civil war because the supporters wanted the brother of the past king to take the throne instead of the daughter of the king Isabel . In 1873 a republic was formed but this fledgling power would not last even a year as the 4 presidents that ruled in that period could not form the strong government that Spain needed so dearly . Thus the short lived republic came to an end with the third Carlist in which the carlists were as with the previous wars unsuccessful . In a very interesting turn of events the army installed the son of Isabel to the throne (Alfonso XII) so the people that had originally fought to keep the Bourbon monarchs out of power had installed one .
The new king brought about a period of stability because he let the government deal with the real politics but alas he died in 1885 and his wife would take the throne and rule for 17 years . During her rule the land of Cuba was taken by the United States during the 3 month Spanish American war and meanwhile the Spanish were forced to leave Puerto Rico , the Philippians and Guam .
These events signaled the effective end of the Spanish empire but during their Golden period they had done many great things and they will go down in history because the mighty empire would rule over 13% of the world surface and also because they were responsible for introducing the new world to the riches of the Americas .