Spain

Introduction to Spain

• Spain in the Middle Ages: Conquered by Roman Empire, then Roman Empire falls, the German barbarians took over and then they became catholic. After that, Muslims invade Spain.

• 1942: the most important day in Spanish history, they discovered America. In the same day they pushed the Muslims out of the country (reconquista), Spain became a strong catholic country because the Catholicism was under attack when the Muslims took over.

• after the reconquista there were a lot of veterans who were extremely catholic, they could possibly start rebellions or cause trouble. Good thing that Spain discovered a new continent, and they sent the veterans to conquer the Americans. And that's when, after the reconquista of Spain, started the conquest of America.

• Spain was the biggest superpower at some point. What happened? Early 1800s, Spain started loosing all the colonies they had when Bonaparte invaded Spain. It lost all the colonies in the Americas except from Cuba and the rest of the colonies they had were Papua guinea, the Philippines and part of Morocco. That was until 1898 where the Americans took over Cuba and the Philippines and Spain became a very unstable country.

• 1903 Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera was the first fascist dictator of Spain, after WW1 in 1929 the great depression came around and it shook Spain economy.

• In the subsequent years, political strife escalated, culminating in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), which resulted in a prolonged dictatorship under Francisco Franco. This period not only saw the suppression of regional identities but also led to significant social and economic changes, leaving a lasting impact on Spain's future. The post-Franco era initiated a transition to democracy, marked by the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in 1978, which embraced a more inclusive approach to governance and regional autonomy.