First King Of A United Spain example essay topic

Spain, country in southern Europe, south of France. The total area is 505,990 sq km (195,364 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Madrid. Land and Resources The largest part of Spain is a dry central plateau divided by mountain ranges, where rapid rivers flow through narrow valleys.

A narrow plain edges the long coast. The Pyrenees Mountains form the border with France, and the narrow Strait of Gibraltar separates Spain from Africa. Despite a climate with extremes of temperature and generally low rainfall, nearly one-third of Spain's land is suitable for cultivation. Olive trees and grapevines are widely grown. The country also has many mineral resources, including coal, iron, and petroleum. Population The population of Spain is 39,107,912 (1997 estimate), with 77 percent of the people living in towns and cities.

Ethnic groups include the Catalans, the Galicians, the Basques, and the Roma (Gypsies). About 97 percent of Spain's population is Roman Catholic. Education is free and compulsory. Most of the people of Spain speak Castilian Spanish, but Catalan, Galician, and Basque are also spoken. Spain has rich traditions of music, painting, and literature (see Spanish Literature). It is known for festivals called fiestas, for guitar music such as flamenco, and for bullfighting.

Economy Traditionally an agricultural country, Spain saw rapid industrial growth during the late 1900's. Manufacturing now employs twice as many workers as agriculture and related activities. The country has a flourishing tourism industry. Fishing also contributes to the Spanish economy. Spain is a leading wine producer. Among its manufactures are textiles, iron and steel, motor vehicles, ships, and cement.

The unit of currency is the peseta (127 pesetas equal U.S. $1; 1996). Government The head of state of Spain is a hereditary monarch. Executive power is held by the prime minister, a cabinet, and the Council of States, a consultative body. Spain's parliament is made up of a 208-member Senate, which also has 47 special regional representatives, and a 350-member Congress of Deputies, which votes into office the prime minister proposed by the monarch. History Human beings lived in what is now Spain during the Stone Age. The Iberians, a North African people, were well established by 1000 BC.

The Celts later migrated from France and intermingled with the Iberians. The Phoenicians established a colony, probably in the 11th century BC, and Greek traders followed, establishing colonies on the Mediterranean coast. In the late 3rd century BC the African state of Carthage conquered much of the region, a move viewed unfavorably by Rome, which forced the Carthaginians out in 206 BC. See Punic Wars. For the next seven centuries, until the fall of the Roman Empire in Europe in the 5th century AD, this region was one of Rome's most prosperous possessions. The Visigoths invaded the region in AD 412.

Within seven years they were the region's dominant power. For three centuries the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse implanted Roman culture and Christianity in the peninsula. Roman Catholicism became the official state religion. In 711 an Islamic army invaded from northern Africa and defeated the Visigoths. By 719 Muslims known as Moors ruled most of the region.

Spanish civilization flowered during three centuries of Moorish rule. Learning was cultivated at Muslim universities, an extensive literature developed, and art and architecture flourished. A remnant of Christian rule was preserved in the northern portion of the region. The next centuries saw an enlargement of Christian territory, and in 1056, with northern Spain consolidated, Ferdinand I proclaimed himself emperor of Spain, initiating the period of reconquest from the Moors. After a great battle fought on the plains of Toledo in 1212, Moorish power was limited to a few areas in the south, where it endured until 1492. In 1469 Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand V of Arag " on married, linking the two Spanish kingdoms.

In 1478 they established the Inquisition to enforce the purity of the Catholic faith, and also to increase royal power. Inquisitors were given both civil and church power. Proceedings were secret and property confiscated. In 1492 the last Moorish stronghold was conquered. Religious uniformity was imposed throughout Spain by the forcible conversion or expulsion of Jews and Moors. The Spanish monarchs sponsored the journey of Italian-Spanish navigator Christopher Columbus to find a westward route to the Indies.

Columbus's voyages were followed by Spain's expansion in the Americas. By the 1550's Spain controlled most of South America, Central America, Florida, Cuba, and, in Asia, the Philippine Islands. This empire brought enormous wealth to Spain, and it became a major power in Europe. In 1516, the year of Ferdinand's death, Spain controlled southern Italy and had arranged strategic marriages with other royal families. Ferdinand was succeeded by his grandson, Charles, the first king of a united Spain.

Charles was also an heir to the Habsburg dynasty and so held the Netherlands and Bourgogne. In 1519 he was elected Holy Roman emperor. See Charles V. In 1556, when Charles relinquished the Spanish throne to his son, Philip II, Spain was prosperous, and its "Golden Age" of culture and art began. In 1580 Philip acquired Portugal and its territories in Asia, Africa, and Brazil, becoming ruler of the largest empire in the world. Troubles gradually accumulated, however. Philip's persecution of Protestants and his attempts to rule the Netherlands led to war with Protestant England.

Philip sent the great Spanish Armada against England in 1588, but it was defeated. Epidemics swept Spain in the 1590's, significantly reducing the population. Although Spain reached its cultural height in the 1600's, the country was in political turmoil. In 1701 the Austrian Habsburgs and the French Bourbons both claimed the Spanish throne, leading to the War of the Spanish Succession, which involved much of Europe until 1713. Spain's European possessions went to Austria, while the throne and the overseas empire passed to France. Bourbon rule was notable for large public works programs, commerce, industry, agriculture, a revived intellectual life, and economic growth.

The American colonies were reorganized, and Spain's commercial ties with them were improved. The French Revolution of 1789 led to upheavals in Spain. By 1805 Spain had become a French puppet with Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon I, on the throne. Spanish guerrillas resisted French occupation.

Meanwhile, Spain's American colonies began to win their independence, and by 1826 only Cuba and Puerto Rico remained under Spanish rule. King Ferdinand VII returned to Spain in 1814. In 1831 he named his infant daughter, Isabella, as his successor. Civil war resulted between the Carlists, supporters of Ferdinand's brother Charles, and the Cristianos, named for Isabella's mother, Maria Christina, who acted as regent.

Carlist forces were defeated in 1839, and in 1843 Isabella was declared legally of age. As ruler, Isabella II offended Spaniards. They united to depose her in the "Glorious Revolution" of September 1868, and the parliament proclaimed the first Spanish republic in 1873. Political anarchy followed. In 1874 a group of generals restored the monarchy with Isabella's son, Alfonso XII, as king. An 1895 revolt in Cuba, supported by the United States, led to the Spanish-American War in 1898.

Badly defeated, Spain withdrew from Cuba and ceded Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the United States. Spain remained neutral during World War I (1914-1918) and experienced an economic boom, but political and social conflicts arose. Weakened by acceptance of a military dictatorship, King Alfonso X became so unpopular that in 1931 he left Spain. The succeeding republic was short-lived. Military revolt in 1936 grew into the Spanish Civil War between the leftist Republicans, or Loyalists, supported by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and the rightist Nationalists, aided by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The Nationalists found a strong leader in General Francisco Franco, while the Loyalists were divided.

Intense fighting ended in 1939 with victory for the Nationalists. Franco imprisoned hundreds of thousands of Loyalists and had perhaps 37,000 executed. By 1942 he had complete control over Spain and resisted the pressures of German chancellor Adolf Hitler to enter World War II (1939-1945). From 1946 to 1950 the United Nations (UN) and many countries refused to acknowledge Franco's dictatorial regime.

However, as the Cold War developed, Franco began to be seen as an ally against Communism. In 1955 Spain was admitted to the UN and began to function again within the international arena. Franco's regime gradually dropped restrictive controls over business, eased labor relations, and industrialized the Spanish economy. After 1961, the economy boomed, though the regime continued to be oppressive. In 1962 Franco instituted martial law, but gradual liberalization occurred between 1966 and 1969, increasing freedom of the press, making the government more representative, and recognizing Spain's official status as a monarchy.

Franco died in 1975, and King Juan Carlos I became ruler. He favored full democratization, and despite resistance the first democratic elections in four decades were held in 1977. In 1978 a new democratic constitution provided for a constitutional monarchy, freedom for political parties, and autonomy for Spain's "nationalities and regions". Catalans and Basques pushed for and gained home rule and greater language rights. In 1982 Socialists led by Felipe Gonz " alex M' won the election.

Under Gonz " alex, the party shed its Marxist principles and favored business, taking Spain into the European Community (now European Union) and sparking a major economic revival. Gonz " alex was reaffirmed in office in the elections of 1986, 1989, and 1993. In the early 1990's continued scandals within the government forced Gonz " alex to seek support from the Catalan and Basque nationalist parties in exchange for greater regional autonomy and benefits. Popular sentiment in the Catalan and Basque regions supported more autonomy but not complete independence from Spain. In the 1996 elections, the Socialists lost their majority to the conservative People's Party, led by Jos'e Mar " ia Aznar, who formed a government in coalition with Catalan nationalists. Regionalism seems likely to influence Spanish politics for years to come.

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