Historical background

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Historical background: the Spanish state-building process Spain comes from “Hispania”, a province of the Roman

Empire.

After the failure of the Roman Empire, German tribes invaded the Iberian peninsula and formed the first state entities (duchies, counties, marquisates...)

These medieval basic units were characterized by the personal link between the feudal lord and his serfs (“enfiteusis”). The most important were called “principados” (i.e. the Principado of Asturias).

In the course of time they were unified in bigger and bigger entities, called kingdoms. Asturias and Catalonia were the principalities that created the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon.

Historical background: the Spanish state-building process, 2 The state-building process in the Iberian peninsula took

place in the broader context of a territorial expansion of Christianity against the Islam (“La Reconquista”)

The marriage in 1469 of the Catholic Monarchs (“Los Reyes Católicos”), created a confederation of reigns, each with their own administrations, but ruled by a common monarch

1492 is a watershed year in the History of Spain. The Catholic Monarches conquer the Kingdom of Granada and Cristopher Columbus "discovers" America.

In 1516 Charles V becomes the first King of a unified Spanish Crown. Once the Reconquista was finished, Charles V continues the Spanish expansion worldwide.

Historical background: the Spanish state-building process, 3 Between 1521 and 1643, the Spanish Empire reaches its

maximum territorial expansion (almost 4 million square kilometers). It becames the first global power in History. It is called “the Empire where the sun never sets”

After 1643, the Spanish Empire initializes a long decline. It will be overcome by other global powers: France at the 18th century, then the United Kingdom (19th century) and, finally, the United States (the Spanish-American War of 1898)

In 1700, the last Spanish Habsburg King, Charles II of Spain, died without issue. The War of the Spanish Succession begins. In 1714 the war finishes. A new French dynasty, the Bourbons, will reign the Spanish Empire. Nevertheless, the Bourbons will not be able to avoid its definitive decline

Historical background: the Spanish state-building process, 4 In 1793, the Spanish Empire went to war against

Revolutionary France. Defeated in the field, the Spanish state became a client of the new French Republic. The Spanish king abdicates in favour of Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte.

Between 1808 the popular uprising of the people of Madrid against the French rule begins the Independence War that will finish with the approval of the first Spanish liberal Constitution in 1812

The Spanish weakness that follows the war against France will help the American colonies to obtain their independence. Spanish monarchy loses its empire

Historical background: the Spanish state-building process, 5 Inside Spain there takes place a centralization process of

the political power. In 1834, Javier de Burgos organizes the Kingdom of Spain in provinces.

As a reaction against the centralization of power, in Galicia, the Basque Country and Catalonia arise the stateless nationalisms

The Spanish history of the 19th and 20th centuries is the history of a permanent crisis. Spanish politics can be described as a series of different political systems of few duration.

The interference of the army in the country’s political life becomes the decisive variable in Spanish politics

Historical background: the Spanish state-building process, 6 After the defeat in the American-Spanish War (1898), the

Spanish political regime that followed the First Republic (the so-called Restauración) collapses

Without colonies in Asia and America, the monarchy and the army try to keep African colonies. In 1909 a social movement arises in Barcelona against conscription. It is the Semana Trágica.

The military reaction against social mobilization will end in 1923 with a new autocratic regime under the leadership of General Miguel Primo de Rivera

On April 14, 1931, democracy is restored. It is the Second Spanish Republic (1931-1936/1939)