Prehistorical Times
The oldest historical findings made in Spain date of about
30000 to 50000 b.C.
Among the most important remains of this period are the caves Cova Negra
(Játiva) and
Piñar (Granada).
The Celt-Iberian Spain
The Iberian population probably arrived to the
peninsula from the north of Africa.
Tartessos, probably an iberian tribe,
founded an important kingdom of high culture in the valley
of Guadalquivir
river, in the south of Spain. By 1200 b.C. Celtic tribes entered the
peninsula from
the north, mixing up with Iberians and so generating the
celt-iberian race. The origin of
the bask race
living in the north of the
country is uncertain, but many historians suppose that
it goes back to a
pre-iberian population.
Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians
By 1100 b.C. Phoenicians arrived to the peninsula and
founded colonies, the most important
of which was Gadir
(today's Cadiz).
Also Greeks founded colonies in southern Spain and along the Mediterranean coast.
During the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthago Carthaginians invaded
Spain and
conquered large parts of it.
Their most important colonies were the
island Ibiza and Cartagena, the "new Carthago".
Romans and Goths
After Rome had defeated Carthago definitely, Romans also
invaded the colonies in Spain,
and ended up
conquering the entire peninsula.
The
province Hispania became part and parcel of Roman empire and
acquired
great
importance, even two Roman emperors, Traian and Hadrian,
were born there.
Spaniards absorbed completely the Roman culture as still today
is very evident in their language.
In 409, when the Roman empire started to fall, Gothic tribes invaded the
peninsula and
established their kingdom in 419.
Moorish Epoch and Reconquista
Gothic dominance lasted until 711, when Muslim armies
crossed the Straight of Gibraltar
and defeated Roderic,
the last Visigoth king.
Specially the southern parts of Spain, called al-Andalus, were prospering
in the Moorish epoch,
thanks to new sciences and agricultural technics. The
Moors conquered major parts of
the country until
they were defeated for the
first time by Visigoth king Pelayo at Covadonga
in northern Spain, 722.
Though the small Christian kingdoms in the north were a nucleus of resistence,
the Arabian
culture was prospering in the rest
of the country.
The Muslim Spain
by the time got politically independent of the Arabian empire, and in
10th
century Abderraman III.
made Al-Andalus his own caliphate.
In this epoch
Cordoba was the indisputable cultural center of this area of the world.
Decadence started in 11th century, when the various Arabian noble
families were more and
more at variance among themselves, and al-Andalus broke
into numerous small caliphates.
The Christian kingdoms in the north started then
the reconquest of Spain.
The marriage between Isabel of Castilia and
Ferdinand of Aragon in 1469, uniting the two
most important among them,
was the turning point of the Reconquista. From now on
Muslims rapidly lost
territory, until they were definitely expelled when they lost their last
remaining caliphate, Granada, in 1492.
The Catholic Monarchs
Isabel and Ferdinand succeeded in uniting the whole
country under their crown, and their
effort to "re-christianize"
Spain resulted
in the Spanish Inquisition, when thousands of
Jews and Moors who didn't
want to convert to
Christianism were expelled or killed.
After the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in 1492 tons of gold and
silver
were brought in from the new
continent, and Spain became one of the most
powerful nations
of this epoch called the Golden Age.
Habsburg and Borbon Kings
After Isabel died in 1504, her daughter Joan who was
married with the German emperor's
son Philip succeeded to the throne.
Charles
I., at the same time Austrian king and German emperor united in 1517 one
of the
largest empires in history.
Anyhow after his retirement in 1556 it was split
between the Spanish and the Austrian line
of Habsburg family.
Spain was prospering economically under the Habsburg crown thanks to the trade
with
its American colonies,
but on the hand involved in wars with France, the
Netherlands
and England, culminating in the disastrous defeat of the "Invincible
Armada" in 1588.
When the last Habsburg King Charles II. died without descendant, the nephew of
French King Louis XIV., Philip of Borbon, successed to the throne.
As a consequence of the French Revolution, Spain declared war on the new
republic but
was defeated.
Napoleon took the power in France and sent his troops
against Spain in 1808.
He established his brother
Joseph as Spanish king, but
Spaniards fought a 5-year
Independence War against the French.
After Napoleon's definite defeat at Waterloo in 1815, Ferdinand VII. was
restored to
the Spanish throne and reigned
with rigid absolutism.
When he
changed the law of succession to the throne and his daughter Isabel was
established
as queen,
his brother Charles rebelled against it and the War of
Seven Years broke out.
Economical recession and political instability were
the consequences, Spain lost its colonies
with the exceptions of Puerto Rico,
Cuba and Philippines.
The revolution of 1868 forced Isabel II. to renounce to
the throne, and the First Republic
was proclaimed.
Anyhow, it lasted for
just about one year. After a coup d'état Isabel's son, Alphonse XII.,
restored the kingdom. The rebellion of Cuba in 1895 resulted in a war against
United States,
with disastrous results for Spain. It lost its last overseas
possessions.
20th Century
The economical crisis of the early 1920s led the country
to the brink of civil war, and
General Primo de Ribera
established a military
dictature until 1930. Elections in 1931 saw
a triumph for the political left,
and Alphonse XIII. left the country.
Increasing conflicts between the Republican
government and the Nationalist opposition led
to the Spanish Civil War
(1936-39).
The Nationalists, led by General Franco, received extensive support
from Nazi-Germany
and fascist Italy and succeeded against the Republican block
which was officially supported
only by Russia, although many intellectuals (as
Ernest Hemingway) and politically committed
from other countries fought in the
International Brigades.
The nationalists succeeded.
Although Franco kept Spain neutral during World War II,
his military dictature
led to political and economical isolation.
During the 1950s and 60s every effort
was taken to improve international relations, and
the country's economy
recovered.
In 1969 Franco proclaimed Juan Carlos de Borbon, the grandson of
Alphonse XIII.,
his successor with the title of king.
Franco died in 1975, and a constitutional monarchy was established.
President
Adolfo Suarez introduced important political reforms. When he surprisingly
dismissed in 1981, a group of militars tried to take the power with a coup, but
failed.
In 1982 the socialist party won the elections and Felipe Gonzalez became
president of
the government. Spain became member of the NATO in 1985 and entered
the
European Community in 1986.
In 1992 it appeared impressively at the world
stage: Barcelona hosted the Olympic Games,
Seville the world exposition EXPO'92,
and Madrid was declared European Cultural Capital.
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