> The collapse of the Spanish Empire left weak governments unable to control vast territories, opening space for regional strongmen, or caudillos, who ruled through personal armies, patronage, and landownership rather than constitutions. Much like feudal lords, they taxed, judged, and protected their provinces, building a system of neo-feudal caudillismo where politics depended on shifting loyalties rather than institutions. This dynamic fueled much of Latin America’s 19th-century instability.> In Spain, the Napoleonic invasion and imperial decline produced a similar fragmentation. Instead of caudillos, power lay with Carlist warlords, coup-prone generals, and rural caciques who dominated villages through patronage and intimidation. The Carlist wars turned parts of the Basque Country, Navarre, and Catalonia into semi-independent strongholds, while generals in Madrid toppled governments and local bosses rigged elections. As in the Americas, politics revolved around personal power rather than stable institutions.> This fragmentation opened both Spain and its former colonies to foreign dominance, especially by Britain. British merchants quickly displaced Spain’s monopoly, flooding new republics with goods and securing markets for their textiles and machinery. British banks financed wars and indebted states, trading loans for concessions in mining, railways, and customs. Other powers, like France and later the United States, also exploited the instability, but Britain benefited most, turning much of Spanish America into an informal empire. Even Spain itself, weakened by war and debt, relied on foreign capital, leaving both sides of the Atlantic dependent on external financiers and markets.
>>215358958It's Britain's fault that Spain was painting maps and not actually controlling anything
>>215358958just like my victoria 3 events wtf
>yet another hiscacanix latrinxoid blaming someone else for their own incompetenceyawn
>>215361345da english man keepin us down brotha
look at the latinx aztec simping for his conquerors. you truly are a broken people.
