How did the Kingdom of Spain go from conquering entire continents and ruling the world to being an irrelevant European shithole?
>>522555320Ww1&2
when they stopped deporting jews
>>522555320Their time was up.
>>522555320Because of the entire continent conquering thing, they thought they didn't need to industrialize.
>>522555320Debased thier money by importing ungodly amounts of stolen gold.
>>522555320There are entire lectures on that subject OP.
>>522555320>higher minimum wage than the USA>zero school shootings>robust public education system, unlike the US>robust public transportation system, unlike the US>Spanairds don't go bankrupt for an X-ray scan, unlike Americans>food that isn't made of corn syrup and chemicals>the corrupt government is slowly being jailed for their crimes, unlike America's>fast, cheap Internet unlike the USA>a government that isn't implicated with Epstein>less niggers and pajeets than the USA>women that don't weight 700 KgWe have a government hellbent on destroying the country and still we outdo the USA in several areas. So if we're an irrelevant shithole, the USA is even below that.
>>522555320Why don’t all Hispanic girls look like her? That’s what we need.
>>522555320inflation from all the silver. then they had a series of poor regents thanks to the habsburgs, then got hit by napoleon after which it was back to mismanagement and then >>522555359
>>522555697>entire lecturesZoomers believe this signifies some complex concept. A lecture is only like 10k words.
>>522555320Simple. The idiot called Franco literally sold the country to freemasons before he died.[See Juan Carlos I and Adolfo Suárez, 2 shabbos goys]
>>522555320the love of a virgin LOL HAHAHhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79fzeNUqQbQ&list=RD79fzeNUqQbQ&start_radio=1
>>522555320If you want to know how, just look at what America is doing right now.
>>522555320Sad how now when people hear Spanish they think Mexicans or some other "latin" american indio niggers. Spain was once very based.D.E.P.
>>522555320I have a tingling this is a kike seethe thread
>>522555320>US spend 100 years focussed on eliminating the entire spanish empire"wOW WARE DID THE EMPAIR GO"read about what the US did in the philipines.
>>522555320Spain went down when they tried a french styled centralization based on Castille absorving the periphery, only Portugal got free, sadly.
>>522556443if someone nuked barcelona, everything would improve dramatically.
>>522555917>Zoomers believecool but we are talking about a complex concept here.
>>522555320ironically the former lead to the latter. They spent too long trying to maintain their american colonies. These were profitable initially mostly because they contained a shitload of gold but once manufacturing and industry took off in Europe a shitload of gold was no longer enough to make you a dominant power. The other European colonial powers, meanwhile, either lost their American colonies or cut them loose for being useless and then adopted the new model of industrialized market colonialism in Asia and Africa, which made them filthy rich. The Spanish kept their American colonies and continued trying to Christianize them and turn them into extensions of Spain, and it turns out that that just ends with them controlling an entire continent of useless savages who now sort of believe in God and sort of speak Spanish.
>>522556498Thank you for your confirmation
>>522555320empires constantly rise and fall. it happened to everyone and it is happening right now to you.
They expanded too much and were basically extremely comfortable. Stop innovating, and by the end of the 1800s they were no longer a superpower. Very intelligent people overall
>>522555773All your gripes only apply to poorfags.Everyone in Spain is poor, so you obviously care very much, but most of that stuff doesn't affect anyone above the lower class.
>>522555320got too rich from new world gold and silver and used it to pay for importing everything instead of producing anything
>>522555320It's a judeo-masonic meme republic like all others, there are over 170 of these goypublics.
>>522555320that's every country in western europe
>>522555320You could muster a few hundred thousand i'd wager, enough for most things>a few hundred thousand good men could restart an empireAll you'd need is 10-15 fireteams to fuck up any country, they wouldn't even need to know each other >like minded individuals It's the globohomo kryptonite
>>5225553202050: How did the United States go from ruling the world to being an irrelevant shithole?
>>522555851Spaniards couldn't keep their dicks out of the natives and imported niggers.
>>522555320Napoleon and Masonry
>>522555320Jews.>Inb4 hurr durr always the jewsWho opened the gates of Toledo
>>522556863Nice try, angloid. Even the top earners in the US are under a lot of stress from debt and live paycheck to paycheck.
>>522556071When I hear Spain I think literal african niggers and arab muslims
>>522558708You understand that was for less than a century right? In Barcelona for example it was barely a hundred years and there are more muslims living now than through all the middle ages. The 800 year rule of the moors was only in Granada.
>>522555320Jews.
>>522555320financial empire is like the national version of generational welfare, and that kind of national-spiritual decline is hard to stop or come back from
the usa should trade with spain and give them back puerto rico. win win for both parties
>>522555359spain didn't actively participate in either of the world wars
>>522558826i would say to just give them the puerto ricans and keep the jurisdiction but taking into consideration the character of the crowd that goes there for the tax benefits, i think we should just give the entire damn island back
>>522556863Kek. Aren't you like 45% jeet and your long time care plan involves assisted suicide?
>>522558826We dont want people who say l instead of r, sounds retarded
>>522555320The same way Italy and Greece became irrelevant shitholes. The Industrial Revolution diminished the importance of agriculture and the climatic advantages of the south. The naturally superior abilities of the northern nations then became more obvious and their populations became more numerous.
>>522555320they have big economy and decent army but they are aware they arent world power anymore. You dont hear about them much since they dont waste their resources trying to colonize other countries unlike Russia, UK and France.
except in nominal salary we have better than you do in every way
>>522555320They let the jews back in.
>>522555320Re-admitting islam.
>>522556443Spain was never a real thing.
>>522555320Ask Italia, they have the answer
>>522555359You couldn't be more wrong Moshe, Spain grew during WWI and II.>>522555320The main problem was the isolationism with the rest of Europe, yes we had conflicts with the Protestants, the Frogs, the Bongs, the Thootpaste Niggers, Tugas, Moors, Vatniks, and between Spaniards too.
>>522555320Nice legs
>>522555868>a series of poor regents thanks to the habsburgslike who?they were pretty great regents in my opinionand thanks to the habsburgs they recovered their country from the muslims and successfully settled south america
>>522562858Spain went bankrupt 9 times between 1557 and 1666
>>522563813that doesn't count for much because it was constant war in those periodsthe worse it had was a debt five times its GDP and it still paid it back
>>522555320christianity ended up being retarded, and led to race-mixing that decreased productive forces.
>>522555320Gold .. It was Gold that destroyed SPainhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_revolution#:~:text=The%20failure%20of%20the%20Spanish,end%20of%20the%2016th%20century.
>have so much gold and silver you don't know what to do with it>somehow manage to fuck that upSeriously. How does this happen?
>>522564468>Prices and Inflation
>>522564468>>522564385>>522563813https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mqde3Oeo7Rg
>>522555320they kicked muslim moriscos out , thats one of the major reasons they wont tell you
>>522564878Your opinion is retarded .. go back to your goats Habib, the internet isn't for you.
>>522565018nice one faggot kicking the moriscos meant that many regions lost , valencia for exemple lost 1/3 of the population
>>522555320They never recovered ever since the UK wiped out their armada. Humiliating defeat for the moorish rape babies
>>522561450Portugal only exists because Spain wanted it to, so you'd better shut up.
>>522555320Via being a bunch of corrupt self-important fags, that's how.
>>522565144>valencia for exemple lost 1/3 of the populationGood, those vermin deserved it
>>522556863>a fucking leaf
>>522555359>Ww1&2...except they were shit before WW1.Real answer - they kicked out moors and jews during the inquisition, and they chose to build an empire on gold rather than the means to produce things bought by gold.
>>522564468The fought wars against frogs, protestants and ottomans.This meant all the silver from the new world got taken by bankers right away.
>>522565580Moors were quicked because they don't belong here and they rebelled against the Crown.Jews were expelled because they were jews.>>522561337
>>522555320She's not even Spanish, she's of Germanic origin. Spics are actually brown.
>>522565580they didn't really 'choose' an empire made of silver and gold. I was presented to them by fate (like oil did to the middle east). Spain made the error of taking loans to stamp out the Dutch and English Protestant heretics, but the silver and gold was going to thier enemies to buy products because silver had destroyed it's own production. I would also point out how this silver also fucked over the Chinese later .. but that is a seperate (though connected) story.
>>522565682The gold was lost during our Civil War in the XX century.Socialists and communists were scammed by the frogs and the russians buying weapons.
>>522555773>muh school shootingsOpinion disregarded
>>522555320Commies.
>>522565795Spain is one of the countries in which you can find some germanic people descendants from vandals and goths.Unfortunately they have been replaced by slav rape babies and turkroaches in Germany.
>>522565859>>522565859I meant that Spaniards didnt see all that much of the silver and gold because it all ended up funding Habsburglar wars.
>>522555396>when they stopped deporting>>522555320 is next
>>522566093>Vandals and GothsMore recently (17th century) a bunch of Flemings and Austrians also got resettled in Spain.
so many retarded postswhen did /pol/ become so retarded?
>>522555320They lost The Netherlands, which was their true source of wealth.
>>522555320they neglected the race laws.they refused to gas the semites. they gave birth to their cockroach rapists child. its now cockroach land, this is the semitic law.
>>522565520it was also in the black death plague time
>>522556443aww, do you miss us that badly?>>522565302glad to know you want us, thanks mano
>>522567481the great plague*
>>522556629>cut off american colonies to focus on industryinteresting. I wonder if there was a tradeoff. I wonder how taken aback the ruling class were when they realised the criteria for a strong nation had deviated so much.
>>522555320They didn't use the riches from south america to evolve but just drink wine and eat paela.
They got so filthy rich, they thought they can just live off it for the rest of history. They outsourced all trade with their colonies to anglos, curtailed all emergind industries in favor of imports and kept spending their money on pointless wars that led nowhere.
>>522555320Because it was inevitable the Americas would overtake Europe in influence and their part of America was full of brown people so it naturally became less respected. Any relevance Britain has still is just because of America and America has enough whites to make it much more powerful than Latin America
No Empire last forever. Ours lasted 406 years (1492-1898). We literally made the change of eras. Medieval Age ended in 1492 so thanks to us we are in the Modern Age.Spain created 40 UNESCO World Heritage sites, 15 universities (1 in Filipinas which is the 1st university in Asia).Laws, religion, traditions, language and a lot of other things. It was a much larger empire than the Roman Empire. The rest of the so called "empires" were never true empires (British, Dutch, Portuguese) but just economic ventures. This dog breed was used to hunt down amerindians. Bow to us.
Also the largest and most influential exchange of goods in history, making a massive change in Europe, Asia and America. When is the world going to thank us massively?
>>522570333Trips of truthButLet’s be real a lot of it was the German rulers
>>522570421>we'll trade three avocados and a turkey for a dozen rats and a pig>give us a potato too and it's a deal!
>>522555320By winning the biggest lottery prize in history (Aztec gold thank you Cortez) they allowed their aristocracy which was already artherosclerotic to solidify and become endemic in all its worst habits for an additional three hundred years. I suppose that's fine if you like that kind of thing but its definitely not productive of a modern society.
>>522558708Yeah that's cuz you're a dumb ignorant mutt lol
>>522555320Colonies are expensiveThey also did not invest hard in shipbuilding when the nice to steel rather than wood happened, probably because their colonies were falling apart by then anyway
>>522555773Over the target, fat muttoids are seething.
>>522555320imagine kissing up and down her legs
>>522570513The Discovery of America and first years was done by Spanish Catholic Kings. Then the daughter married an Habsbourg and things changed but 99% of the effort in the following centuries (war, conquest, building civilization) was done by common Spaniards (the king ruled but did not even travel to America.>>522570975You have no clue. Even we took the silver from America to China to exchange it for spices and with this the Dinasty Ming could pay their soldiers with silver, creating a new empire in China. We are the country that has achieved and worked more in history. The USA has been just a global superpower for 70-80 years. Spain was a World Empire for centuries.
>>522555320
>>522555773While none of these accusations are true or relevant, it is interesting to me that Spain has the most affordable real estate in Europe and is now a major destination for retiree expatriots. Why is living there so cheap compared to its neighbors? Is it all subsidized?
>>522572030the Chinese Emperor didn't need the silver for paying soldiers (directly) it was that they wanted to change how taxes were paid, before silver it was payment in kind (tythe) .. Chine needed 'ALOT' of silver to make that work. So much that they refused to pay the English/Dutch in Silver. This pissed off the English and Dutch, and led to the century of humiliation eventually.
>>522555320Idk, the same could be said for every other European empire too.
>>522555320The worst possible thing happened. The french revolution.The abomination of liberalism and anglo domination over the European destiny is a tragedy for the European peoples. America is an abomination. If it wasn't for these liberal ideas noone would ever consider blacks to have the same rights and that ending slavery/segregation/colonialism were good things.We would be living in White utopia.Also Iberians were the first Atlanteans.
>>522555320catholicism
>>522573309but you’ve been a macaque long before the angloids ruined everything…
>>522559680You can just say "Jews" this is an anonymous message board
>>522555320Catholicism and arab admixture
>>522572686>Why is living there so cheap compared to its neighbors? Is it all subsidized?Brown countries are invariably poor
>>522573888it isn't anonymous .. your IP can be seen by admin, the fact they can enforce perma bans shows a fairly sophisticated back end .
>>522555320jews
>>522555359nah it was the jews
>>522555320They expanded their empire too widely and went to shit trying to both manage it and defend their interests in Europe. >The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 was a pivotal moment in European history, marking the failure of King Philip II of Spain's attempt to invade England and restore Roman Catholicism in the country.The same problem that affects all empires, expanding too widely and wasting money trying to maintain control over nations that either don't want to be controlled or are full of retards that need constant herding like cattle.
>>522574162they dug to deeply and too greedily
>>522557265Hi, rabbi. Still pushing that lie
>>522573393NopeIts literally on a massively downward scale when Spain got more secular. The Prime Minister this year bent the knee to Muslims and its now illegal to praise the colonialist Catholics. In World War 2 they replaced Christianity with Fascism and killed many with secret police.All Europe turns its back on Jesus and becomes like a feral and soulless irrelevance land of husks who tolerate Muslims because they are weakened by Atheism and Newthink Leftism.>>522555320OK you can call them a shithole but the most tourism on the planet by far means they are not irrelevant also the most visited place besides beaches are Christian pilgrimages and cathedral visits.
>>522574126tether your phone by usb and you have a dynamic ip. even better when its a company phone not tied to ones name.
>>522574330ISP's no longer rotate, dynamic ip is a thing of the past, browser fingerprinting and other avoidance measures are standard. Me, if I want to change my IP I have to order a new Router/modem from my provider .. otherwise I have a static IP. Even VPN will not disguise your ID, a couple of proxies maybe, but yeah those were the good old days. Digital ID next and were all fucked forever.
>>522574224As did we, as did the Russians, as are the Americans, as will the Chinese.Until people recognise that the brown races are inferior and not even worth enslaving, the world will continue coddling their worthless existence and bringing everything down to their level.
>>522573888This is true. Jewish capitalism directly led to the great succes of the Dutch and English empires. With jews you win!
>>522555359Way before that. They crashed their currency then lost to England
>>522555320Spain wasted all its gold and silver on luxuries instead of industry
>>522555396SPBP
>>522555359Wrong. It was the Jewish betrayal of Spain which initiated the horrors of the moorish conquest forever polluting everything from central Spain to the the southern tip with mudblood. Race mixing is what destroyed Spain. And you fucks are trying to do it here as well…and all over the entirety of Europe. the difference this time is that the west is in a post Christian era. Which means no more mercy or charity or compassion for “communities” that mean us nothing but harm. Like Jews. We are going to start thinking about you guys the way you do of us. And that should terrify you.
>>522565580Go to hell, kike. The reason is the race mixing subsequent the Jew betrayal of Spain. They were far too kind to the Jews after such treachery. That was an act of war by an entire people. They should’ve been treated as combatants and not deported. Next time won’t be so charitable. Guilty Jews will receive the same humanity and compassion they show innocent gentiles. How does that sound?
>>522555851She is lovely. She has a certain sweetness to her. I go so long without experiencing sweetness from the female gender that I often forget what it was like to be around kind, graceful and sweet natured girls. It imbues such a delightful feeling. But it’s so vanishingly rare in 2025.
>>522555320same way america is becoming a shithole. spain had so much gold and silver that they didn't invest in any manufacturing, imported everything, and spent their money on forever wars.
>>522555320King Fernando VII, really, that guy was so freakeshly incompetent the problems he created still last to this day.
>>522574941they couldn't invest in industry because of the reason stated above Price revolution>>522564385>>522564670
>>522575671this is the paradox of wealth .. your products get priced out over time, trade deficit increases, then inflation
>>522555773>>robust public education system, unlike the USI have never seen a non-retarded spaniard
>>522575872Spanish nations do have an educate class, it is just much smaller as a percentage.
>>522575832yes, this is the theory I was taught, and it seems correct.
>>522575935I have attended scientific conferences, such as Faraday discussions, where spaniards have presented their work and they aren't particularly smart, they are at best indian level
>>522555320Any spainons here who could tell me how franco is viewed today? I know the left fucking hate him, but is he hated publicly, or seen as neutral or positive publicly? I'd guess the government hates him, but that's just what they do.
>>522555320Lawmakers with actual downs syndrome. Look it up, loo loo.
30 years War + Spanish War of Succession from Inbreeding. They Still kicked The French out tho; leading to next set/cycle of middle-Class I.E. "Burgher's" (frfr) vs The elites & their europoor retard/serfs.Pic not related
Some Italian manlet conquered them and the humiliation was such that their entire colonial empire broke off
>>522565144Hey nigger, less people means higher wages and better quality of life. https://history.wustl.edu/news/how-black-death-made-life-betterEspecially if those people are Muslims who contribute nothing to the world except violence and poverty.
>>522575443Better not lookup either one in 2025. Her older sister is getting broken in the military right now. Now doubt she will be a loathsome old cunt fit for EU lordship afterward. The younger one will no doubt rebel and find herself in Morocco or something
>>522555320Gib Habsburg princess pls
>>522565262>>522574910It's crazy how Britocentric Americans view of history is...You guy only know about the historical events that involved England/Britain and thus overrrate them massively.
>>522574162>>522574910Spain did not lose to England. Even the Queen of England praised God and minted a coin when they recognized that the Armada was lost in extreme storms: basically there was no battle. And also the other decisive factor was the dead of the most relevant Spanish Admiral 1 year earlier. The one in charge did not want to accept the task.>>522576430Most people in private acknowledge that Franco has been one the best rulers in Spain in our history for lots of reasons.But people is being constantly brainwashed (politicians, media, schools, etc) to dislike him. Anyone with a brain defends what he did. He even built 4.000.000 free houses for the Spaniards and lots of other things. He was less than a dictator than any of the National Presidents of any western countries, including Spain or Starmer, or Macron or vonderleyen.He loved our country. Today´s dictators in western Europe hate their own countries and are puppets for the elites.
>>522555320Bolshevik jews stole their gold reserves during the civil war.
>>522577613So kinda like Tito in a sense? In that most people recognize he probably did some fucked shit, but is still vastly superior to most leaders after his passing?
>>522555320Its happening to uk too
>>522555396When Jews infiltrated their royal lineages, in Romeo and Juliet time.
>>522577884Don´t know about Tito but yes, even many leftists that lived in that era have a relatively good concepto of Franco.Only full socialist scum politicians (and the many that live from them) despise Franco. This socialist scum political party PSOE was the one that caused the Civil War in 1936 killing the leader of the oposition. And here we are with this political party legalized when it should have been illegalized decades ago.
>>522555320>>522555396>>522555683Actually they gave all their gold & silver to jews to finance their retarded policies, same as every other dumbass white person.
>>522555320Habsburgs fucked everything up with their pointless wars, lack of domestic investment and fiscal mismanagement. The Spanish empire crippled itself by taking huge loans and spending all that silver and gold unrestrained and debasing their currency (the most important factor, this is what started the decline)>>522555851She looks awful nowadays mate, she's the product of heavy inbreeding running through their family for generations. At least she's not a Habsburg with those gigantic underbites
>>522578528actually they borrowed heavily from the Fugger Banking dynasty and Genoese Bankers (possibly Jewish)
>>522578651What's with all the inbreeding obsession ? they're not inbred, look at her nose, she's definitely had jews in her bloodline just like any imbecile white "royalty"Secondly, marryign within your own race is not inbreeding, and all these royal dynasties had enough clans and distant relatives to avoid inbreeding depression
>>522555320dont carefeeta
>>522555359Franco stabilized the country after 200 years of constant coups and funnily enough set up a process of a peaceful transition of government.Spain suffered because they were blackballed by global trade for being a nono government.
>>522555320The CIA murdered Franco's successor and then the kikes bought the commies to utterly destroy our country.
>>522555359
>>522577613The result is the same that the Spanish empire became increasingly irrelevant and caused Spain to fade into irrelevance as is the way of all empires because empires are not natural and will only end in collapse.
>>522570421>When is the world going to thank us massively?Spain produced perhaps the finest female specimen on the planet currently,THANK YOU SPAIN™
>>522574555>ISP's no longer rotate, dynamic ip is a thing of the past, browser fingerprinting and other avoidance measures are standard. Me, if I want to change my IP I have to order a new Router/modem from my provider .. otherwise I have a static IPits the same here with virtually all ISP's unless you go WAAAAAAAAAAY out of your way to buy a bunch of your own equipment that hardly justifies the hassle of "evasion"
>>522555320remember when she was hot?
>>522555320Well, you see it's quite si->USA flagOpinion instantly discarded, amerimutt.
>>522555773I love you, cousin.Don't bother with these mutants that call themselves "Americans".
>>522556777checked
>>522555320My goal is to create a paramilitary organization, marry a Spanish princess, and seize the throne. Then, overthrow Parliament, expel all the moors, saracens, and jews, and thus usher in a new golden age for Spain.
>>522578651The Habsburgs are OUR nobles for sure.
>>522584436Still is.
Unironically because Spain got too rich for her own good. Rich nations tend to destroy themselves because they get complacent and their greed causes their own populations to devour themselves alive. If Spain didn’t get ultra wealthy during the renaissance and age of absolutism, Spain probably wouldn’t have experienced so many wars and so many defeats. If it was Britain that reached Mesoamerica and conquered Latin America before Spain, I would wager that it would’ve be Spain, not Britain, that would inevitably come out on top.
>>522570421As a Spain Bro, A real one (not recent nigger arrival.) Cali, Utah, Colorado, New and old Mexico wahman's Still hop on Iberian D like it's the 16th Century: if you're Chill/smooth Latin meme & left or right radical larp. ( not rapey 3rdie). All across the American South-West; This is the kind of cree-cree you have gene-cheat codes access too. >"I've seen it"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz-XliXSTI4cree-cree from mutt maxed sure. But you know the sexo will be burn the boat's good; you can fix her.exe You're welcome.
>>522575186>We are going to start thinking about you guys the way you do of us. And that should terrify you.super based anon, I concur, we have to think about the jews, the way they conspire and wage cold wars against us.
>>522555320Europe is a shithole>>522588451
>>522587450she has good genes and isn't completely walled yet, but the trend is in the wrong direction
>>522585660you're a shitskin
>>522590930And you're a jew.Jew!
>>522555320niggers got uppity
>>522555320Simple. Spain expelled Jews in 1492. The "Spanish Golden Age" began in 1492. Jews were fully allowed back into Spain in 1869. 100 years later they were completely fucking destroyed.
>>522555773I pay $75/month for 3mbps internet. They're the only provider for 30 miles because of the internet monopoly.
>>522557500Spain didn’t “go from ruling the world to an irrelevant shithole.”It went from being an overextended, badly‑managed early-modern empire to being a mid‑sized, rich democracy that no longer invades people for gold. Which, to be fair, is less flashy.Also, for the record:Spain is currently about the 12th‑largest economy in the world and among the top 5–6 in the EU by GDP. Wikipedia+2Invest in Spain+2Population ~49 million, high HDI, member of EU, eurozone and NATO. Wikipedia+1So “irrelevant” is doing a lot of emotional work there.Anyway, history time, since you asked.1. How Spain ended up “ruling the world” in the first place15th–16th century Spain basically hit the historical lottery:Dynastic luck: The marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, plus Habsburg inheritance, created a monster composite monarchy stretching across much of Europe. WikipediaColonial windfall: Conquests in the Americas and the Philippines brought in enormous amounts of silver and gold, making Spain the central global power in the 1500s. Wikipedia+1Military edge: Professional tercios infantry, a strong navy and control of key trade routes let Spain dominate European politics for about a century.So far so good. Then came the part where they torched it.2. The built‑in problemsSpain’s empire came with some lovely structural defects:Silver is a hell of a drugMassive silver inflows from the Americas caused huge inflation in Spain and Europe (the “Price Revolution”). Wikipedia+1Easy bullion money encouraged the Crown to borrow like crazy and to import goods rather than build domestic industry.Result: a classic early version of the “resource curse” / Dutch disease.Chronic overspending on warsHabsburg Spain fought everyone: Dutch, English, French, Ottomans, various Germans, internal rebels, you name it.1/6
Repeated royal bankruptcies in the 16th–17th centuries (1557, 1575, 1596, etc.) show how unsustainable it was. Wikipedia+2earlymoderneurope.hist.sites.carleton.edu+2Terrible tax structure & bureaucracyHeavy tax burden on Castile, lighter on other regions; internal tariffs and local privileges jammed up trade. earlymoderneurope.hist.sites.carleton.edu+1A bloated, often corrupt bureaucracy failed to manage a far‑flung empire efficiently.Religious “purity” over economic sanityExpulsion of Jews (1492) and Moriscos (Muslims and their descendants, 1609) removed significant, often skilled parts of the population, especially in agriculture and crafts. Wikipedia+1The Inquisition helped keep intellectual and economic life nicely suffocated.In short: huge empire, weak productive base, and financial planning that would shame a teenager with a credit card.3. The 17th‑century crash: from hegemon to “one of many”The 1600s are where the wheels really come off.Overstretch & war exhaustionEighty Years’ War against the Dutch, wars with England, and the Thirty Years’ War drained money and manpower. Reddit+1Defeat at Rocroi (1643) and treaties like Westphalia (1648) and the Pyrenees (1659) marked the end of Spain’s status as Europe’s top dog and the rise of France. Wikipedia+1Internal crisesRevolts: Catalonia, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, Andalusia… it was basically a “how many parts of the kingdom can be on fire at once” contest. Wikipedia+1Demographic hits from war, plague and emigration reduced the population and tax base. WikipediaMultiple further bankruptcies and monetary chaos.By around 1700, Spain is still a big empire on paper, but in practice it’s a financially exhausted second‑tier power. Wikipedia+12/6
The War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) settles who gets Spain after the last Habsburg dies childless. Result:Spain keeps its core and its American empire,but loses a bunch of European possessions to Austria and others,and Britain grabs key strategic gains (like Gibraltar). Wikipedia+1Bourbon rulers centralize the state and attempt reforms; some progress, but by then:Britain dominates the seas,France dominates continental politics.Spain is no longer the great power. It’s one of several mid‑pack European monarchies with a big but increasingly fragile overseas empire.5. The 19th century: the real imperial implosionThis is where Spain gets properly wrecked.5.1 Napoleonic invasion & Peninsular WarIn 1808, Napoleon invades Spain, triggers a brutal war of independence (Peninsular War, 1808–1814). Wikipedia+1The war devastates towns, countryside and population.By 1820 Spain is one of Europe’s poorest and least developed countries, with high illiteracy and wrecked infrastructure. Wikipedia5.2 Loss of almost all American coloniesThe chaos in Spain gives its colonies ideas. The Spanish American wars of independence (roughly 1808–1826) end with Spain losing all its mainland American colonies. Only Cuba and Puerto Rico remain. Wikipedia+2Wikipedia+2That means:Goodbye silver and colonial revenues.Goodbye “we own half the map” prestige.3/6
5.3 Late & patchy industrializationWhile Britain, France and later Germany industrialize hard, Spain manages roughly:Industrial pockets in Catalonia (textiles) and the Basque Country (steel, mining),But most of the country stays agrarian, poor, and underdeveloped for much of the 19th century, with bad transport and endless political instability. Wikipedia+3Wikipedia+3ScienceDirect+3You also get:Three Carlist Wars, coups, short‑lived constitutions, monarchs in, monarchs out. WikipediaShocking that investors weren’t thrilled.5.4 1898: the symbolic death of the empireSpanish–American War (1898): Spain loses Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam to the US. Office of the Historian+2HISTORY+2That’s basically the “game over” screen for the old Spanish Empire. From this point, Spain is unequivocally a secondary European power with a few leftover colonies.6. The 20th century: civil war, dictatorship, then normalizationBecause things hadn’t been painful enough yet:6.1 Civil War (1936–1939)Polarized politics leads to the Spanish Civil War, which kills around half a million people and destroys infrastructure and industry. The Guardian6.2 Franco’s dictatorship & economic isolationFrom 1939–1975, Franco’s regime runs Spain as an authoritarian state.The first two decades are autarkic: very closed economy, heavy state control, little trade. This leaves Spain far behind Western Europe in living standards and industrial development. Wikipedia+1Later, in the 1960s, technocrats partially liberalize the economy and tourism booms, but Spain is starting from way behind.4/6
6.3 Transition & EU integrationAfter Franco dies:1975–1982: peaceful-ish transition to democracy & constitutional monarchy. Wikipedia+1Joined NATO in 1982, European Communities (EU) in 1986, and later the euro. Real Instituto ElcanoFrom the 1980s onward, Spain becomes a normal advanced social market economy with big gains in income, education and infrastructure. Wikipedia+1So by the time you’re born into a world where Spain is a beach + tapas + football country, the empire has been dead for a century, and the dictatorship for decades.7. Today: why it feels “irrelevant”A few points you might quietly already know:Spain’s economy is roughly $1.8–1.9 trillion, about the 12th largest on Earth, and among the top economies in the EU. Wikipedia+2Invest in Spain+2It’s recently been the fastest‑growing major advanced economy in Europe, driven by tourism, immigration, EU funds and renewables investment. Financial Times+2The Guardian+2So why does it feel small compared to “ruling continents”?Colonial empires are over.Nobody is “ruling the world” in the 16th‑century sense anymore. Britain, France, the Netherlands, Portugal… all lost their empires too. Spain just started falling earlier and harder.Power is diffused.The EU, NATO, global markets, international law: that whole mess means states trade influence and regulation instead of literally owning Peru.Spain prioritizes being a comfortable democracy over being a militarist superpower.It spends relatively little on defense (by NATO standards) and more on welfare, healthcare, etc. AP News+1Less “conquering continents,” more “cheap flights, universal healthcare and Erasmus students.”5/6
Compressed answer for your brain’s TL;DR modeSpain shrank from empire to “normal country” because:It over‑militarized and overspent in the 16th–17th centuries while relying on silver instead of building a strong productive economy. study.com+3Wikipedia+3Medium+3It got wrecked by 19th‑century shocks: Napoleonic invasion, loss of Latin America, late and uneven industrialization, then the 1898 colonial loss. Wikipedia+4Wikipedia+4Wikipedia+4The 20th century added a civil war and a long dictatorship that delayed modernization. Wikipedia+2The Guardian+2In the late 20th–21st centuries, Spain became a rich but mid‑tier democracy integrated into Europe, not a global empire. Wikipedia+2Real Instituto Elcano+2So no, it didn’t “fall from greatness into irrelevant garbage.”It was a hyper‑violent empire, then a broke empire, then a broken dictatorship, and now it’s a fairly successful, medium‑power democracy with good food, decent wages and annoying football fans.Which, frankly, is a better ending than most empires get.
>>522559527yea but you get nice beaches and less muslims
>>522584436Yes.
They kept trying to convert flesh-covered demons rather than another solution.
>>522556629Wooooowwww a not retarded reply in /pol/? From an american no less! Im honestly impressed. We ironically get a bad reputation in anglo propaganda when the spanish crown was the only empire that ever gave a shit about their new territories outside europe. Actually tried to built Spain, like a new rome, in the americas, not murder, steal and kill everyone like the dutch, french and english. They actually had treaties with all kind of tribes and actually respected those treaties with the indios.
>>522596947Aye Caramba
>>522587331>The Habsburgs are OUR nobles for sure.Why is that?
>>522555320>>522556777>empires constantly rise and fall
