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How did the Spanish Empire begin?
The Modern Spanish state itself began when the small Christian
communities north of the mountains in the north coast of Spain
began to regain the country from the invading Muslims. Gradually
they extended the area they controlled further south, coalescing
into three main kingdoms: Portugal; Castile and Aragon (Catalonia).
This process ended in 1492 with the conquest of the last Muslim
kingdom, Granada and the union of Castile and Aragon under the
Aragonese king.
This was also the date when Spain's expansion outside Europe
began.
Overseas influence
One of the component parts of the united Spanish kingdom was
Aragon, consisting mostly of modern Catalonia.
This kingdom expanded to the east, to parts of Italy, especially
Sicily, occupied from 1282 to 1442 (as part of a complex struggle
between the Holy Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the French
and the native Sicilians). Sicily, like Spain, had been ruled
by Muslims for a period.
The Age of expansion
In Europe the Portuguese were the
first to contact non-European peoples by sea. They were followed
by Spain. Whereas the Portuguese headed south (though may also
have covered other areas), it was a result of the wish and plan
of the Genoese Cristobal Columbus that the rulers of Spain sponsored
the contact to the west, and therefore opened up a continent
hardly known to Europeans. (See Hugh Thomas - "Rivers of
Gold" for a history of those early explorations and conquests.)
Columbus reached the Caribbean. He seems never to have realised
he was in a new continent unknown to Europe, but thought he was
in the East.
As soon as he arrived he and his associates treated the area
as Terra Nullius - belonging to no-one - and it was declared
the property of the Spanish Crown, thus beginning the custom
of the European empires - ignoring the rights of the people living
there.
The invaders claimed to be advancing the interests of the
Spanish Crown, but in practice were advancing their own interests.
Like the Crusaders they
were predominantly Younger Sons - those without an inheritance
under European laws and therefore their main intention was to
acquire wealth. Like the early British Empire the effort was
mainly a private enterprise.
They began on the island of Hispaniola, now Haiti
and the Dominican Republic,
where they built a city for a Spanish governor, churches for
the Catholic religion, and began to enslave the local people.
For these the arrival was a catastrophe. Although the conquerors
found new agricultural products (Maize, pineapples, Guavas, Chocolate,
and in the South potatoes), which in the end transformed the
diet of the whole world, their orders were to find gold to pay
the king's debts. Thus, like the aristocracy from which the leaders
came, they were not interested in trade but in plunder - stealing.
From that island they moved to Cuba,
founding cities and exterminating the natives.
North America
Mexico can be classified as North America, though its affinities
are with Central America as the Aztecs shared much of the culture
of the Mayas. However, before the United States expanded, Spanish-ruled
Mexico included much of what became the western United States.
The Spanish conquistadors led by Hernan Cortes landed on the
shores of Mexico in 1520 with two major weapons: gunpowder and
horses. Although horses had lived in the Americas at the end
of the Ice Age they had died out and none of the native Americans
had draft animals or wheeled vehicles.
The Conquistadors made alliances with some of the people who
had been enslaved by the Aztecs whose center was Tenochtitlan
(now Mexico City). For the Aztecs themselves the arrival of the
Spanish invaders was a catastrophe - the end of their empire
which had lasted for about 100 years since they came out of the
deserts to the north and conquered the previous rulers. For the
non-Aztecs it was at first a deliverance from the slavery to
the Aztecs, enforced by mass human sacrifices (a practice common
throughout the Central American cultures but more extreme in
the Aztec empire).
From the 17th century Spanish missionaries and explorers pushed
on to the north of Mexico into territory which is now the western
part of the United States, reaching along the coast to northern
California. Missions of Catholic priests were built in California
and the other southwestern states: New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada.
In Mexico itself imported diseases such as smallpox reduced
the native population by about 80%. The survivors came to speak
Spanish and their own culture disappeared into folk customs -
though some of the languages survive.
Central America
The modern states of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua
and Costa Rica.
Some of this area was occupied by Maya tribes, speaking languages
within the Maya language family, and sharing a culture derived
from the Classical period of huge monuments.
Soldiers and missionaries travelled and settled in the Maya
area. Their effect was to destroy the political structures and
the historical records. However, the language has survived and
many of the religious ceremonies continue, in secluded areas
or in the guise of Catholic ceremonies.
At the isthmus of Panama they viewed the Pacific Ocean and
began to realise the real position of their new conquests - not
in Asia. This knowledge led to the advance into South America,
and especially the Pacific Coast.
South America
Spain came to occupy most of the continent. Conquistadors met
the Andean empires of the Incas. As with the Aztecs their gunpowder,
horses and metals made them much stronger than the highly organised
civilisations of the Andes. There too they made use of the subjected
peoples of the Incas and when they attacked, the "Spanish"
army was largely composed of "natives".
They found the gold and silver they had been seeking in South
America, especially in the area of modern Bolivia and Peru. This
they shipped out via either the Cape Horn route in sub-antarctic
waters, or via the peninsula of Panama. Other Europeans learned
of these trades and sometimes attacked the treasure ships.
Caribbean
Spain ruled at one time or another most of the islands in the
Caribbean but lost the smaller ones to France, Britain and the
Netherlands.
South East Asia
In the east the Tordesillas
line gave Spain the Philippine
Islands (named after king Philip of Spain). The first European
visitor was Magellan (Portuguese, killed there) in 1521. Spain
ruled it as a colony from 1565 until ejected by the United States
in 1898 allegedly acting to assist local insurgents, struggling
to gain independence.
Africa
The empire in Africa was confined to two territories in West
Africa and two enclaves in the north: Rio de Oro; Equatorial
Guinea and Ceuta and Mellilla. These were acquired after the
treaty of Tordesillas was no longer considered binding. Ceuta
and Mellilla were taken over from Portugal.
Rio de Oro (Gold River) was entirely misnamed as it is on
the western edge of the Sahara and had neither a river nor gold.
It is now Western Sahara
and disputed with Morocco and independence fighters. Equatorial
Guinea with the island of Fernando Po was a slave base. After
the end of the slave trade it was a base for plantations of Cocoa.
North Africa
Spain was involved in Morocco
and after colonial wars administered a part of Morocco (the other,
larger, part going to France).
Oceania
Spain occupied some islands in the Pacific.
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