Spain: history 1492–1936

For the history of Spain prior to 1492 see Spain: history to 1492. In 1936, Spain was heading towards civil war. For details of the course of the war see Spain: history 1936–45, and for Spanish history since 1945 see Spain

By the 13th century the smaller Christian kingdoms of Spain had all been absorbed by the two dominant kingdoms, Castile. The marriage of Ferdinand of Aragón to Isabella of Castile in 1469 led to the unification of Spain, which was completed when Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, was conquered in 1492.

The achievements of Ferdinand and Isabella
The reign of Ferdinand and Isabella marks the beginning of Spain's emergence as one of the great powers of Europe, and, indeed, the world. Spain reached its greatest power under their successors Charles I (the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V), and Philip II.

Under Ferdinand and Isabella the various kingdoms and provinces of Spain were united under one central authority, and gradually the independent cortes (parliaments) of the various provinces, although nominally still holding power, became subservient to that authority. In 1504 the Spanish crown acquired Naples and Sicily, which had earlier belonged to the house of Aragón.

In 1492 Ferdinand and Isabella sponsored the voyage of Christopher Columbus, whose early exploration of the Americas opened up potentially vast overseas dominions for Spain. The Portuguese were also active in the exploration of the New World, and by the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 Spain and Portugal agreed to divide the uncharted world between them. Spanish conquistadores went on to conquer Mexico in 1519–21 (Hernán Cortés), Peru in 1531 (Francisco Pizarro), and most of the rest of Central and South America, bringing large amounts of gold and silver back across the Atlantic to enrich the Spanish exchequer and stimulate the Spanish economy. This in turn contributed to the Europe‐wide inflation of the 16th century.

The enforcement of Catholic orthodoxy
A marked feature of the Spanish monarchy was its ardent Catholicism. The consequence of this was not only to weaken Spain economically, but to stifle the intellectual and cultural life of the country.

In 1478 Ferdinand and Isabella secured the pope's permission to establish an Inquisition (there had been one in Aragón but not in Castile) to suppress heresy in Spain, and especially the Jews. Isabella's confessor, the monk Tomás de Torquemada , became Inquisitor‐General throughout Spain in 1483. Any divergence from strict orthodoxy was brutally repressed, and in the first decade some 2,000 ‘heretics’ were burned. In 1492, the year of the conquest of Granada, the Jews were expelled from Spain, which thereby lost some of its most commercially active citizens. In its possessions in the New World, the Spanish embarked on a process of mass conversions, often imposed forcibly.

The Spanish monarchs, emerging from centuries of war against the Muslims, regarded themselves as the Catholic sovereigns of Europe, and when Protestantism became widespread in Europe, Spain took a leading role in the Counter‐Reformation. The remaining Spanish Muslims – known as Moriscos – were expelled in 1609.

Charles V and the extension of Spanish power
On the death of Isabella in 1504, the crown of Castile passed to her daughter Joanna the Mad, who had married Philip of Burgundy, the son of the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian I. For a time Castile and Aragón were ruled separately, but on the death of Philip, Ferdinand again administered Spain and finally, on his death, left the whole of his kingdom to his daughter and to her son Charles as regent.

Charles had already received the Netherlands from his father in 1506. On Ferdinand's death in 1516 he succeeded to all the possessions of the Spanish crown, not only in Spain, but also in Italy and the Americas. On Maximilian's death in 1519, Charles inherited the Habsburg family lands in Austria and was elected Holy Roman Emperor as Charles V. The duchy of Milan in Italy was also acquired by the Spanish crown in 1535.

During Charles's reign the history of Spain, or at least of the Spanish king, is the history of Europe. (For further information see, for example, articles dealing with the histories of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Austria, and Italy.) The importance of this reign to Spain itself, however, lies in the fact that during it the royal power was definitely established. Charles continued, however, to respect the rights of his various Spanish realms.

The reign of Philip II
Worn out by the internal troubles of the empire, in 1555 Charles abdicated the Netherlands, and in 1556 Spain, to his son Philip. The position of Holy Roman Emperor passed to Charles's brother Ferdinand I, who also retained the Austrian Habsburg lands, but the rest of Charles's hereditary possessions were passed to his son, who reigned as Philip II of Spain.

Philip (ruled 1556–98) was a man of tenacious purpose, but lacked political flair and imagination. He regarded himself as, above all else, the Catholic champion of Europe. This position was the keystone of his life's work, and he died still pursuing this policy and having ruined Spain in its pursuit. He ruled over the empire of Spain at its greatest. His power extended over Spain, the Spanish Netherlands (the present‐day Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg), the greater part of Italy, Portugal (annexed in 1580), the whole of South America, a large part of North America, and possessions in the East Indies and in Africa. As the (largely absent) husband of Mary I of England, he also influenced her anti‐Protestant policies. He possessed the finest fighting machine in Europe, both military and naval, and his great victory over the Turks at Lepanto helped contain the westward expansion of the Ottoman Empire.

Philip's position in Europe as the greatest monarch was unquestioned, partly because France was divided by the Wars of Religion (1562–89). However, since Spanish territory encircled France, Philip faced the continued hostility of France. In addition, the cruelties of the Duke of Alva in repressing the Calvinists, and Philip's authoritarian policies, led to the outbreak of the Dutch Revolt in 1568 (see the Netherlands). The English sent military aid to their fellow‐Protestants in the Netherlands, and this provoked Philip to send the Spanish Armada against England (1588), which ended in the destruction of the Spanish fleet. The greatest days of Spain passed with Philip's death in 1598.

The beginnings of Spanish decline
The century that followed Philip's death was a time of decline. Plague, population decrease, economic recession, and constant wars (and the means used to finance them, which caused serious inflation) all greatly reduced Spain's wealth and power. In the reign of Philip III (1598–1621), the remaining Moors (the Moriscos) were expelled from Spain (1609). Spain's efforts to prevent other countries trading with its American dominions were increasingly ineffective.

The Dutch Revolt was temporarily interrupted by the Twelve Years' Truce (1609–21), but continued during the reign of Philip IV (1621–65) as part of the wider European conflict of the Thirty Years' War (1618–48). Spain took an active role in this war, in which it had become embroiled for religious and strategic reasons but from which it gained little. Its soldiers, however, were still the finest in Europe. The military history of the closing stages of the war in the Netherlands suggests that Spain finally was defeated through lack of resources and not because of military deficiency; almost at the end of the struggle it could still win ephemeral military triumphs, as in the recapture of Breda in 1625.

European wars and the expense of maintaining empire placed an increasing burden on Spain, and in 1640 both Portugal and Catalonia revolted against the financial demands of the Spanish crown. Spanish rule was restored in Catalonia (1652), but by the Peace of Westphalia (1648) Spain was obliged to recognize the independence of both Portugal and the United Provinces (the northern provinces of the Spanish Netherlands, which had first declared their freedom in 1581).

The power of France had been steadily increasing during the whole of this period, and the entry of France into the Thirty Years' War in 1635 had been for entirely political, rather than religious, reasons. By the end of the 17th century France, under Louis XIV, had become the dominant power in Europe. Spain became involved in most of the wars during the reign of Louis XIV, but it generally lost ground with each war (see France: history 1515–1815), although in 1697 Louis XIV returned Luxembourg.

The War of the Spanish Succession
During the whole of the reign of Charles II of Spain (1665–1700) Europe waited for the division of the spoils at his death. It was known that Charles II would die childless, and France, the Austrian Habsburgs, and Bavaria had claims to the Spanish throne. Two partition treaties were arranged. The first provided for the accession of the young son of the Elector of Bavaria to the Spanish throne, and the two other powers were to be compensated by acquiring shares of the still large extraterritorial possessions of Spain. The second treaty, following the death of the Bavarian prince, gave the throne to Austria, and again compensated France from the residue of the Spanish Empire.

The Spanish king and people, however, repudiated both treaties, and by the will of Charles II the whole of the Spanish dominions were left to Philip of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV, and the founder of the Bourbon dynasty in Spain. Philip was proclaimed king of Spain in November 1700 as Philip V (ruled 1700–46). This led to the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14). By the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) all Spain's Italian possessions, the remaining Spanish Netherlands (present‐day Belgium and Luxembourg), Minorca, and Gibraltar were taken from it, dismantling its empire in Europe. But Spain's extensive oversease empire remained intact. In the course of the war, Philip V had suppressed the independence of Catalonia, recreating an absolute monarchy.

Spain in the 18th century
Spain's relations with Britain continued to be bad, and again culminated in war in 1739. This was the War of Jenkins's Ear, which merged into the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48), in which Prussia, France, and Spain were allied against Austria, Britain, and the Netherlands.

The 18th century was a period of great change for Spain. Ferdinand VI (ruled 1746–59) and Charles III (ruled 1759–88) initiated wide reforms, reformed the revenues, and placed Spain again upon a satisfactory financial basis. Roads were improved, commerce encouraged, banks firmly established, and the revenues from the colonies carefully and wisely supervised.

During the Seven Years' War (1759–63) Spain was again allied with France against Britain, and in 1763 lost Florida to Britain, regaining it in 1783 at the end of the American Revolution, in which France and Spain helped the colonists against Britain.

In 1788 Charles IV became king, and Spain quickly reverted to a state of affairs similar to that which had existed in the reign of Charles II. The ministers of Charles III were replaced by the royal favourite Manuel de Godoy, who was corrupt and unpopular.

The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
Following the outbreak of the French Revolution (1789) and the execution of the French king (1793), Spain declared war on France. However, in 1796 it was forced to sign a treaty with France by which it promised aid to the French. The result was that its fleet was defeated by the British off Cape St Vincent and its trade practically annihilated. Another French and Spanish fleet was defeated by the British at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

In 1807 a quarrel between Charles IV and his son Ferdinand culminated in an appeal to Napoleon. Charles and Ferdinand were both summoned to Bayonne, where the crown of Spain was ceded to Napoleon. Napoleon made his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, king of Spain in 1808, and French armies occupied Spain. But the Spanish people recognized only their own chosen king, Ferdinand VII, and the War of Liberation began. The British, allied with Spanish resistance, finally drove out the French in 1814 (see Peninsular War). A constitution for Spain was drawn up in 1812 in Cádiz, and Ferdinand promised to be faithful to it. In 1814, however, when he returned to Spain he restored the old Spanish absolute monarchy.

The turbulent 19th century
Throughout the 19th century conflict raged between monarchists and liberals; revolutions and civil wars took place in 1820–23, 1833–39, 1868, and 1872–76, besides many minor revolts. The century was also marked by the loss of Spain's American colonies, all of which fought for, and achieved, independence in the period 1810–30.

In 1833 Ferdinand VII's daughter Isabella II succeeded him, and in 1843 signed the constitution of 1836, which had been modelled on that of Cádiz (1812). Isabella's reign was chaotic, her ministers were weak, and she was not able to keep the country in order. From 1833 to 1839 the country was in a state of civil war (the First Carlist War), when supporters of Don Carlos (1788–1855), Isabella's uncle, sought unsuccessfully to establish their leader's claim to the throne. The administration became increasingly corrupt, and finally in 1868 there was a revolution and Isabella was obliged to abdicate.

From 1868 to 1870 a provisional government was set up, and many experiments were tried in order to bring peace to the country. Various candidates were put forward for the Spanish throne. These included the Hohenzollern Prince Leopold (a member of the Prussian royal house), whose candidature provoked France. This resulted in the Franco‐Prussian War of 1870, which, as the Prussian chancellor Bismarck had calculated, persuaded the remaining German states to join the Prussian‐led German Empire. The Prussian candidate was withdrawn, and Amadeus I of Savoy was finally elected. Amadeus remained in Spain for three years, then abdicated and left the country. For a year (1873–74) Spain became a republic, and in 1875 Isabella's son Alfonso became king as Alfonso XII (ruled 1875–85).

In 1872 the Second Carlist War had broken out, and in 1876 it ended with the withdrawal of Don Carlos (grandson of the first Carlist claimant) to France. In 1885 Alfonso XII died, and in the following May his son, Alfonso XIII, was born and was recognized as king). His mother, Queen Maria Christina, acted as regent.

After the Spanish‐American War in 1898 Spain ceded Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the USA. Spain's navy was destroyed, and the huge cost of the war was a very heavy burden on an impoverished country.

The 20th century
The early 20th century saw a growth of republicanism, socialism, anarchism, and regional separatism. On 17 May 1902 Alfonso XIII was crowned. A host of troubles called for a stable government. The Moroccan question, however, was patched up by a Franco‐Spanish treaty (1904), recognizing Spanish rights there. In Catalonia hatred was developing between the Catalan nationalists and the radical centralists. During the 1905 elections antagonism to the military in Catalonia resulted in the Law of Jurisdictions, allowing military tribunals to try offences against military institutions. The power of the military in Spanish politics, in which the king concurred, was thus increased. The Catalan movement also intensified.

From 1905 to 1907 the Liberals held office. By 1910 José Canalejas had come to the front as the Liberal leader. Although a Catholic, he curbed the power of the church in Spain, and in Morocco he successfully countered a French military bid for supremacy, against which the Germans also sent the cruiser Panther to Agadir (see Agadir Incident). His work towards a settlement of the Catalan question was ended by his assassination in Madrid by an anarchist on 12 November 1912. During World War I Spain was neutral, being divided between the pro‐Allies liberal anticlerical left and the pro‐German reactionary clerical right.

A military bid for power was brewing, pressure being put upon the government by the secret military committees of defence, organized by army officers. On 10 August 1917 a general strike, aiming at the creation of a socialist democratic republic, spread across the whole country. In suppressing it, the army became the strongest force in the state. Juan la Cierva (who, as the then minister of the interior, was responsible for the execution of Francisco Ferrer, the extremist anticlerical and socialist, in 1909), became war minister and practical dictator of a new cabinet, with Garcia Prieto as premier. La Cierva's conflict with Spanish syndicalism brought about his downfall. On 3 December 1918 the liberal Condé de Romanones returned to power, and secured the entry of Spain to the Council of the League of Nations.

The dictatorship of Primo de Rivera
Political chaos followed, and government succeeded government. A military revolt broke out on 13 September 1923, under Miguel Primo de Rivera. The government resigned, and the king was forced by the army to recognize a military directorate, with Primo de Rivera as president.

The functions of the Cortes (parliament) were suspended and the control of departments was left to undersecretaries, who were later (1925) raised to the status of ministers. Industry and agriculture prospered under the dictatorship, but culture did not. The Spanish joined the French in suppressing a revolt in Morocco. In Spain the dictatorship depended on censorship, and from 1926 to 1927 on martial law. Eventually, the dictatorship brought the throne into such disrepute that the king dismissed Primo de Rivera in 1930.

The Second Republic
When municipal elections in April 1931 resulted in a sweeping Republican victory, the king left the country without, however, renouncing any of his rights. A provisional Republican government was set up under Niceto Alcalá Zamora, head of a conservative group within the Republican Party. On 14 April a Catalan Republic was proclaimed, with Francesc Macià as president.

The provisional Republican government was confirmed by the general elections held on 28 June 1931. On 14 July the Cortes began the task of drawing up the constitution, which was completed by December. In the five years between the overthrow of the monarchy and the Civil War, democracy under the Second Republic was very fragile, attacked by both right (monarchist) and left (communist and anarchist) extremists.

There were many strikes and communist riots, and in October 1931 the government was split on the issue of the separation of the church and the state, which the Cortes voted in favour of. Alcalá Zamora resigned, and a new cabinet was formed by Manuel Azaña. In November ex‐King Alfonso was formally outlawed, and in December Alcalá Zamora was elected president of the Republic.

A month after the proclamation of the Republic a mob set fire first to the Jesuit church in the centre of Madrid, then to other churches and convents in the city and suburbs. The government took no effective action, being content to attach the blame not to the mob but to the monarchists. This incited further violence, and soon churches and convents in most of the large cities of Spain were set on fire. By a decree in January 1932 the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) was dissolved on Spanish territory, and its property taken by the state.

Between the general election of November 1933 and 1936 Spain was under a centre‐right government. In early 1934 the government overcame a general strike and uprisings in Asturias and Catalonia. In the general elections of February 1936 the newly formed Popular Front, a centre‐left alliance, was swept into power. Out of 470 seats they held 260 (166 more than after the 1933 elections), while the right and centre had 214. The new cabinet, under Manuel Azaña, consisted of republican left and republican union ministers, and some socialists, syndicalists, anarchists, Marxists, and communists.

Under the Popular Front government another outburst against the church took place. Spain was moving towards complete chaos. In the streets, left‐wing extremists fought those on the right, mostly members of the fascist Falange. Paramilitary formations were being trained by both extremes: the Falangist groups operated clandestinely, while the socialists, communists, and others were organizing openly.