History of Spain

by: Jason Herbert

The History of Spain, and how it all begun.

The Iberian Peninsula was first inhabited around 8000,000 BC and has long been subject to foreign influences. The history of Spain starts from 11th century BC, it was colonized by sophisticated Eastern Mediterranean civilizations, starting with the Phoenicians then the Greeks and the Carthaginians. The Romans arrived in Spain in 218BC to fight the Carthaginians, this sparked off the Second Punic War. They harvested the peninsulas agricultural and mineral wealth and established cities with aqueducts, temples and theaters.

In the early 5th century AD with the fall of the Roman Empire, Visigothic invaders from the North assumed power. They were off poor political organization but this made it easy prey to the Moors from North Africa. In the 8th century of the history of Spain the peninsula came almost entirely under Moorish rule. Europes only major Muslim territory, the civilization of Al Andalus excelled in mathematics, geography, astronomy and poetry. In the 9th and 10th centuries Cordoba was Europes leading City.

From the 11th century, northern Christian kingdoms initiated a military reconquest of Al Andalus. The marriage of Fernando Aragon and Isabel of Castile in 1469, the so called Catholic Monarchs, led to Spanish unity. They took Granada, the last Moorish kingdom in 1492. In the same year Columbus discovered America, opening the way for the Spanish conquistadors, who plundered the civilization of the New World of the history in Spain.

The succeeding Habsburg dynasty spent the riches from the New World in endless foreign war. Spain's decline was exacerbated by high inflation and religious oppression. Although, in the history of Spain the enlightenment in the late 18th century created a climate of learning, Spain's misfortunes continued into the next century with an invasion by Napoleon's troops and the loss of the American colonies. A new radicalism began to emerge, creating a strong Anarchist movement. The political instability of the late 19th and early 20th centuries led to dictatorship in the history of Spain and a republic in the 1930's which was destroyed by the Spanish civil war. General Franco ruled by repression until his death in 1975, since then Spain has been a democratic state.

Now you know about the history of Spain, we hope you enjoyed reading this article.

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