History of Spain
IntroductionWhat makes a Spaniard unique within Western civilization' Why is Spain sodifferent from other European countries' Some people look for a simpleanswer. But the fact is that its geography has not changed that much sincethe days when Spain, as so many other European lands, was but a piece inthe grand imperial mosaic put together by Rome. This common backgroundpersisted for several centuries as northern European tribes - Visigoths,Ostrogoths, Franks - overran southern Europe and established themselvesThe civil code introduced by Napoleon at the beginning of the 19th centurychanged the political lives of all the states of continental Europe.Whereas previously a patchwork of customary laws based on tradition and thewhim of the monarch had ruled throughout the continent, the new Codeintroduced the concept of a unified, logical system based on generalprinciples of law, thereby exporting the ideas of the French Revolutionbeyond French borders, to enemies and allies alike.For Spain, it was The Peninsula War of 1808-14 that engulfed the country
Early in 1808 there were 20,000 in Portugal,40,000 in northern Spain, and 12,000 in Catalonia. Under the dictator Franco, who had been sympathetic to theAxis powers, Spain was detested from the community of nations until itbecame tactically attractive to the US during the Cold War. Although the War of Independence against the Napoleonic invaderssolidified some aspects of Spanish patriotism, the struggle took placeagainst the backdrop of severe internal splits and the wrenching loss ofempire. Spaniards looked eagerly through everywindow of knowledge and explored every avenue of literary and artisticcreation in a serious effort to join the scientific progress all along theline. Theprofound crisis of Spain had seriously undermined the Spanish Americanempire, because many of the American colonies claimed their independence inthe first decades of the 19th century. Conservative reaction from the church and army sparked theSpanish Civil War, which raged from 1936 to 1939 and was an introduction toWorld War II. The coalition wars of the 1790s and first decade of thenineteenth century against the French Revolution and Napoleon soon becameunmitigated disasters for Spain. For much of the nineteenth century, Spaniards engaged in conflictsover ideals and concepts of what the nation should become or even if itshould be one nation. Many Spaniards looked back to the old politicalformulas that had existed during the country's finest hours. The first USbases opened in the 1950s. Spaniards working abroad and tourists arrivingin increasing numbers brought in foreign revenue and fueled the emergenceof a large middle class. When the Spanish diplomats attended the Congress of Vienna in 1814, theyrepresented a victorious State, but a ruined and divided nation. These opposing views launched the country in a series ofpronunciamientos and civil wars, at a time when the rest of the Westernworld was prospering under the industrial revolution. Already French troopswere marching through the northwestern parts of Spain, strung out (fromlack of provisions) from Burgos to the Portuguese frontier, which theyreached by November 11th.
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