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Understanding the Spanish Empire
The overseas colonies in the Americas, Pacific, and other parts of the world belonging to Spain are referred to as the “Spanish Empire”. Although identifying exact territories is challenging, we do know that the King of Spain took great care to protect his kingdom. Known as one of the largest empires in history and one of the first global empires, the Spanish people were critical in creating pages of our history books.
During the 16th century, European exploration and the expansion of colonials were the focus of both Portugal and Spain. This prompted new ocean trade routes to be formed, which created the opportunity for trade between Spain and the Americas to occur. Traveling across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, routes took the Spaniards into Mexico and East Asia. Throughout travels, Spain encountered various Indian civilizations to include Maya, Aztec, and Inca, who were overcome by Spanish Conquistadors. As a result, new and vast land in South and North America were opened to Spain.
The oceans were largely controlled by the Spanish Empire, known for possessing an impressive Navy. In fact, Spain was so well known for their highly trained and skilled infantry, putting fears into the hearts of many Europeans. With such control and power, Spain gained great pleasure from wealth and success in the 16th and 17th centuries, which was deemed as the “cultural golden age.”
The Spanish Empire maintained its position as being the largest empire in the world, despite some economic and military fluctuations. With extensive empire building, the Spanish began to feel the effects of growing pains. Because of this, various considerations were made specific to natural and international law, economics, war, sovereignty, and imperialism.
As more and more rivals fought for control, a number of conflicts arose. The Spanish Empire began to experience a gradual decline in realms of religion, business, and territory. Then, the European Ottoman Empire became a constant enemy with them growing stronger and the Spanish Empire becoming weaker. Finally, in 1713, the Peace of Utrecht overtook the Spaniards, taking the Low Country and Italy territories. Even so, the fortunes of the Spanish Empire gained some strength, soon becoming the second most powerful in Continental European politics.
Until the 19th century, the Spanish Empire held its own until the Peninsular War broke out, declaring independence in Quito, Paraguay, and Venezuela. Following, other revolutions broke Spain’s other territories apart. Only a few of the Empire’s territories existed until 1898 when the Spanish-American War erupted. Then by 1956, Spain lost control over Morocco, Guinea, and Sahara. Today, some of the northern African coast remains a part of Spain, which includes Melilla, Ceuta, and the Canary Islands.
