The Rise and fall of The Spanish Empire - Essay Example

The Rise and fall of The Spanish Empire al Affiliation The Rise and fall of The Spanish Empire Spain emerged as the most powerful country in Europe and used its dominancy to expand its territories overseas. The nature in which the Spanish empire expanded was more of their administrative strengths rather than their wealth capacities. Spanish king Ferdinand and wife Isabella where the formidable forces behind the success of Spain. The fall of the Spanish empire was imminent towards the end of the sixteen century.

This was attributed to factors both internal and external. In the mid 1500’s the then king Charles V ordered the expulsion of Moors of the Aragon. The successive regimes ignored the grievances of their subjects. King Philip II failure to listen to the Moriscos of grenade, led to an uprising, which lasted more than two years. The reign of Philip III saw the population being expelled from the kingdom. This had consequences to the economic status of Spain as the region lacked the needed labor to enhance economic activities.

The failures of the successive reign saw the Spain’s relationship with its neighbors and other European states worsen. The Netherlands’ revolt was evident of the decline power of the Spanish empire (Payne, 1973). The final undoing was the decision by the queen of England to denied span the use of her harbors. This was the final blow of the empire, which lead to Spain experiencing their worst economic setback (Payne, 1973). Despite these setbacks, they managed to control their territories including the Catalonia and Portuguese rebellion.

The recapture of the Catalans marked signaled their ability to control their internal territories but the rise of other European powerhouses ended the long dominance of the Spanish empire. Reference Payne, S. (1973). A history of Spain and Portugal. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press