The government of Spain has been affected by my many events in history, but the Spanish Civil War and the dictatorship of Francisco Franco have had quite possibly the biggest effect of all. National political unrest filled the country, and Spain had an enormous problem with poverty. Spain started as a constitutional monarchy in 1920 with Alfonso the XIII as king. As of 1978, Spain has moved back to a constitutional monarchy, and the leaders of the government are King Juan Carlos I and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. In the many decades between these kings, there was conflict between those on the Republican side and those on the Fascist, or Nationalist, side, which was lead by Francisco Franco. There were also problems with inefficiency of the government with Alfonso XIII and where the king led the country from there.
In 1923, King Alfonso XIII was in full support of how General Primo de Rivera wanted to control the country, so the General became a dictator until 1930. Although he was a dictator, he wasn’t as harsh as dictators that came after him. He was actually interested in public work and industrial production, and he assisted with the end of the Moroccan Rebellion in 1925. However, Spain was a disaster financially, and Rivera could not fix the problem. In April of 1931, Spain held an election, and those elected declared Spain a republic instead of a monarchy. Because of this declaration, many problems arose. Catalonia and the Basque region requested independence, which could have caused Spain to break up. The Catholic Church and the republic also did not get along very well. Spain was primarily an agricultural country around this era, so when the country was in a depression in the 1930s, their prime exports dropped in value. T...
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...y fresh, and many Spaniards are going to fight so that no laws or policies resemble those of the time of the dictatorship. The 1900s were a time of political radicalism, war, restrictions, and unhappiness for most people. Those with strict Catholic beliefs weren’t hurt as much during that time, and they aren’t opposing any current reforms. Spain has moved forward to a democracy because of Juan Carlos, and no one would ever like to go back to a dictatorship. The time of Francisco Franco will never be forgotten, and it will always have an impact on how Spaniards want their government to be. Spain has been moving forward ever since the constitutional monarchy was established. Although there are some controversies and conflicts, that occurs in every country. They have moved past the time of the Nationalists and Republicans and are moving into a time of the people.
Francisco Franco (1892-1975) was a lifelong military leader. He rose through the ranks until the early 1930s, when he found himself, a right-wing monarchist, in the middle of a left-wing republic. He was demoted, but later rose up again, and by 1935 he had been named chief of staff of the Spanish Army, a position he used to get rid of left-wing figures and their military institutions. When the left- wing social and economic structure of Spain began to fall, Franco joined the rebellion. He soon led an uprising and took control of Spain after the Spanish Civil War (1939). From then unti...
Looking back into the history of certain events affords the modern researcher the ability to examine a variety of documents and artifacts. It is important, however, to take into account biases, inaccuracies, errors in translation, and overall misinformation when examining primary sources, particularly historical documents. Examining the history of the conquest of the Aztec empire is no different, and in a scenario as tense as it was it is extremely important to consider the authorship of the text. Bernal Diaz’ The Conquest of New Spain and Miguel Leon-Portilla’s The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico offer two distinct looks into the same event in history. Both documents offer differing takes of the same events, so when
William of Orange once stated, “Spain committed such horrible excesses that all the barbarities, cruelties, and tyrannies ever perpetrated before are only games in comparison to what happened to the poor Indians.” This statement is an example of an attempt to discredit the Spanish. Attempts such as these are known as the Black Legend. The Black Legend was the name given to the concept of cruelty and brutality spread by the Spanish during the 14th and 15th century. This legend demonizes Spain and specifically the Spanish empire in an effort to harm the reputation of them. It was through this propaganda that made other countries look down upon the Spanish empire. The Black Legend threw discredit upon the rule of the Spanish by building biases and prejudices against Catholicism and the Spanish treatment of the natives of South America. The Black Legend mainly exaggerated the treatment of the native people in the regions of the Spanish Empire and non-Catholic people such as Protestants and Jews in its European territories. The Black Legend was an anti-Spanish movement, which was started due to political and religious reasons by Northern European Protestant countries who were Spain’s enemies in order to discredit them.
Mexico declared its independence from Spain in Sept, 16, 1810, and for the next 100 years what followed was a period of political instability of rule under monarchies, federal republics and dictatorships. Finally in 1910, a revolt on the autocracy under Porfirio Diaz led to the start of the M...
All of these large changes in social positions and styles of government did not go without violent consequences. Several wars occurred over this time frame these include the war between Mexico and the United States, the Triple Alliance War and the Chaco War to name a few. Most of these were fought over land and territories owned by the respective countries. Often they were caused by the very Liberal tendencies that were becoming more prevalent in the previous paragraphs. Countries that need to be competitive in a global marketplace require fertile and productive land and natural
During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church was the dominant force in Western civilization. As the Dark Ages came to a close, the monarchies of Europe began to consolidate power; providing an alternative power base. With the Protestant Reformation came another blow to the influence of the Church. Spain, the forerunner in the Age of Discovery, was a fervently Catholic country. During the 16th century, the monarchy combined the forces of "cross and crown" in its imperial policy; much to the dismay and ultimate destruction of the indigenous peoples of the New World. Through an examination of Aztec polytheism and the Catholicism of the conquistadors, comes the central role of religion in the successful conquest of New Spain.
The Spanish Inquisition was used for both political and religious reasons and founded by the Catholic Kings in 1478 . Spain at the time was a nation-state that was born out of religious struggle between numerous different belief systems including Catholicism, Islam, Protestant and Judaism. Following the Crusades and the Reconquest of Spain by the Christian Spaniards the leaders of Spain needed a way to unify the country into a strong nation.
There was a huge revolution in the country of Mexico that started in the year 1910, led by Porfirio Diaz, the president of Mexico in 1910. In the 1860’s Diaz was important to Mexican politics and then was elected president in 1877. Diaz said that he would only be president for one year and then would resign, but after four years he was re-elected as the President of Mexico. Porfirio Diaz and the Mexican revolution had a huge impact on the country of Mexico that is still felt in some places today.
The Mexican Revolution began November 20th, 1910. It is disputable that it extended up to two decades and seized more than 900,000 lives. This revolution, however, also ended dictatorship in Mexico and restored the rights of farm workers, or peons, and its citizens. Revolutions are often started because a large group of individuals want to see a change. These beings decided to be the change that they wanted to see and risked many things, including their lives. Francisco “Pancho” Villa and Emiliano Zapata are the main revolutionaries remembered. These figures of the revolution took on the responsibility that came with the title. Their main goal was to regain the rights the people deserved. The peons believed that they deserved the land that they labored on. These workers rose up in a vehement conflict against those opposing and oppressing them. The United States was also significantly affected by this war because anybody who did not want to fight left the country and migrated north. While the end of the revolution may be considered to be in the year of 1917 with the draft of a new constitution, the fighting did not culminate until the 1930’s.
At first there was a major social difference between Spaniards and the Native People; but with the intermingling of the races it became harder and harder. The new government was very corrupt and many citizens wanted to form a new country separate from Spain. This Eventually happened when Spain lost its grip of New Spain due to a war between Spain and France. The new country formed was called Mexico.
In order to understand the effects of the Spanish Civil War, the atmosphere of Spain prior to 1936 needs to be understood as well. Spain, unlike major European powers, never experienced a bourgeois revolution and was therefore still dominated by a significant aristocracy. However, Spain had gone through several civil wars and revolutions making violence one of the most common devices for change. It, also, had undergone several cycles of reform, reaction from the opposition, and reversal by military uprising led by a dictator before 1936 (Preston 18).
The difference between the two monarchies’ plan for a centralized state was the method in which both were carried out. In the time of the New Monarchies, religion was integral to unifying the state. Monarchs such as Isabella of Castile tried to unify their countries as a result of religious purification. Isabella believed firmly that a stable Spain would only stem from a Catholic Spain. As a result, the reconquista was initiated and unification took place around the church. The monarchs insisted on religious conformity. In addition, parliamentary institutions were ignored or even sometimes abolished in order to centralize and bring peace to the state. Townspeople, the target of monarchs for support, were willing to let parliaments be dominated by the king, for parliaments p...
The Conquest of New Spain Cortés came not to the New World to conquer by force, but by manipulation. Bernal Daz del Castillo, in the "Conquest of New Spain," describes how Cortés and his soldiers manipulated the Aztec people and their king Montezuma from the time they traveled from Iztapalaopa to the time when Montezuma took Cortés to the top of the great Cue and showed him the whole of Mexico and its countryside, and the three causeways which led into Mexico. Castillo's purpose for recording the mission was to keep an account of the wealth of Montezuma and Mexico, the traditions, and the economic potential that could benefit Cortés' upcoming conquest. However, through these recordings, we are able to see and understand Cortés' strategy in making Mexico "New Spain." He came as a wolf in sheep's clothing and manipulated Montezuma through his apparent innocence.
The history of political instability in Mexico and its need for revolution is very complex and dates back to the colonization of Mexico by the Spaniards in the 1500s. However, many aspects of the social situation of Mexico when the Revolution broke out can be attributed to the thirty-year dictatorship of President Porfrio Diaz, prior to 1911. The Revolution began in November of 1910 in an effort to overthrow the Diaz dictatorship. Under the Diaz presidency, a small minority of people, primarily relatives and friends, were in ...
Filipe V succeeded in this Succession War, which allowed the Bourbon Monarchy to initiate reforms in effort to centralize Spain’s government; reform country’s financial systems; reinstate and reinforce the country’s military forces. The House of Bourbons had three princes, Filipe V (1700-1746), Ferdinand VI (1746-1759) and Charles III (1759-1788) that worked together to facilitate these reforms that modernized Spain completely. These reforms e...