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| Monarchy of Spain Monarquía Hispánica | |
|---|---|
| 1516–1700 | |
 Flag
 Coat of arms
| |
 The Spanish Empire under the rule of Philip Habsburg (1556–1598) | |
| Capital | Madrid |
| Religion | Catholicism |
| Dominant mode of production | Feudalism |
| Government | Absolute monarchy |
The Monarchy of Spain, also known as Habsburg Spain, refers to the territories ruled by the Spanish branch of the Hapsburg dynasty between 1516 and 1713. It served as the head of feudal reaction during the Counter-Reformation and brutally repressed its enemies with the Spanish Inquisition.[1]
History
Unification
In 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella united Spain under a Catholic government and expelled all Muslims and Jews from the country unless they converted. They established the Spanish Inquisition to repress any non-Catholics. In the same year, they funded Columbus's voyage to America.[2] Spain, Austria, and Germany unified under Charles in 1519.[1]
Eighty Years' War
The Netherlands, then ruled by Spain, embraced Protestantism and dismissed the Spanish viceroy Granvelle in 1564. Dutch and Flemish society was dominated by merchants, but the Spanish monarchy used their wealth to fund its army and colonial ambitions. While most of the nobility supported Spain or was neutral, William of Orange led a bourgeois revolution against the Spanish. The Spanish fought against the revolution for decades, destroying Antwerp in November 1576 and taking control of Belgium. They began another offensive in 1584, leading Elizabeth of England to declare war on Spain and defeat the Spanish armada in 1588. Spain surrendered in 1609, and the Netherlands became the world's first bourgeois republic.[1]
Thirty Years' War
Spain and Austria launched another counterrevolutionary war in 1618 against the revolution in Germany. The Catholic League defeated the Protestant Bohemian prince Frederick in 1620, leading the Czech nobility to seek support from the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and France. Spain and its allies depopulated towns and forced peasants to give half of their produce to landlords. Following the war, France surpassed the destroyed Habsburg empires as the main power in mainland Europe.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Neil Faulkner (2013). A Marxist History of the World: From Neanderthals to Neoliberals: 'The First Wave of Bourgeois Revolutions' (pp. 96–103). [PDF] Pluto Press. ISBN 9781849648639 [LG]
- ↑ "Celebrating Shakespeare: a Marxist-Leninist perspective" (2016-06-01). Proletarian. Archived from the original on 2023-02-08.