Spain was once a powerful empire between the 16th and 17th century, the empire expanded from central Europe to North and South America, the Philippines, and many Caribbean islands. That all came to a halt when England started controlling the seas. The War of Succession (1701-1714) to the Spanish Crown marked the end of the dynasty of the Habsburgs and the coming of the Bourbon. King Phillip was able to strengthen the monarchy and was able to unite varies region. Under the Bourbon ruling, the nation struggle to regain their strength after being unstable in the Peninsula War. Ferdinand became king in 1813 but in 1814 he declared the 1812 constitution null and void and made it clear he intended to rule as an absolute monarch. However this lead to an uprising, forcing the king to accept the constitution. Ferdinand died in 1833 and Spain was plunged into a civil war between liberals and conservatives. Ferdinand wanted his daughter Isabella to succeed him but Spanish conservatives wanted his brother Carlos to become king. The war went on till 1839 when the Carlists (conservatives) were finally defeated. Queen Isabella was soon force to abdicate and her replacement, Amadeo, was also force to abdicate. As time goes on, the nation had a hard time adopting mercantile and industrial revolutions. This causes the country to fall behind Britain, France, and Germany in economic and political power. Later Spain decided to remain neutral during World War I and WWII. In 1909, many working class Spaniards reached a boiling point when there was an increase of labor unrest as well they were also being conscripted for War in which the rich were able to escape by paying a fee. They riot from Barcelona to other cities in Catalonia. Many of them burning Churches. Socialism and Anarchism began to spread throughout Spain. General Primo de Riviera staged a coup to restore order. Riviera soon lost support and decided to resign following King Alfonso XIII abdicated. Spain became a republic in 1931. Socialist and radicals were happy about this new republic but the conservatives feared it while the Catholic Church simply opposed it. Election after elections whether the right or left wing won the Spaniards would argue or fight back and forth. This divided the nation between the left and right wing. When Jose Calvo Sotelo (left wing) was assassinated, the leader of opposition saw this as an opportunity to try and seize power. This cause a civil war. The left wing became known as Republicans and the rebels became known as Nationalists. On October 1, 1936 General Franco became leader of the Nationalist army. Mussolini and Hitler sent aid to the Nationalists while Stalin sent aid to the Republicans. The war became very bloody and both sides committed atrocities. The Nationalist were rapidly advancing and when they captured Barcelona and entered Madrid, the war ended. In September 1939 General Franco was made head of state. Under Franco Spain became a repressive dictatorship. When Franco finally died in 1975, Spain was taken over by King Juan Carlos I, who soon led Spain toward democracy. As you read, the Spaniards have faced a wide variety of political experiences.
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Those experiences have influence the citizens on how the political system should be. Spain's political culture consists more of an overlap of different regional political culture then of a one main one. There are 17 autonomous regions and 17 regions either form a nice geographical border are have an uneven size and pattern. Holding these disparate parts together is difficult given the historic penchant of Spaniards to identify themselves first with their village (pueblo) and then with their region, the patria chica (small homeland). The Basques, Catalans , Galicians, and the Castilians regions each have their own unique culture, ethnicities , and religion. They are recognized as separate ethnic groups and have the right to use their own languages in education and administration. Different from what is seen here in the United States. With the increasing influence of the Basque and Catalan regional parties in national politics, the whole question of regional power and autonomy has taken on a new significance These are regions are aware of the central government and
Those experiences have influence the citizens on how the political system should be. Spain's political culture consists more of an overlap of different regional political culture then of a one main one. There are 17 autonomous regions and 17 regions either form a nice geographical border are have an uneven size and pattern. Holding these disparate parts together is difficult given the historic penchant of Spaniards to identify themselves first with their village (pueblo) and then with their region, the patria chica (small homeland). The Basques, Catalans , Galicians, and the Castilians regions each have their own unique culture, ethnicities , and religion. They are recognized as separate ethnic groups and have the right to use their own languages in education and administration. Different from what is seen here in the United States. With the increasing influence of the Basque and Catalan regional parties in national politics, the whole question of regional power and autonomy has taken on a new significance These are regions are aware of the central government and