Historical background
University of Chicago
Raimundo Viejo Viñas
Office 20.182
www.raimundoviejo.info
raimundo.viejo@upf.edu
Historical background: the Spanish
state-building process
 Spain comes from “Hispania”, a province of the Roman
Empire.
 After the failure of the Roman Empire, German tribes
invaded the Iberian peninsula and formed the first state
entities (duchies, counties, marquisates...)
 These medieval basic units were characterized by the
personal link between the feudal lord and his serfs
(“enfiteusis”). The most important were called
“principados” (i.e. the Principado of Asturias).
 In the course of time they were unified in bigger and
bigger entities, called kingdoms. Asturias and Catalonia
were the principalities that created the kingdoms of
Castile and Aragon.
Historical background: the Spanish
state-building process, 2
 The state-building process in the Iberian peninsula took
place in the broader context of a territorial expansion of
Christianity against the Islam (“La Reconquista”)
 The marriage in 1469 of the Catholic Monarchs (“Los
Reyes Católicos”), created a confederation of reigns,
each with their own administrations, but ruled by a
common monarch
 1492 is a watershed year in the History of Spain. The
Catholic Monarches conquer the Kingdom of Granada
and Cristopher Columbus "discovers" America.
 In 1516 Charles V becomes the first King of a unified
Spanish Crown. Once the Reconquista was finished,
Charles V continues the Spanish expansion worldwide.
Historical background: the Spanish
state-building process, 3

Between 1521 and 1643, the Spanish Empire reaches its
maximum territorial expansion (almost 4 million square
kilometers). It becames the first global power in History. It
is called “the Empire where the sun never sets”

After 1643, the Spanish Empire initializes a long decline. It
will be overcome by other global powers: France at the 18th
century, then the United Kingdom (19th century) and,
finally, the United States (the Spanish-American War of
1898)

In 1700, the last Spanish Habsburg King, Charles II of
Spain, died without issue. The War of the Spanish
Succession begins. In 1714 the war finishes. A new French
dynasty, the Bourbons, will reign the Spanish Empire.
Nevertheless, the Bourbons will not be able to avoid its
definitive decline
Historical background: the Spanish
state-building process, 4
 In 1793, the Spanish Empire went to war against
Revolutionary France. Defeated in the field, the Spanish
state became a client of the new French Republic. The
Spanish king abdicates in favour of Napoleon's brother,
Joseph Bonaparte.
 Between 1808 the popular uprising of the people of
Madrid against the French rule begins the Independence
War that will finish with the approval of the first Spanish
liberal Constitution in 1812
 The Spanish weakness that follows the war against
France will help the American colonies to obtain their
independence. Spanish monarchy loses its empire
Historical background: the Spanish
state-building process, 5
 Inside Spain there takes place a centralization process of
the political power. In 1834, Javier de Burgos organizes
the Kingdom of Spain in provinces.
 As a reaction against the centralization of power, in
Galicia, the Basque Country and Catalonia arise the
stateless nationalisms
 The Spanish history of the 19th and 20th centuries is the
history of a permanent crisis. Spanish politics can be
described as a series of different political systems of few
duration.
 The interference of the army in the country’s political life
becomes the decisive variable in Spanish politics
Historical background: the Spanish
state-building process, 6

After the defeat in the American-Spanish War (1898), the
Spanish political regime that followed the First Republic (the
so-called Restauración) collapses

Without colonies in Asia and America, the monarchy and
the army try to keep African colonies. In 1909 a social
movement arises in Barcelona against conscription. It is the
Semana Trágica.

The military reaction against social mobilization will end in
1923 with a new autocratic regime under the leadership of
General Miguel Primo de Rivera

On April 14, 1931, democracy is restored. It is the Second
Spanish Republic (1931-1936/1939)