|
|
EARLY
CIVILISATIONS
|
|
15,000BC
|
cave paintings at
Altamira
|
|
5000-4000BC
|
Iberians settled
in Almeria
|
|
1500BC
|
Celtic and
Germanic tribes arrived
|
|
|
FIRST
COLONISTS
|
|
1100BC
|
Phoenicians
founded Cadiz/traded metals of Guadalquivir valley
|
|
|
Greeks located
trading colonies along Eastern coast (Empúries near Barcelona)
|
|
300BC
|
Carthaginians
arrived from Sicily after being expelled by Romans/occupied most of
Andalucia/ prepared to invade Italy
|
|
214BC
|
Attacked Saguntum
under Hannibal (strategic Roman outpost) leading to Second Punic War
|
|
210BC
|
only Cadiz
remained under their control
|
|
|
ROMANS AND
VISIGOTHS
|
|
|
Roman
colonization took over two centuries /resistance from Celtic tribes /
Basques never fully Romanized
|
|
|
Spain became most
important centre of Roman Empire after Italy / produced 4 emperors
|
|
0-200AD
|
Golden Age of
Roman Spain / mines and granaries of Andalucia brought great wealth
|
|
by 300AD
|
Roman political
framework was showing decadence and corruption / vulnerable to barbarian
invasion from N.Europe
|
|
264-276
|
Franks and Suevi
crossed Pyrenees leaving much destruction
|
|
200yrs later
|
Suevi, Alans and
Vandals followed
|
|
|
Visigoths from
Gaul, allies of Rome, arrived
|
|
5th Century
|
Visigoth military
rule from Toledo - constant discontent
|
|
|
MOORISH SPAIN
|
|
622
|
Muhammad left
Mecca
|
|
by 705
|
His followers
controlled all of North Africa
|
|
711
|
Tariq led 7000
Berbers from Tangier across the Strait / routed King Roderic’s
Visigoth army
|
|
by 811
|
Moors had
conquered all but Asturias / depending on region, would control for next
3-8 centuries
|
|
10th Century
|
Spanish state of
Islam was proclaimed independent of Baghdad by Abd ar-Rahman III /
Cordoba was capital
|
|
|
decline of
Cordoban Caliphate / dictatorial al-Mansur took control and Moorish
power grew
|
|
1031
|
after al-Mansur’s
death, Caiphate lost authority and disintegrated into small independent
kingdoms (“taifas”)
|
|
|
Internal division
amongst the taifas / less resistance to Christian Kingdoms / need for
reinforcements from N.Africa
|
|
1086
|
Almoravids came
to support Moorish invasion / fanatically Islamic
|
|
1147
|
Almohads restored
Muslim authority
|
|
1212
|
Almohads defeated
at battle of Las Navas de Tolosa
|
|
|
CHRISTIAN
RECONQUEST
|
|
727
|
Symbolic small
Christian victory at Covadonga lead to formation of the tiny Christian
Kingdom of the Asturias
|
|
by 914
|
This Kingdom had
reclaimed León and most of Galicia and northern Portugal / progress
halted by al-Mansur
|
|
|
Fall of Cordoban
Caliphate and aid of Saint James the Apostle, Reconquest moved into new
and powerful phase
|
|
10th Century
|
Castile was
formed as county of León-Asturias / named after frontier castles built
against Arab attack
|
|
1037-1065
|
Under Fernando I
it achieved kingdom status and was the thrust and focus of the
Reconquest
|
|
|
Other kingdoms
defined: Basques founde
Navarra / Catalunya joined with Aragon
|
|
1085
|
Great Moorish
city of Toledo was captured
|
|
1086
|
Military activity
was frozen with the arrival of the Almoravids except for El Cid
|
|
1095
|
This Castilian
nobleman won considerable lands around Valencia
|
|
1212
|
General crusade
of the Kings of León, Castile, Aragón and Navarra against threat of
Almohads resulting in great victory at Las Navas de Tolosa - Muslim
power was effectively paralysed / Christian armies take most of Al-Andalus
|
|
1236
|
Fernando III led
Castilian soldiers into Cordoba
|
|
1248
|
He recaptured
Seville
|
|
by end of 13th
Century |
Only Granada
remained under Muslim authority / for most of next two centuries it was
forced to pay tribute to monarchs of Castile
|
|
14th Century
|
Disintegration of
mutual cooperation between Christian kingdoms / independent development
was pursued
|
|
1385
|
Attempts to merge
Portugal with Castile foundered at battle of Aljubarrota / Portugal’s
interest turned to Atlantic
|
|
|
Aragón looked to
the markets of the Mediterranean / Castile emerged as strongest:
agricultural self-sufficiency and a flourishing wool trade with
the Netherlands / developed its prominent military role played under
Fernando III
|
|
|
LOS REYES
CATOLICOS
|
|
1479
|
Marriage of
Fernando V of Aragón and Isabella I of Castile united the two largest
kingdoms in Spain - consider Spain as a single political entity for the
first time.
|
|
1480
|
The Inquisition
began in Castile. religious
bigotry which aimed to establish purity of Catholicism - aimed at Jews.
|
|
1492
|
An edict forced
400,000 Jews to leave the country (first pogrom in 1391).
|
|
1492
|
Similar spirit in
Reconquest of Kingdom of Granada which guaranteed Religious rights to
Muslims. Within a decade
they were forced to decide between conversion or expulsion.
|
|
1492
|
America
discovered. Papal bull
entrusted Spain with conversion of American Indians - exploitation of
New World
|
|
|
Wealth poured
into Spain from colonies. Strategic
marriage alliances were made with Portugal, England and the Holy Roman
Empire. Spain under the
Habsburg dynasty would be the world’s leading power.
|
|
|
HABSBURG SPAIN
|
|
1516
|
Carlos I, a
Habsburg, became king due to marriage alliances of the Catholic
monarchs.
|
|
1521
|
He was elected
Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire as Carlos V, inheriting not only
Castile and Aragon but Flanders, the Netherlands, Artois, the
Franche-Comté and all the American colonies.
|
|
|
Inevitably
attention was diverted from Spain whose main function was to sustain the
Holy Roman Empire with gold and silver from the Americas.
|
|
1556
|
Accession of
Felipe II reversed the notion of an absentee king.
Built El Escorial (monument to values of Medieval Spain. Themes
of his reign: preservation of his own inheritance/revival of the crusade
in the name of Catholic Church
|
|
|
Claimed
Portuguese throne through marriage of his mother gaining access to
wealth of its Empire / Supported Mary Queen of Scots’s claim to the
throne of England leading to Armada
|
|
1588
|
Sinking of Armada
was a triumph for English naval strength and Protestantism.
|
|
|
Inquisition was
enforced with renewed vigour. Felipe
III expelled half the total number of Moriscos (subject Moors) in Spain.
Two families per village could remain to maintain irrigation
techniques. Exodus of
Muslims and Jews created gulf in labour force and in high level
commercial life.
|
|
By mid-17th C.
|
Spain was losing
international credibility. Domestic
disparity between wealth of Crown and poverty of the masses created
perpetual tension.
|
|
1640
|
Regional revolts
in Catalunya and Portugal.
|
|
1668
|
Portugal was
acknowledged as an independent state.
|
|
|
BOURBONS AND
THE PENINSULAR WAR
|
|
1700
|
Felipe V took the
Spanish throne and the Bourbon dynasty began.
As a result the War of Spanish Successio began due to the rival
claim to the throne of Archduke Charles of Austria, assisted by British
forces.
|
|
1713
|
Treaty of Utrecht
ended the war. Spain was
stripped of all territory in Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy and Sardinia but
Felipe V was recognised as king. Gibraltar
was seized by the British during the war.
|
|
|
For the rest of
the century Spain fell under French influence
|
|
1762
|
Alliance with the
French Bourbons. This
political contact with France made involvement in the Napoleonic Wars
inevitable.
|
|
1805
|
Spanish fleet was
defeated at Trafalgar. Popular
outrage, powerful prime minister Godoy was overthrown.
|
|
1808
|
King Carlos IV
was forced to abdicate. Napoleon
installed his brother Joseph on the throne.
|
|
|
Local resistance
to Napoleon backed by the British army, first under Sir John Moore and
later under the Duke of Wellington, drove out the French during the
Peninsular War.
|
|
|
American colonies
asserted their independence from a preoccupied centre. Spain lost their last real claim of significance on the
world stage.
|
|
All 19th Cent.
|
Dominated by
struggle between reactionary monarchy and aspirations of liberal
constitutional reformers.
|
|
|
SEEDS
OF CIVIL WAR
|
|
1810 - 1813
|
Ad hoc Cortes
(Parliament) had set up liberal constitution - ministers responsible to
democratically elected chamber
|
|
|
Fernando VII
returned to throne and immediately abolished it - stamped out any hint
of liberalism until his death
|
|
1833
|
Fernando VII died
and the right of succession was contested between his brother Don
Carlos, backed by the Church, conservatives and Basques, and his infant
daughter, Isabel, who looked to the Liberals and army for support.
|
|
|
First Carlist War
began, a civil war that divided Spain for six years.
|
|
1843
|
Isabel II was
declared of age - a reign of scandal, political crisis and
constitutional compromise.
|
|
1868
|
Liberal army
generals under General Prim effected a coup which forced the queen to
abdicate. Attempts to
maintain a Republican government failed. The Cortes was again dissolved
and the throne returned to Isabel’s son, Alfonso XII
|
|
1876
|
A new
constitution was declared limiting the power of the Crown.
Failed due to lack of constitutional tradition.
|
|
|
Discontent
preceeding World War 1 was expressed in working class political
movements. After the
restoration of Alfonso XII the Socialist Workers’ Party was founded.
|
|
1888
|
Socialist
Workers’ Party’s trade union, the UGT, was founded - most popular in
Basque region and Asturias
|
|
1911
|
Anarchist
counterpart. the CNT, was founded - most support from peasants of
Andalucia
|
|
1898
|
Cuba was lost
causing growing international isolation.
Economic problem of returning soldiers seeking employment.
|
|
1909
|
Call-up for army
reserves to fight in Morocco general strike and “Tragic Week” of
rioting in Barcelona.
|
|
1914-18
|
Spain was
outwardly neutral and inwardly turbulent. Inflation made postwar
recession harder to bear.
|
|
1923
|
General Primo de
Rivera led a military coup which was possible due to disillusionment
with parliamentary government together with the fears of employers and
businessmen for their own security.
|
|
1930
|
Primo de Rivera
died. Material prosperity
hadn’t increased but there had been relative stability.
|
|
|
New political
factions were developing: Liberal
Republican Right was founded by Alcalá Zamora, and the Socialist Party
was given definition under Largo Caballero.
|
|
1931
|
Victory of
anti-monarchist parties in the municipal electionsforced the abdication
of the king and the Second Republic was declared.
|
|
|
THE SECOND
REPUBLIC
|
|
1932
|
Catalunya
declared itself independent of central government and was conceded
control by a statute
|
|
|
Powerful
separatist movements in Basque country and Galicia also
|
|
|
Government was
failing to satisfy any expectations - it lacked the will and the money.
Internally divided. Too
scared of right’s reaction to carry out agrarian and tax reforms
demanded by the left
|
|
|
The result was
the increased polarization of politics.
Anarchism gained strength among frustrared middle classes and
among workers and peasantry. Communists
and left-wing socialists were joined by their mutual mistrust of
moderate socialists in government.
Little unity on left or right but mutual fear made each seem an
imminent threat.
|
|
1923
|
Falangists (a
youth party) had been formed by José Antonio Primo de Rivera (son of
dictator) - supported by conservative traditionalists and dissident
elements in army upset by modernizing reforms.
|
|
Feb. 1936
|
In atmosphere of
growing confusion left-wing Popular Front narrowly won general election.
Normal life became impossible:
economy crippled by strikes, peasants took agrarian reform into
their own hands, government failed to exert any authority.
|
|
July 17th 1936
|
Military garrison
in Morocco rebelled under General Franco.
More folloowed throughout the country. It was the culmination of years of scheming in the army but
wasn’t the overnight success its leaders expected.
|
|
|
The south and
west quickly fell into Nationalist hands.
Madrid and the industrialized north and east remained loyal to
the Republican government.
|
|
|
CIVIL WAR
|
|
|
Both sides took
violent reprisals on their enemies - Republicans shot priests and
landowners wholesale, Nationalists carried out mass slaughter on the
population of every town they took.
Spaniards were divided from each other.
|
|
|
It was the first
modern war. Franco’s
German allies demonstrated their ability to wipe out civilian
populations (Gernika and Durango).
Radio was an important weapon - “white bread of Franco”
propaganda. |
|
|
Republicans
received sporadic help from Russia and thousands of International
Brigade volunteers but were no match for the professional armies and the
assistance from Fascist Italy anf Nazi Germany enjoyed by the
Nationalists.
|
|
|
Left was torn
apart by internal divisions which almost led to civil war within its own
ranks.
|
|
|
Republicans held
out for nearly three years.
|
|
Jan. 1939
|
Catalunya fell to
the Nationalists.
|
|
|
Madrid never
formally surrendered but armed resistance petered out over the next few
months.
|
|
|
FRANCO’S
SPAIN
|
|
|
Early reprisals
on a massive and terrifying scale.
Executions were common. Over
2 million people were put in concentration camps until order was
established.
|
|
|
By end of WW2
Franco was only fascist head of state left in Europe (Spain was neutral
as it was so weak)
|
|
|
Spain was
economically and politically isolated and without markets.
Half the population worked the land for little return.
|
|
1953
|
Eisenhower
visited Madrid and offered huge loans in return for the establishment of
US nuclear bases. Franco
was more than willing to accept.
|
|
|
Rapid economic
growth was to follow (second only to Japan for much of 1960s). A boom fuelled by tourism and remittances of Spanish
workers abroad.
|
|
|
Franco’s last
years mirrired the repression of the post-war period. Basque Nationalists, whose assassination of Admiral Carrero
Blanco had destroyed Franco’s last hopes of a like-minded successor,
got particularly harsh treatment.
|
|
|
Hundreds of
so-called terrorists were tortured.
Worldwide protest against the Burgos trials of 1970 and
executions of August 1975.
|
|
November 1975
|
Franco died and
nominated King Juan Carlos as his successor.
|
|
|
POST-FRANCO
SPAIN
|
|
|
As the
hand-picked successor to Franco, Juan Carlos’s initial moves were
extremely cautious. He
appointed a government of loyal Francoists.
|
|
Summer 1976
|
Demonstrations in
Madrid ended in violence with police using the old authoritarian ways.
|
|
|
Juan Carlos
recognised the need for a break with the past, accepted the resignation
of his prime minister and began the process of democratization.
|
|
|
New prime
minister Adolfo Suárez steered a law of political reform allowing for a
two chamber Cortes
|
|
|
The Socialists
and Communists were legitimized.
|
|
June 1977
|
Suárez’s
centre-right UCD party won 34% of the vote.
Socialists were second with 28%.
It was a vote for democratic stability.
This was reflected during the parliament with Suárez governing
through “consensus politics”.
|
|
Feb. 1981
|
Civil Guard
Colonel Tejero stormed the Cortes and attempted an army coup. Only three of the army’s ten regional commanders remained
unreservedly loyal to the government.
The crisis was real for a while but the king stood firm and
refused to support the plotters. Most
of the other regional commanders affirmed their support.
|
|
Oct. 28th 1982
|
Felipe
Gonzalez’s Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) was elected to power after
43 years in the hands of the right.
|
|
|
|
