What happened to Spain? How did they go from a world power to

The eternal anglo.

The eternal anglo.

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>>592747

Not surprised

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Bourbons happened

>>592714
When the empire was at its peak they spent too much on the military and never industrialized. Hidalgos and nobles always tended to see trades and science with disregard or suspicion, so they never industrialized like England or Germany. Also the eternal Anglo.

The gold from the New World perhaps caused inflation but I don't recall well

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The Spanish branch of the Habsurgs inbred for 5 generations before Charles II died heirless. The War of Spanish Succession ensued soon after

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>le eternal anglo
>le eternal anglo
>le eternal anglo
we /int/ now

They gained power because they were in the right spot on the European continent to gain control of trade.

They got a shitload of gold from this, but they never did much other than plunder from the New World and use the money to fight holy wars in Europe.

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Massive inflation.

Since the value of gold is dependent on the market value pumping more gold into the economy only devalues it. In true Spanish fashion they did not give a fuck about economics and pumped huge amounts of gold from the new world into their economy so it was totally wrecked.

Then these dickheads happened.

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>>592747
Spanish Bully Not So Tough After Being Raped

>>593139
Is it even possible to go more inbred than that.

Damn.

>>593182
Your find that Mexican silver war more destructive in this process

They had a bunch of silver that they got from Potosí and gave it all to China for their foreign goods.

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I heard a pretty interesting theory that although Spain was obtaining a large amount of money, they didn't loan this money out to any would-be merchants to build any new businesses, as usury was illegal during Spanish golden age.

Usury was legal in Britain and the Netherlands though, and this may have contributed to the eventual trade domination of both countries.

You cannot be a world power with such a small population anymore.

>>593196
I think it also had to do with absolute monarchies being shit for trade.

Think about it, why bother setting up a corporation if the powers that be could just ransack it and leave you with nothing for your work.

It isn't a coincidence that the Dutch and the British started to dominate global trade when they developed parliaments that could effectively protect the business class from the nobility.

>>593212
Didn't France and the Baltic states have trade empires too? How then did those form without a proper parliament to protect he rights of the merchants?

>>593219
I know the Hanseatic League was extremely democratic for its time.

I know literally nothing about the French role in early modern trade.

Really I'm just spitballing here.

>>593219
Didn't the Hanseatic league form a parliament, and weren't the French trading ports protected by local parliaments and the divided nature of pre-1789 France?

>>593227
>>593226
I'm not sure myself of either of these

>>593182
Came here to say this. Spain was also a shithole economy with no diversity, it's like modern Russia with their oil. Oil goes down, Russia starts to crumble.

>>593196

also worth mentioning that they expelled all of their Jews just a few months before Columbus set sail.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alhambra_Decree

>>593202
That's right, there were like 6 milion Spaniards at the time of global dominance, while France had more than twice the population.

>>592714

To a rich, high developped country do you mean?

>>594127
Right...but Spain also had territories in Italy and the spanish netherlands.

Spain failed because they were always at war, against the Dutch, against the Portuguese, the British. France finally beat them at Rocroi and after that, it was over for Spain.

>>593202
If caesar lived today he could conquer the world with a 5 million people population and reasonable military funds.

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>>592754
>>592747
shhh....

>>593242
Expelling jews was a simple way of dealing with huge loans back then, it's not relevant to the point.

>>594323

Spain did. Plus rule the seas. For awhile. Then fell.

>>594339
I'm saying caesar could do it today

>>594344

Then, I fail to see how that is related to the thread.

>>593219
Because they had lots of low rank nobles who were merchants or sponsored them

>>592714
>What happened to Spain? How did they go from a world power to what they are today?
Spanish-American War, and the Spanish Civil War.

>>594528
>Spanish-American War
By that time, Spain was already weak. The peninsula war and the loss of the spanish empire would already be a better answer.

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>>592714
spain was always pretty shitty at everything they did.
e.g.: they had around 40 million people and they were fighting as equals against portugal (which had less than 10 million) for sea supremacy and to make matters worse they got destroyed by portugal pretty much every single time they decided it was a good idea to invade us and the only time they annexed portugal was through diplomacy since the king was death and the royal crown went to the spanish king since he fucked the portuguese queen.

>pic related: it says everything about spanish prowess on the battlefield and at sea - against all odds, having superior numbers and weaponry they are always able to fuck everything up and up losing; pretty much another germany without the subhuman urges for violence, rape and world domination since at this point they know it better - unlike the germans

well, just look at their spawn

there is something wrong with that people genetically

>>593162
Maybe the problem was that money didn't get reinvested but was only used for consumption

>>592714
Spain's power came from an unsustainable economic model based on exploiting the New World's wealth.

During and after the Reconquista, the Spaniards made the brilliant decision to expel the Morsicos and Jews. Unfortunately, the Morsicos and Jews mostly made up the middle class, merchants, and bankers. That meant that the demographic base that would encourage the development of cities elsewhere was practically nonexistent. Instead, the feudal system that was waning elsewhere was cemented.

They managed to avoid being marginalized immediately by exploiting their colonies. A huge amount of silver came from the Americas (50,000 tons between.1540 and 1700), allowing the Spanish to fund their empire. Problem was, their domestic economy couldn't keep up. Spain's population actually dropped (5 million peoople in Castile in 1591 compared to 4 million in 1631), the economy stagnated, and, worst of all,Catalonia, Valencia, and Aragon paid practically no taxes. Thus, the tax burden went to Castile (6.2 million ducats per year), supplemented by Church levies (1.6 million a year), the Netherlands (3.6 million), Milan (2 million) and Naples (4 million). While taxes did bring in about three times the amount of money coming from the Americas, they were mostly consumed locally, particularly in the far-off European possessions where it went almost entirely to local garrisons. Spain ended up hugely dependent on loans, resulting in a massive national debt. By 1559 debt totaled 25 million ducats, and by the end of the century it was up to 85 million. The Spanish government was reduced to pawning off aristocratic titles and lands to fund its ventures. This ended up being counterproductive, as the expansion of the nobility ended up increasing the tax-exempt population of Castile to 10% of the total population.

>cont

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>>595089
In the midst of this looming economic crisis, Spain got hit with a series of major wars. Endemic wars in Italy regularly sapped the Empire's wealth, and the Dutch War of Independence threatened to cost them a huge part of their holdings. The onset of the reformation worsened Spain's strategic situation, which required a clear path across the continent through which its troops could travel from Spain proper to the Netherlands. Spain ended up losing parts of the "Spanish Road," which originally took them through Savoy, Switzerland, and up the Hapsburg-controlled Rhineland. But Protestantism took hold in Switzerland and Savoy fell under France's influence, forcing the Spaniards to take a more circuitous route.

Then in 1588, you had the catastrophe that was the Spanish Armada. Spanish power was irreparably damaged, and the loss of 20,000 men and a huge portion of their fleet further drained the treasury. And if that wasn't enough, the Spaniards were at the forefront of the 30 Years' War. They participated in it heavily, both by subsidizing Liga and Imperial forces and committing men directly, but it was tremendously expensive. They ended up having to relinquish their claims to the Netherlands, and by 1648 the days of the mighty Spanish empire were over.