LIGHTNOVELONLINE Nanming: I can build wonders
Chapter 75 Spain in Decline
Chapter 75 Spain in Decline
It was already the winter of 1680 that news of the fall of the Luzon colony reached Spain.
King Carlos II of Spain has just presided over the Inquisition ceremony of the Inquisition, in which 21 people were sentenced to be burned at the stake.
Before he had time to rest, he heard the news that the Luzon colony was lost.
As a well-known sick man, he almost died in one breath.
He hurried to find his mother, Maria Anna, for comfort.
Carlos II is a poor man, as a member of the Habsburg royal family.
He was the only heir to the previous Spanish throne, the Habsburg royal family is characterized by inbreeding, so he suffers from several genetic diseases:-
mentally handicapped-
Severe jaw protrusion-
Weaning at 5 years old
-
lame-
10 years old to walk
-
Psychologically and physically extremely abnormal-
epilepsy-
deaf-
half blind-
Infertility
His main achievements are: ending the Spanish Habsburg dynasty and starting the War of Spanish Succession.
Such a king is destined to have only his mother, Maria Anna, to help him regent.
Fortunately, his mother, Maria, was relatively sober and did not send an army to Asia to fight.
Because she saw Ming Zheng's terrifying combat power from the battle reports, if she wanted to defeat Zheng Kezang in the distant Luzon, she would have to dispatch a large number of fleets and troops.
Spain can't afford to hurt now.
Spain has a total of 65 large phalanxes distributed in Italy, Flanders and Catalonia, but there is a serious shortage of personnel. For example, there should be 51000 soldiers in Flanders, but in fact there are only 8000. That's all.
What's more, there are more important American colonies to guard, and France and Austria are always coveting Spain's huge territory, which is just like the end of the dynasty.
But the decline of Spain cannot really be blamed for the incompetence of Carlos II.
Spain once became the number one power in Europe, thanks to its own hard work and a lot of luck.
However, the structure of this empire was loose and not fully integrated. As the main body of the empire, the power of Castile gradually weakened, so it eventually disintegrated and declined.
The sudden strengthening of Spain is indeed a local development on the one hand.
But on the other hand, it was also the arrival of Charles V of the Habsburg dynasty, which brought the rich Netherlands, a part of Germany and other places. Later, the victory of the Habsburg dynasty against France in the Italian war made Spain’s victory over the previous Aragon Controlled southern Italy, and strengthened control in Lombardy, Tuscany, Genoa and other places.
These areas have been rich in Europe since the middle ages, with dense population and developed industry and commerce. During the Habsburg dynasty, they were not only important tax sources, but also the source of various manufactured goods of the empire.
With the population, wealth and geographical advantages of the peripheral areas, Spain has truly become a powerful country in Europe and the world.
The powerful Spanish phalanx and the Armada supported the conquerors' foreign colonial expansion. They were able to conquer the Aztecs and Inca, obtain huge Latin American colonies, attack France left and right, win the Italian war, and become the protector of the Christian world. Against the Ottomans, it can fight the Protestant forces for the authority of the Catholic Church, suppress the Dutch War of Independence, and send the Armada to try to conquer Britain.
Spain, on the other hand, is due to some unchangeable geographical reasons, such as rugged terrain, many mountains, barren land, and dry climate.
Coupled with the strengthening of land aristocracy and church power in the late 15th century, the rights of merchants and other citizens were squeezed and excluded, and their status was low.
The development of industry and commerce was not taken seriously, people were keen to buy land, envied the nobles, priests to collect land rent and tax exemption, and the Jews and Moriscos who were good at industry and commerce were gradually expelled, Spain, especially the cities in Castile, were backward in industry and commerce. .
In agriculture, the aristocracy and the church controlled most of the land. Although Isabella abolished serfdom, many farmers had no land and had been working as seasonal workers for a long time, making them very poor.
At that time, in Spain in the 16th century, only Barcelona, which had a well-developed Mediterranean trade, and Seville, which monopolized trade in the Americas, were relatively well-developed.
Thus we see the backward core, Castile, and the fertile periphery: Italy, the Netherlands, Germany.
As for why Spain suddenly declined?
The main reason is that the Thirty Years War intensified the existing defects and contradictions.
In the early days of the Thirty Years' War, the alliance between Spain and the Catholic Church was progressing smoothly. In the Siege of Breda painted by Spinola, the King of Spain believed that his military strength was invincible.
However, the addition of Sweden under Gustav II and the filial son France under the leadership of Richelieu made Protestantism stronger and the Catholic League began to lose.
Especially in the Battle of Rocroix in 1643, the Spanish phalanx was defeated by the French army led by the Grand Condé. The Netherlands annihilated the Spanish fleet in the Downs naval battle.
In Spain at this time, Philip IV broke the past Charles V and Philip II's tolerance of local autonomy and the cooperative relationship with local nobles, and began to try to strengthen centralization and abolish local parliaments and noble autonomy.
Forced conscription and taxation are not bad for the establishment of a unified empire, but when Castile's power gradually declines, it fundamentally disintegrates the loose foundation of the empire.
In the 17s, the Bragança family of Portugal set off the War of the Retrovision of the Throne and gained independence from Spain with the support of Britain and France.
The massive amount of silver in the Americas was not used to improve the country's industrial capacity, but was squandered by countless dynastic wars and religious wars, and was swallowed up by the Netherlands. The most fatal thing was that Spain eventually lost the Netherlands.
The independent Netherlands became a "sea coachman" by sucking on the wealth of Spain.
When the amount of precious metals in the Americas began to decline in an avalanche after 1630, Spain, with its declining population and shrinking industrial capacity, had already lost all chances of recovery.
In Naples in southern Italy, poor peasants and unemployed protested against the Spanish governor's increase in food taxes, staged an uprising, and killed Spanish and local dignitaries.
In Aragon, the Catalans opposed conscription and tax increases, and responded in groups.
As a result, the empire's economic situation deteriorated, the army was exhausted, its control over various places was reduced, and the Thirty Years War was eventually lost.
After the 30-year war, there was a multi-year war with Louis XIV of France. In 1659, the Franco-Spanish War ended with French victory. In the "Pyrenees Treaty", Spain ceded land and paid compensation, and betrothed the princess to Louis XIV. From then on , Spain's status as the number one power was officially transferred to Louis XIV's Bourbon France.
Therefore, Louis XIV became the target of the siege, and Spain even needed to unite with its old enemies, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom many times. Since then, the royal family of France has still led the European trend.
A skinny camel is bigger than a horse. Maria has been in charge for many years. Losing a mere Luzon colony is not a big deal. She has a way!
(End of this chapter)
It was already the winter of 1680 that news of the fall of the Luzon colony reached Spain.
King Carlos II of Spain has just presided over the Inquisition ceremony of the Inquisition, in which 21 people were sentenced to be burned at the stake.
Before he had time to rest, he heard the news that the Luzon colony was lost.
As a well-known sick man, he almost died in one breath.
He hurried to find his mother, Maria Anna, for comfort.
Carlos II is a poor man, as a member of the Habsburg royal family.
He was the only heir to the previous Spanish throne, the Habsburg royal family is characterized by inbreeding, so he suffers from several genetic diseases:-
mentally handicapped-
Severe jaw protrusion-
Weaning at 5 years old
-
lame-
10 years old to walk
-
Psychologically and physically extremely abnormal-
epilepsy-
deaf-
half blind-
Infertility
His main achievements are: ending the Spanish Habsburg dynasty and starting the War of Spanish Succession.
Such a king is destined to have only his mother, Maria Anna, to help him regent.
Fortunately, his mother, Maria, was relatively sober and did not send an army to Asia to fight.
Because she saw Ming Zheng's terrifying combat power from the battle reports, if she wanted to defeat Zheng Kezang in the distant Luzon, she would have to dispatch a large number of fleets and troops.
Spain can't afford to hurt now.
Spain has a total of 65 large phalanxes distributed in Italy, Flanders and Catalonia, but there is a serious shortage of personnel. For example, there should be 51000 soldiers in Flanders, but in fact there are only 8000. That's all.
What's more, there are more important American colonies to guard, and France and Austria are always coveting Spain's huge territory, which is just like the end of the dynasty.
But the decline of Spain cannot really be blamed for the incompetence of Carlos II.
Spain once became the number one power in Europe, thanks to its own hard work and a lot of luck.
However, the structure of this empire was loose and not fully integrated. As the main body of the empire, the power of Castile gradually weakened, so it eventually disintegrated and declined.
The sudden strengthening of Spain is indeed a local development on the one hand.
But on the other hand, it was also the arrival of Charles V of the Habsburg dynasty, which brought the rich Netherlands, a part of Germany and other places. Later, the victory of the Habsburg dynasty against France in the Italian war made Spain’s victory over the previous Aragon Controlled southern Italy, and strengthened control in Lombardy, Tuscany, Genoa and other places.
These areas have been rich in Europe since the middle ages, with dense population and developed industry and commerce. During the Habsburg dynasty, they were not only important tax sources, but also the source of various manufactured goods of the empire.
With the population, wealth and geographical advantages of the peripheral areas, Spain has truly become a powerful country in Europe and the world.
The powerful Spanish phalanx and the Armada supported the conquerors' foreign colonial expansion. They were able to conquer the Aztecs and Inca, obtain huge Latin American colonies, attack France left and right, win the Italian war, and become the protector of the Christian world. Against the Ottomans, it can fight the Protestant forces for the authority of the Catholic Church, suppress the Dutch War of Independence, and send the Armada to try to conquer Britain.
Spain, on the other hand, is due to some unchangeable geographical reasons, such as rugged terrain, many mountains, barren land, and dry climate.
Coupled with the strengthening of land aristocracy and church power in the late 15th century, the rights of merchants and other citizens were squeezed and excluded, and their status was low.
The development of industry and commerce was not taken seriously, people were keen to buy land, envied the nobles, priests to collect land rent and tax exemption, and the Jews and Moriscos who were good at industry and commerce were gradually expelled, Spain, especially the cities in Castile, were backward in industry and commerce. .
In agriculture, the aristocracy and the church controlled most of the land. Although Isabella abolished serfdom, many farmers had no land and had been working as seasonal workers for a long time, making them very poor.
At that time, in Spain in the 16th century, only Barcelona, which had a well-developed Mediterranean trade, and Seville, which monopolized trade in the Americas, were relatively well-developed.
Thus we see the backward core, Castile, and the fertile periphery: Italy, the Netherlands, Germany.
As for why Spain suddenly declined?
The main reason is that the Thirty Years War intensified the existing defects and contradictions.
In the early days of the Thirty Years' War, the alliance between Spain and the Catholic Church was progressing smoothly. In the Siege of Breda painted by Spinola, the King of Spain believed that his military strength was invincible.
However, the addition of Sweden under Gustav II and the filial son France under the leadership of Richelieu made Protestantism stronger and the Catholic League began to lose.
Especially in the Battle of Rocroix in 1643, the Spanish phalanx was defeated by the French army led by the Grand Condé. The Netherlands annihilated the Spanish fleet in the Downs naval battle.
In Spain at this time, Philip IV broke the past Charles V and Philip II's tolerance of local autonomy and the cooperative relationship with local nobles, and began to try to strengthen centralization and abolish local parliaments and noble autonomy.
Forced conscription and taxation are not bad for the establishment of a unified empire, but when Castile's power gradually declines, it fundamentally disintegrates the loose foundation of the empire.
In the 17s, the Bragança family of Portugal set off the War of the Retrovision of the Throne and gained independence from Spain with the support of Britain and France.
The massive amount of silver in the Americas was not used to improve the country's industrial capacity, but was squandered by countless dynastic wars and religious wars, and was swallowed up by the Netherlands. The most fatal thing was that Spain eventually lost the Netherlands.
The independent Netherlands became a "sea coachman" by sucking on the wealth of Spain.
When the amount of precious metals in the Americas began to decline in an avalanche after 1630, Spain, with its declining population and shrinking industrial capacity, had already lost all chances of recovery.
In Naples in southern Italy, poor peasants and unemployed protested against the Spanish governor's increase in food taxes, staged an uprising, and killed Spanish and local dignitaries.
In Aragon, the Catalans opposed conscription and tax increases, and responded in groups.
As a result, the empire's economic situation deteriorated, the army was exhausted, its control over various places was reduced, and the Thirty Years War was eventually lost.
After the 30-year war, there was a multi-year war with Louis XIV of France. In 1659, the Franco-Spanish War ended with French victory. In the "Pyrenees Treaty", Spain ceded land and paid compensation, and betrothed the princess to Louis XIV. From then on , Spain's status as the number one power was officially transferred to Louis XIV's Bourbon France.
Therefore, Louis XIV became the target of the siege, and Spain even needed to unite with its old enemies, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom many times. Since then, the royal family of France has still led the European trend.
A skinny camel is bigger than a horse. Maria has been in charge for many years. Losing a mere Luzon colony is not a big deal. She has a way!
(End of this chapter)
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