Madrid
Form of
government
Constitutional
monarchy
Major cities
Madrid, Barcelona,
Valencia,
Seville, Zaragoza
154 Spain BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Peninsula. The Muslims held power for
more than 700 years.
Christian Spain
After many years Christian kingdoms in
the north began to take back territory
piece by piece. By the late 1200s the
kingdoms of Castile and Aragon had
conquered most of the area controlled
by the Muslims. In 1469 Prince Ferdinand
of Aragon married Princess Isabella
of Castile. The two kingdoms were officially
united in 1479. By that time Ferdinand
had become king of Aragon and
Isabella had become queen of Castile. In
1492 Castile and Aragon captured the
last Muslim kingdom, Granada. Spain
was then a united Christian country.
Ferdinand and Isabella banned all religions
other than Roman Catholicism. A
court called the Inquisition punished
people who were not Catholic. Spain
also forced thousands of Jews to leave
the country.
World Empire
In 1492 Spanish ships commanded by
Christopher Columbus reached the
Americas. Spanish explorers soon
claimed territories around the world for
Spain.
Spain also stretched its empire through
Europe. Charles, the grandson of Ferdinand
and Isabella, belonged to a powerful
family called the Hapsburgs. In 1516
he became the king of Spain. In 1519 he
became Emperor Charles V of the Holy
Roman Empire as well.
Loss of Power
Spain lost power in the 1600s, when
the country fought many costly wars.
In 1700 the last of the Spanish
Hapsburgs died. Many European
countries fought to take the Spanish
throne in the War of the Spanish
Succession. At the end of the war Spain
lost its European territory. A French
prince became king of Spain.
711 1492 1519 1701 1936 1939 1975
Muslims invade
Spain.
Christians
defeat the last
Muslims in
Spain.
Spain’s king
becomes head
of an empire in
Europe and the
Americas.
The War of the
Spanish
Succession
begins.
The Spanish
Civil War
breaks out.
Dictator
Francisco
Franco takes
power.
Juan Carlos
becomes king
of Spain and
makes Spain a
democracy.
T I M E L I N E
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Spain 155
Most of Spain’s overseas colonies won
independence in the 1800s. Spain lost
other territory to the United States after
the Spanish-AmericanWar of 1898.
CivilWar and Dictatorship
Spain became a democratic republic in
1931. However, a civil war broke out in
1936 between two Spanish groups.
Rebel forces called the Nationalists
fought the Republicans, who wanted to
keep the republic form of government.
The fighting was very fierce and destructive.
The Nationalists won the civil war
in 1939.
The Nationalist leader Francisco Franco
soon took control of the country. He
ruled Spain as a dictator (a ruler with
unlimited power) for 36 years.
Recent Events
After Franco died in 1975, Spain
became a kingdom again. King Juan
Carlos made the country a constitutional
monarchy. Spain then developed a
closer relationship with other western
European countries. It joined the European
Community (now the European
Union) in 1986.
Meanwhile, Spain faced a number of
terrorist attacks. A group of Basques
carried out many of the attacks. In 2004
terrorists from the Muslim group
al-Qaeda blew up trains in Madrid.
#More to explore
Basque • European Union • Ferdinand
and Isabella • Hapsburgs • Inquisition
• Madrid • Spanish CivilWar • Spanish-
AmericanWar
The Alhambra is a palace and fortress in Granada, Spain. The Muslim rulers of Granada
built it during the 1200s and 1300s.
156 Spain BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Spanish-
AmericanWar
The United States easily defeated Spain
in the Spanish-AmericanWar of 1898.
The war forced Spain to give up control
of Cuba, the last of its colonies in the
Americas. It also helped to make the
United States a world power.
Path toWar
Cuba is an island in the Caribbean Sea,
close to the U.S. state of Florida. Spain
ruled Cuba harshly. The people of Cuba
rebelled against the Spanish in 1895.
Many people in the United States
wanted their government to help the
Cubans. Owners of U.S. companies that
did business in Cuba also wanted their
government to act. They were afraid that
a long revolution would hurt their companies.
William McKinley became president of
the United States in 1897. At first he
wanted to stay out of Cuba. Even so, he
sent a warship called the Maine to Cuba
to protect U.S. citizens. On February
15, 1898, an explosion sank the Maine.
No one knew who set off the blast, but
it made people in the United States even
angrier at Spain.
Fighting theWar
In April 1898 the U.S. Congress threatened
Spain. Spain declared war on April
24. The United States declared war one
day later. The war was fought both in
the Caribbean and in the Philippines.
The Philippines is an island group in the
Pacific Ocean that Spain then ruled as a
colony.
On May 1 the U.S. Navy, led by George
Dewey, destroyed all the Spanish warships
in the Philippines. By August U.S.
forces controlled Manila, the capital of
the Philippines.
Meanwhile, U.S. forces attacked Spanish
troops in Cuba. Among the U.S. forces
were Theodore Roosevelt and his group
of volunteer soldiers, called the Rough
Riders. As they pushed into the city of
