Portugal became king independent from a Spanish state and was the first to become a worldwide colonial empire.
Spain with more than 30 million people is not as good as Portugal with more than 1 million people?
Definitely not.
It is just that Spain became stronger a little later, and Spain came to the top and became the first "empire of the sun never sets" in history, and Britain is only the second "empire of the sun never sets".
It was such a powerful empire, of course, like Portugal, that could not escape the fate of decay and decline.
While Portugal began its sea adventures and profited from them, Spain was in turmoil;
When Portugal became the first worldwide commercial empire, Spain was still catching up on the road to conquest.
Why the "two teeth" can dominate the world before other countries is still the power of science and technology, specifically the navigation technology and fleet that are one step ahead, which opened the navigation era in advance.
Portugal began seafaring expeditions in the early 14th century, Spain also entered the ranks of seafaring expeditions at the end of the 14th century, and Britain did not become a supporting role in the great discoveries of maritime geography until the end of the 15th century.
Although the Portuguese ushered in the era of geographical discovery, the main part was done by Spain.
The Portuguese were more adventurous, so they found more new routes.
Spaniards are more of a desire to conquer and a spirit of struggle, and as will be said later, the growth and decay of Spain are inseparable from this spirit of struggle.
How did Spain accomplish its geographical discovery?
1. Support Columbus.
Columbus, a thrumbled Jew in Portugal, finally gained the favor of Queen Isabella of Spain after continuous efforts.
If Columbus had been funded by Portugal, history might have been rewritten, but history didn't.
With the patronage of Queen Isabella, Columbus successfully began the centuries-long era of great navigation and colonization in Europe.
2) Prove that the earth is round.
Everyone knows that this theory existed for a long time, but it was proved that the work was done by Magellan.
Similarly, Magellan, the Portuguese, was not welcomed in Portugal.
Again, Spain funded Magellan.
After the discovery of columbus's New World and the completion of Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe, a large number of unoccupied places were discovered.
It was only for the colonial conquests of the following centuries that the Europeans opened the "road to wealth", but brought endless suffering and even destruction to other races in the world.
Second, the bloody colonial road.
If the Portuguese colonization relied on the establishment of strongholds, left and right, as far as possible to avoid direct conflict.
Spanish colonization, then, relied on bloody occupation and plunder.
Of course, this is inseparable from the difference in the belligerence psychology of the "two teeth", the size of the population, and the strength of the military.
If Portugal became a world empire through commercial trade, then Spain was a typical colonial empire.
Spain conquered the West Indies, Mexico, Peru and the Philippines by iron means.
Regarding the brutal and bloody colonial practices of the Spaniards, there is not much to say here, and there are too many materials on the Internet to describe them in a book.
Spain savagely plundered the wealth of the Americas, especially gold and silver.
According to incomplete statistics, in the 300 years of Spanish colonization of Latin America, a total of 2.5 million kilograms of gold and 100 million kilograms of silver were transported. The Indian miners who paid for it were as high as 8 million, and it was the Indians who supported the prosperity of Europe with their lives.
Third, the decay that cannot be escaped.
First, it has not found the right direction of development.
During the reigning stage, he indulged in the vast wealth plundered from the colonization, coveting pleasure like the Portuguese, and competing with each other to compare who was richer.
Instead of using wealth to expand reproduction and promote the industrial revolution, feudal rule was strengthened.
The failure to complete the fundamental transition from feudalism to capitalism was the root cause of Spain's decline.
The second is endless war.
Spain was naturally belligerent, especially the aristocratic class represented by the royal family, dreaming of restoring the glory of the Roman Empire in a vain attempt to dominate Europe.
It is undeniable that at its peak, Spain's territory reached more than 30 million square kilometers, and it had many colonies in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas and other places, which was really the world's first "empire that never sets". Britain was the second "empire where the sun never sets".
In order to compete for european hegemony and world domination, Spain has successively waged wars with Portugal, France, Britain, the Netherlands and other countries, and almost fought with the powerful countries at that time.
Endless wars also quickly hollowed out the country's wealth and young labor.
It was not until the defeat of the Armada to the British Navy in 1588 that Spain stopped the pace of war.
At this time, Spain was already in a situation of internal and external troubles and embattled.
The third is the gold of success and the gold of defeat.
The easier it is to get something, the easier it is to lose it.
When gold and silver were as readily available as tap water, there was severe inflation in Spain.
By the end of the sixteenth century, prices in Spain had risen more than four times as average, more than twice as much, even in the surrounding areas of Britain, France, and Germany.
The large amount of gold dealt a severe blow to Spanish industry and commerce, domestic products were not competitive because of their high prices, and the increase in smuggling and imports, on the one hand, sent funds to other countries, on the other hand, further destroyed domestic industry and commerce.
In the later period, many agricultural products relied on imports, which further undermined the basic industrial and agricultural production of workers, peasants, animal husbandry and other basic industrial and agricultural production in China.
Fourth, extravagance and hedonism prevail.
A large amount of gold and silver made the Spaniards enjoy themselves, more than the Portuguese.
The typical state of a wealthy upstart is constantly showing off his wealth and fighting with other countries.
In the stage of domination of pleasure, dreaming of dominating Europe and dominating the world, we cannot see the various crises facing the country.
For various reasons, the world's first "empire that never sets" lasted less than a century before it declined.
I am Qiu Hun, the post-80s military transfer, to be a better self.