Spain is indeed a second-rate country in Europe, Europe has three permanents, and Germany, an economic power, Spain can not sit on an equal footing with them in any way.
Many people call Spain an "old power", in fact, the wealth gained by Spain's colonial era has been basically lost, since the 17th century, Spain has become a second-rate country in Europe, losing the right to decide on European affairs and influence on global affairs, and even did not participate in two world wars.
Spain has a long history and was inhabited by the Iberians, Basques and Celts in BC. Early on, the Phoenicians settled in its coastal areas, and they established the oldest cities in Western Europe, Cádiz and Málaga. Later Spain became the main battlefield between Carthage and Rome. After a painstaking conquest, the Iberian Peninsula was completely under Roman control. In the 5th century, the Visigoths in the Balkans migrated to southern France to establish the Visigothic kingdom and finally occupied the Iberian Peninsula. At the beginning of the 8th century, the Arab Empire crossed the Strait of Gibraltar from North Africa to destroy the Visigothic Kingdom and occupied most of the Iberian Peninsula. Christians who fled to the Pyrenees began a long journey of restoration.
In 1469, the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon married, laying the foundations for the unification of Spain. In 1479, Fernando became King of Aragon and the two countries were formally merged into the Kingdom of Spain. In January 1492, the last MSL state on the Iberian Peninsula collapsed, and Spain was victorious in the 800-year-long War of Restoration. Seven months later, Columbus led the fleet from Puerto Barros and began a journey to explore the New World.
Through exploration and conquest, or royal marriage and succession, Spain's sphere of influence expanded to include most of greater America, part of the islands of the Asia-Pacific region, Italy, North Africa, and parts of France and Germany and the LowLands, becoming the "Empire of the Rising Sun".
Throughout the 16th and most of the 17th century, the wealth of vast colonies made Spain one of the most powerful countries in the world, and in the 16th century Spain plundered gold and silver from the Americas, accounting for 83% of the total global gold and silver production at that time.
Spain's national power peaked during the reigns of Charles V (1516-1556) and Philip II (1556-1598) of the Habsburgs. This period took place during the Italian Wars, the Schmalkadic Wars, the Dutch Uprising, the War of the Portuguese Succession, the Conflict with the Ottoman Empire, the Huguenot War, and the Anglo-Spanish War, making Spain the most powerful country in Europe.
After the death of Philip II in 1598, the Spanish Habsburgs did not have a monarch as shrewd and capable as him, and Spain began to decline.
From the 17th century onwards, Spain gradually degenerated from a European power to a second-rate european country, and the main reasons for its decline were:
1. Restrictions of the natural environment. The size of mainland Spain is similar to that of France, but the natural conditions are far inferior, which is a congenital defect in Spain. France has vast plains and a mild and rainy climate, suitable for the development of cropping and animal husbandry. Spain, on the other hand, is mountainous, arid and barren, and has been unable to provide for food and needs to be imported from France. Food production affected the population, and in 1650 the population of France reached 21 million, almost three times the population of Spain in the same period.
2. War, plague, famine and large population migration to the Americas led to a decrease in the Spanish native population, which was about 8.5 million in 1600, 7.5 million in 1650, and only 8 million in 1700. At the same time, the populations of britain, France, Germany and the Netherlands in the major European countries were all rising.
3) The inflow of silver from the Americas led to severe and persistent inflation.
4. The wealth obtained from the Americas has decreased. Spain's income from the Americas in 1598 was 3.347 million Ducats, which was never reached again after entering the 17th century, with only 800,000 Ducats per year from 1619 to 1621. The decrease in colonial revenues was mainly due to the decline in silver production in the Americas and the attacks on Spanish transport lines by British and French pirates.
5, Spain from the Americas to get less silver, the original silver is also rapidly lost. Although Spain had acquired enormous wealth from the Americas, it was not used for the development of its own manufacturing, but for the purchase of foreign industrial products, and in 1676 King Charles II of England said: "Spanish silver can be seen all over Europe." ”
6. Successive years of war consumed huge amounts of resources and seriously weakened Spain's strength. The Dutch Revolution, the Thirty Years' War, the Portuguese Restoration War, and the War of the Spanish Succession inflicted heavy damage on Spain. After the War of Succession, the French Bourbons seized the Habsburg crown in Spain, and Spain lost all of Europe's territory except the mainland. In 1759, a French minister to Spain described Spain this way: "This monarchy is sparsely populated, has no industry, no law and order, and little justice. The people are lazy and rarely industrious. There are no roads and canals, and there are few vehicles. ”
The Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century interrupted Spain's revival, france's seizure of the Spanish throne led to a wave of independence for its American colonies, and by the end of the 19th century, Spain had lost its colonies in the Caribbean and the Pacific, leaving only African possessions.
Throughout the 19th century, Spain's position in Europe fluctuated between second- and third-rate, and until the late 1930s, Spain was at war.
Spain did not participate in two world wars, although it experienced a brutal civil war before World War II, after which it entered the Franco era for 30 years. But now franco has done more to Spain than he has done, ending 130 years of chaos in Spain and laying the foundation for Spain's recovery with 30 years of rapid development.
By the time franco died in 1975, Spain's GDP was already 10th in the world and 7th in the West, but because Franco was not popular in Europe at that time, Spain was isolated in Europe for a long time after World War II, losing the opportunity to enter the group of industrial countries, and did not join the European Community until 1986, so later Spain also lost the opportunity to enter the G20.
After Spain began its decline in the 17th century, it experienced a period of revival in the second half of the 20th century and is currently in the second echelon in Europe.
Spain has a clear understanding of its place in Europe. The Elcano Global Presence Index, published by the Elcano Institute in Spain, is a composite index that measures the influence of countries, assessed from three aspects: economic, military and soft power. In the 2020 report, Spain ranked 13th in the world and 7th in Europe, behind Germany, Britain, France, Russia, the Netherlands and Italy.