History of Spain

 Spanish Empire reached its territorial and economic peak, and his palace at El Escorial became the center of artistic flourishing. However, Philip's rule also saw the calamitous destruction of the Spanish Armada, coupled with financial mismanagement that led to numerous state bankruptcies and independence of the Northern Netherlands, which marked the beginning of the slow decline of Spanish influence in Europe.

Spain's power was further tested by their participation in the Eighty Years' War, whereby they tried and failed to recapture the newly independent Dutch Republic, and the Thirty Years' War, which resulted in continued decline of Habsburg power in favor of French Bourbon dynasty. Matters came to a head during the reign of Charles II of Spain, whose mental incapacity and inability to father children left the future of Spain in doubt. Upon his death, the War of the Spanish Succession broke out between the French Bourbons and the Austrian Habsburgs over the right to succeed Charles II. The Bourbons prevailed, resulting in the ascension of Philip V of Spain. Though himself a French prince, Philip quickly established himself as his own person, taking Spain into the various wars to recapture the Spanish-controlled lands in Southern Italy recently lost. Spain's apparent resurgence was cut short by losses during the Napoleonic era, when Napoleon placed his own brother, Joseph Bonaparte, as King of Spain, turning it into a French puppet state. Concurrent with, and following, the Napoleonic period the Spanish American wars of independence resulted in the loss of most of Spain's territory in the Americas. During the re-establishment of the Bourbon rule in Spain, constitutional monarchy was introduced in 1813. As with much of Europe, Spain's history during the nineteenth century was tumultuous, and featured alternating periods of republican-liberal and monarchical rule.

The twentieth century began for Spain in foreign and domestic turmoil; the Spanish–American War led to losses of Spanish colonial possessions and a series of military dictatorships, first under Miguel Primo de Rivera and secondly under Dámaso Berenguer. During Berenguer's dictatorship, the king, Alfonso XIII was deposed and a new Republican government was formed. Ultimately, the political disorder within Spain led to a coup by the military which led to the Spanish Civil War, in which the Republican forces squared off against the Nationalists. After much foreign intervention on both sides, the Nationalists emerged victorious thanks to the help provided by Nazi Germany and Italy, their leader Francisco Franco, who led a fascist dictatorship for almost four decades. Francisco's death ushered in a return of the monarchy King Juan Carlos I, which saw a liberalization of Spanish society and a re-engagement with the international community after the oppressive and isolated years under Franco. A new liberal Constitution was established in 1978. Spain entered the European Economic Community in 1986 (transformed into the European Union with the Maastricht Treaty of 1992), and the Eurozone in 1998. Juan Carlos abdicated in 2014, and was succeeded by his son Felipe VI, the current king.