Spain History

History

The early ancestors of the Spanish are the Neanderthals, who resided in this region as far back as 780,000 years ago, as demonstrated by bone fragments found near Burgos.
The "Gibraltar woman" is from this time. It concerns a skull from about 5000 BC found in 1848. It is suspected that the Neanderthals were driven away by African migrants during the last ice age. Cave paintings at the east coast still display the hunting scenes of these people. Since this time, many other people have lived in Spain. Various items from ancient times have been found in different regions in Spain.
Until the Moors occupied Spain at the start of the 8th century AD, the Visigoths ruled there. The Moors occupied Spain for seven centuries, introducing Islam and creating a Moorish-Spanish culture. However, the Christians managed to retake Spain after a lengthy process. This reconquest of Spain is locally called the 'Reconquista'. The Reconquista ended in 1492 with the fall of Granada. This event is regarded as the actual unification of Spain.
As soon as in 1504 Spain became a world power led by the Habsburgs, the Bourbons taking over in 1700. The House of Bourbon therefore became the head of state of the centralised Spanish state after the War of the Spanish Succession, which raged from 1700 to 1704, ended.
In the second half of the 19th century AD, Spain found itself in yet another war, a Spanish-American one, resulting in the loss of the colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines in 1898.
After the forced abdication of King Alfonso XIII Spain became a republic in 1931. Due to the ever unstable politics in the country, Spain again suffered a war from 1936 to 1939: the Spanish Civil War. Put bluntly, this war can be seen as a conflict between democracy and fascism.
In this war the Nationalist leader, General Franco, was supported by Italy and Germany, the Soviet government offering help to Spain's standing government. The Nationalists eventually won the war and General Franco remained in power as dictator until his death in 1975.
After Franco's death Juan Carlos, Alfonso XIII's grandson, became king and this way the monarchy was restored. This eventually resulted in the creation of a democratic constitution in 1978.