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Spain : In 1516, Habsburg dynasty unified a number of disparate predecessor kingdoms & expanded their empire to the Americas. The Spanish Empire was also involved in all major European wars, including the Italian Wars, the Eighty Years’ War, the Thirty Years’ War, & the Franco-Spanish War, but instability set in with the French Revolution & the Peninsular War. In early 1873, a government of radicals & Republicans was formed that declared Spain a republic, which was immediately under siege from all quarters: there were calls for socialist revolution from the International Workingmen’s Association, revolts & unrest in the autonomous regions of Navarre & Catalonia, & pressure from the Catholic Church against the fledgling republic. On 28 December 1874, the son of Bourbon Queen Isabella II was crowned as Alfonso XII of Spain. He rapidly gained the support of most of his countrymen, established a system of turnos in which the liberals & the conservatives alternated in control of the government. Constitutional monarchy continued under King Alfonso XIII whose reign (1886–1931) saw the Spanish–American War of 1898, culminating in the loss of the Philippines plus Spain’s last colonies in the Americas, Cuba & Puerto Rico. His reign also saw the rise of General Miguel Primo de Rivera, who ruled as a dictator with Alfonso’s support for seven years (1923–30). In 1931 Republican & anticlerical candidates won the majority of votes; Alfonso left the country in response to the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic, but did not abdicate. Political ideologies were intensely polarized. The central issue was the role of the Catholic Church, which the left saw as the major enemy of modernity & the Spanish people, & the right saw as the invaluable protector of Spanish values. The Republic allowed women to vote in general elections for the first time, & devolved substantial autonomy to the Basque Country & to Catalonia. Complex coalitions formed & fell apart. The first governments of the Republic were centre-left, but substantial debt, & fractious, rapidly changing governing coalitions led to escalating political violence & attempted coups by right & left. In 1933, the right-wing Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right (CEDA), based on the Catholic vote, formed the government. An armed rising of workers in October 1934, which reached its greatest intensity in Asturias & Catalonia, was forcefully put down. This in turn energized political movements across the spectrum in Spain, including a revived anarchist movement & new reactionary & fascist groups, including the Phalange & a revived Carlist movement. In 1934 there was widespread labour conflict & a bloody uprising by miners in Asturias that was suppressed by troops led by the fascist General Francisco Franco (q.v.). A succession of governmental crises culminated in the elections of February 16, 1936, which brought to power a Popular Front government supported by most of the parties of the left & opposed by the parties of the right & what remained of the centre. On one side were the Fascists – mostly Roman Catholics, important elements of the military, most landowners, & many businessmen; on the other, the Republicans – mainly urban workers, most agricultural labourers, & many of the educated middle class. Politically, their differences often found extreme & vehement expression in parties such as the Fascist-oriented Falange & the militant anarchists. Between these extremes were other groups covering the political spectrum from monarchism & conservatism through liberalism to socialism, including a small communist movement divided among followers of Stalin & his arch-rival, Trotsky. The outcome was a polarization of Spanish life & politics that had developed over previous decades. On 17th July, 1936, Franco led a military revolt against the elected Popular Front or Republican Govt. The outcome was a devastating civil war (see Franco, Guadalajara, & Madrid) that ended on 30th March 1939 when the Fascists defeated the Republicans. On 1 April 1939, Spain’s Catholic Church anointed Franco. The Spanish Civil War proved a prelude to the far more ruinous Second World War (1939-45). But when Hitler sought financial or military aid from Franco, devastated Spain was in no position to provide either, all Franco could do was sponsor a small army of volunteers known as La División Azul. After Franco’s death in 1975, Spain returned to Bourbon constitutional monarchy headed by Prince Juan Carlos & to democracy; it entered the European Economic Community in 1986 & the Eurozone in 1999. The financial crisis of 2007-08 ended a decade of economic boom & Spain entered a recession & debt crisis & remains plagued by very high unemployment & a weak economy. Although is a part of the G6 is not part of the G8 & participates in the G20 only as a guest. [Based on article by Editors Ency. Britannica (July2017); Images of Revolution & War by Alexander Vergara, & other sources]