Challenge! Keep Spain strong

NapoleonXIV

Banned
Don't expel the Jews in 1492.

The Jews would have used their worldwide contacts and monetary expertise on the influx of gold from the New World to establish financial infrastructure and industrial development. Spain could have become the banker of Europe, instead they spent the gold on luxury goods they didn't make themselves, wars, and put it in Church ceilings. They were ruined by their own inflation of the monetary supply.
 
Don't expel the Jews in 1492.

The Jews would have used their worldwide contacts and monetary expertise on the influx of gold from the New World to establish financial infrastructure and industrial development. Spain could have become the banker of Europe, instead they spent the gold on luxury goods they didn't make themselves, wars, and put it in Church ceilings. They were ruined by their own inflation of the monetary supply.

Add that to letting the Burgundian Inheritance go it's own way and you have a winner.

If the flood of shiney stuff could have been invested it would have been rather less damaging.

HTG
 
@htgriffin: You mean that they should treat the Dutch better, so they don't secede?

They also could need a better bureaucracy for the colonies.
 
@htgriffin: You mean that they should treat the Dutch better, so they don't secede?

Bingo. Running the place with a light hand would result in a Cash Cow.

Of course it is possible that the Kings and Court could end up gravitationg in that direction too....

HTG
 
Do not allow the Habsburg to take control of Spain. A Trastamara Spain under Juan son of Ferdinand and Isabel, or a Spain/Portugal under Miguel grandson of Ferdinand and Isabel.
 
How about turning the country into a constitutional monarchy or even a republic? That alone should do wonders...
 
The best option to achieve to keep Spain in the big powers group is that the economic reforms that were attempted to reach had better results (I´m talkin about Finance or reforms of enlightenment age). Also in this line, we were a great power with the first Bourbons and we were doing great but our alliance with France killed us. We failed to get rid of France.

I don't think that expel the Jews in 1492 could be the worst failure in spanish history. Against the opinion of many people, the Catholic kings didn´t hate that much people of other religions. Its main objective with the expulsion of the Jews and the Inquisition was to create a unified state and that it succeeded. Their reasons at that time were totally and absolutely justifiable. We could have gone better with the Jews in the peninsula but WI we are going worse with them? I only know that this is not what defeat us


Spain would not create an empire that lasted centuries and keep strong by the mere fact that the crown get in the hands of Miguel like Condottiero says (no offense,I love your Trastamara TL and congratulations on this) . The kingdoms would still be really disunited for a few centuries and Portugal would still be able to maintain its rule over their colonies before any nation enemy of Spain. I think that was the last best option to unify the peninsula before Philip and that could be cool and could maintain the unit until today but does not mean anything in the economic field.

About Burgundian Inheritance, yeah, that was other of our rulers failures, but I don´t think that the worst. Yeah, that get us in loads of wars but there has never been an empire that lasted forever and in that time, Spain ever could get enemies, with or whithout Hapsburg personal union. When we allied with them, we need them. The only thing is that Netherland NEVER had to go into the hands of Philip. We ever get excelent trade relations with the Netherlands and we could maintain that after Charles, but we could survive the wars.

Greetings and be fun
 
another great option could have been kept away America from Spain.
I´m sure that to get and maintain american colonies get us more problems that benefits. yeah, that could lead our efforts to Africa and to more problems but I don´t know...
 
They could offer the Dutch greater autonomy in the 16th century and allow Dutch merchants to trade with Spanish colonies and enjoy the protection of the Spanish fleet. All the Spanish would require in return is that the Dutch accept the Habsburgs as nominal rulers of The Netherlands and perpetual alliance with Spain.
The Spanish could eventually adopt Dutch banking practices and even create a Spanish Central Bank which would provide them with the ability to finance wars against any potential enemy from the Public Debt.
 
They could offer the Dutch greater autonomy in the 16th century and allow Dutch merchants to trade with Spanish colonies and enjoy the protection of the Spanish fleet. All the Spanish would require in return is that the Dutch accept the Habsburgs as nominal rulers of The Netherlands and perpetual alliance with Spain.
The Spanish could eventually adopt Dutch banking practices and even create a Spanish Central Bank which would provide them with the ability to finance wars against any potential enemy from the Public Debt.

Spanish banking was quite sofisticated and advanced, the problem were the kings with money problems that considered banks and the funds in them as their property...
 
Spain still raised money for war from taxation alone. They did not have the advantage of the Public Debt which allowed Britain to build far more ships than her rivals and also to finance the war against Napoleon almost single-handed. Spain's beaurocracy only served to allow the Spanish Crown to tax it's subjects more efficiently. Dutch, and later English, finance was far more sophisticated than that of Spain for a very long time.
 
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