So, the colonialism period that Spain enjoyed over the likes of the Americas and elsewhere made Spain a world power to be reckoned with, one of the wealthiest powers in Europe able to finance wars against the British, Dutch, Ottomans, etc... It made Spain a Great Power all the way up until the Napoleonic Era, and even as late as the early 1800s Spain still had footholds in the Caribbean and Pacific.
So... what if the Spaniards hadn't had that benefit? What if they showed up to the Americas only to find the Arawak, Aztecs, Incans, Mayans, Taino and others much more technologically advanced and inured to foreign diseases? (Veering on ASB, but bear with me)
What would the benefits and drawbacks have been for Spain, and how differently might it have developed? Here are some thoughts I have:
Nearly 2 million Spaniards settled in the Americas during the colonial period, a population drawn from Peninsula that would stay here. Rather than serve and settle abroad, this is a population pool that could be involved in Italy or the Low Countries? 85% of the population was Castilian rather than Aragonian, so the population disparity could be even larger given it was Castile that conducted the colonies.
Gold and silver from the Americas was used to pay for campaigning in Germany, Italy and Netherlands, but also caused major inflation, hampered exports and hindered industrial development in Spain proper. Domestic production was heavily taxed, and titles were often sold that removed their holders from tax obligations. Perhaps Spain would be able to develop more of a native industry and maintain a more equitable society at the cost of losing their territories in Italy and Netherlands? And perhaps their efforts to support Catholicism and stamp out the Reformation would fail spectacularly in certain regions?
What other changes might you see arising as a result of this? Negative or positive?
So... what if the Spaniards hadn't had that benefit? What if they showed up to the Americas only to find the Arawak, Aztecs, Incans, Mayans, Taino and others much more technologically advanced and inured to foreign diseases? (Veering on ASB, but bear with me)
What would the benefits and drawbacks have been for Spain, and how differently might it have developed? Here are some thoughts I have:
Nearly 2 million Spaniards settled in the Americas during the colonial period, a population drawn from Peninsula that would stay here. Rather than serve and settle abroad, this is a population pool that could be involved in Italy or the Low Countries? 85% of the population was Castilian rather than Aragonian, so the population disparity could be even larger given it was Castile that conducted the colonies.
Gold and silver from the Americas was used to pay for campaigning in Germany, Italy and Netherlands, but also caused major inflation, hampered exports and hindered industrial development in Spain proper. Domestic production was heavily taxed, and titles were often sold that removed their holders from tax obligations. Perhaps Spain would be able to develop more of a native industry and maintain a more equitable society at the cost of losing their territories in Italy and Netherlands? And perhaps their efforts to support Catholicism and stamp out the Reformation would fail spectacularly in certain regions?
What other changes might you see arising as a result of this? Negative or positive?