INTRODUCTION - Spain and Portugal: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present - page 1

INTRODUCTION
Spain emerged as the dominant power in Europe at the beginning of
the modern era. Like France Spain became a centralized nation-state
and defeated that country in the struggle for mastery that left Spain's
rulers dominant from the North Sea to the Mediterranean through a
combination of arms and diplomacy. Spain became a cultural leader
as well through its writers, artists, and even styles of dress. Moreover,
Spain was not only the first European Great Power, it was the first
European global power. Its proudly named conquistadores were indeed
the “conquerors” of a New World that they had found in the Western
Hemisphere and explored. Subsequently Spain imposed its language,
its religion, and much of its tradition on North and South America. In
the Old World Spain took the lead in what would become a centuries-
long clash of civilizations between Christianity and Islam. The sheer
wealth and power wielded by Spain would decline through economic
and political reverses, however. During the 19th century its European
and global standing diminished and its colonial empire shrank. Civil
war and dictatorship engulfed its during most of the 20th century. Yet
the restoration of democracy in 1975 and its return to full membership
in the international community in subsequent decades have restored
Spain to much of the rank and respect formerly commanded by its posi-
tion as one of the largest and most populous countries in Europe.
Portugal, only a fraction of Spain's size, has been called an “acciden-
tal country.” Its success in driving out the Islamic invaders who overran
the entire Iberian Peninsula during the early Middle Ages 300 years
before the Spaniards accomplished the same feat of liberation and uni-
fication gave her special advantages that compensated to some extent
for its smaller size. Even though Spaniards would continue to complain
that Portugal had no more justification for separate nationhood than
any of Spain's provinces, the Portuguese soon forged ahead in global
outreach. Portugal's navigators and traders found an all-water route to
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