INTRODUCTION - Spain and Portugal: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present - page 2

the riches of Asia, made decisive contacts with sub-Saharan Africa, and
even staked its claim to a part of South America before Spain had effec-
tively begun its colonial conquests. After a “Golden Age” that lasted
only a few generations, Portuguese resources were stretched too thin.
Portugal would eventually have to surrender control over a commer-
cial empire that stretched from the Cape of Good Hope through South
Asia, the Spice Islands, the China coast, and Japan. Even Portugal itself
would, between 1580 and 1640, be subjected to the direct rule of its
powerful neighbor. During the 18th century Portugal would occasion-
ally be at war with Spain but during the 19th century would more char-
acteristically share an epoch of decline. During the 20th century there
were the parallel experiences of depression and dictatorship ending at
almost the same moment. For Portugal the new era of democracy and
optimism dawned in 1974 with the so-called Carnation Revolution.
The Iberian Age of European history encompasses more than 400
years, stretching from the High Renaissance to the onset of the Indus-
trial Revolution (c. 1450-1850) with its harsh discrimination between
“modern” and “agrarian” nations. The significance of the Iberian coun-
tries is to be found, however, not merely in their paucity of natural
resources and their lagging production figures but in a history that tran-
scends mere comparative statistics. Spain and Portugal reached out to
circumnavigate the globe while others cowered in Europe fearing the
unknown. They created the cultural heritage that encompasses a large
part of the Western Hemisphere in terms of language and religion. They
filled the art galleries and the library shelves with masterpieces. Rein-
venting postcolonial relations, they have established diplomatic and
economic bonds with the peoples of America, Africa, and Asia in a
spirit of mutual respect and cooperation. Finally, having entered a new
millennium as good citizens of a united Europe, they have contributed
the work of their statesmen and thinkers to the collective prosperity of
the Continent.