After Charles V's abdication of his rule, the Hapsburg Empire was split into two parts. Phillip II received Spain and all of its possessions. One possession that Phillip II received was the tiny Spanish territory of the Netherlands.

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Jay Sen

10/31/02

AP Euro

Essay test Question # 1

        

After Charles V’s abdication of his rule, the Hapsburg Empire was split into two parts.  Phillip II received Spain and all of its possessions.  One possession that Phillip II received was the tiny Spanish territory of the Netherlands.  The Netherlands may have been a small area region, in comparison to the mammoth proportions of Spain, but the Dutch proved to be industrious and effective people.  Protestant ideas began to take root in the Netherlands, and these ideas spread very quickly.  Phillip II of Spain, being as divinely Catholic as he was, seemed simply horrified that any nation in his empire would oppose him and his universal church.  Although Phillip was angry at the fact that the Dutch were leaning towards Protestant faiths, he also realized how valuable the Netherlands truly could be.  Unfortunately, Spain was in a dire economic and social situation of its own, and England had readily taken the side of the Dutch.  These are the factors that that led the Netherlands to defeat the Goliath-like Spain, in confrontation.

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        Although Spain was an extremely large country, its economic, political, and social problems had engulfed the machinery on which the country functioned.  Phillip II was so religiously devoted that he had started to wage war after war in the name of universal Catholicism.  Unfortunately, he did not realize the repercussion that would reverberate through Spain and colonies.  Spain had started to fall into an economic slide toward oblivion, and the Spanish people were aroused and angry at the state in which they had been forced to live.  As all of these problems plagued Spain, their economic power fell greatly.  Spain ...

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