Prehistory and History

Prehistory
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Prehistory started 4 million years ago.

Three Eras:

Palaeolithic

It began when first humans appeared and ended with the invention of agriculture.

Eating: Humans hunted, fished and gathered fruits and plants

Living: They were nomads. They moved to different places. They used to live in cave
and huts.

Tools: They made tools out of stone and bones. They used fire.

Neolithic

It began 10.000 years ago. Humans discovered Agriculture.

Eating: People started to grow crops.

Living: They became sedentary. They lived in towns.

Tools: They invented the pottery.

Metal Ages

It began 6000 years ago when people learned how to make tools out of metals. First,
they worked with cooper, then with bronze and finally with iron.

People invented the wheel

They developed trade exchanging good with people from other villages, towns or
cities.

Some people started to live in cities.

History
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History began when writing was invented around five thousand years ago. It is divided en four eras:

Ancient History: Up to 476 AD

The Middle Ages: From 476 AD to 1492

Modern Times: from 1492 to 1789

Contemporary Times: from 1789 to present day

Ancient History

The first civilisations in History

About 3000 years ago some cultures became very advanced civilisation. Some of them were:

The Phoenicians. They invented the written alphabet. They came from the Eastern
Mediterranean sea. They founded colonies though out the Mediterranean coast.
The Egyptians who built pyramids.
The Greeks who invented democracy and made great artistic and scientific advances.

The rise of the Roman Civilisation

They came from the city of Rome in the Italian Peninsula.

They appeared in the 8th century BC.

They conquered, with time, many areas around the Mediterranean Sea. They built a
powerful army.

They inherited a lot of knowledge from the Greeks and passed those knowledge to the
people they conquered.

Romanisation

Over time the cultures conquered by Rome began to assimilate the lifestyle and
customs of the Romans. These process is called Romanisation. The Roman passes on:
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Their language: They spoke Latin. Many languages come from Latin like
Spanish
Their cities: Cities were important in Roman civilisation. Cities had
temples, theatres, etc
Their currency: It helped the trade.
Their laws: The Roman law organised the life of the Romans. The Roman
Law is the base of our law.
Lifestyle: People acquired their gods, and their way of living.

The first settlers of the Peninsula

Around the year 1000 BC, many different cultures lived on the Iberian Peninsula:
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Tartessians: They lived in the South-western part of the Peninsula. They
were quite advanced
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Celts: They lived in the northern and central part of the peninsula. They
worked at crop and animal farming.

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Iberians: They lived in the eastern an southern part of the Peninsula. The
knew how to write and they cultivated cereals, vines and olives.
All those cultures were influenced by the Phoenicians, Greeks and
Carthaginians who traded with them and passed on their knowledge. They
founded several cities in the Iberian Peninsula.

The Romans in the Iberian Peninsula

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The Romans conquered the Iberian Peninsula between the third and the first
century BC and called it Hispania.
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Hispania was one of the territories of the Roman Empire that was
influenced more by Romanisation:

All the languages on the Iberian Peninsula except Basque come

from Latin.

The economy grew because the production improved due to the

introduction of new techniques

Romans founded many cities.

They built many public works.

They established the Roman Law

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages began with the fall of the Roman Empire in 476AC. After many centuries the
Roman Empire started to become weak and the Germanic tribes destroyed the Roman Empire. The
Visigoths came and established in the Iberian Peninsula.

With the fall of the Roman Empire started a black age. The ancient civilization got almost
complete lost.

The reign of the Visigoths in Toledo

The capital was founded in Toledo.

After some time the Visigoths became Christians
The Visigoth reign disappeared in 711 AC because of the invasion of the muslims from
Africa.

The birth of al-Andalus

The people that defeated the Visigoths came from the North of Africa.

They were muslims because their religion was Islam

They conquered almost the whole Peninsula and called it al-Andalus.

They introduced new irrigation techniques.

During this period culture, craftwork and commerce grew.

Medieval Christian society

After the Muslim invasion, the Christians took refuge in the North

They started a slow Reconquista that ended successfully in 1492.

The Medieval Christian society was made up of:

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The King: The person with the most power
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The nobility: They lived in castles and owned lots of land. They had to go to
war.
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The clergy: The belonged to the church. They owned lots of land. They
prayed to God.
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The Peasants: Some had small fields while others worked for the nobility
and the Church. They worked.

Merchants and artisans lived in towns.

Modern Times
An era of great change

Modern times began in 1492 when America was discovered and ended in 1789 with the
French Revolution.

Some developments changed Europe:

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The invention of the printing press helped spread knowledge
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New technical advances in navigation let Europeans discovered new lands.
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The discovery of new lands created more trade and introduced new crops.
Many economic changes.
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Creation of very powerful monarchies. They are called absolutes
monarchies.
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The Christian religion was divided into Catholics and Protestant. There
were many wars between them.
Society during Modern Times

The structure of the society during the Modern Time was very similar to the that of the
Middle Times:

The King. He had more power than ever.

The nobility. They owned most of the land and helped the king with the
government. They did not pay taxes.
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The clergy. They owned land. They prayed. They did not pay taxes.
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The common people. They had to pay taxes but they had no power.

The burgess. These people worked in trade, business and other

professions. They lived in cities.

The artisans. They started big workshops during this time.

The peasants. They were the poorest group. They owned little
land and worked the fields of the nobility and clergy.
Spain in Modern Times

In 1492 Spain discovered America and the Catholic Monarchs, Isabel I of Castile and
Fernando II of Aragon, conquered the Kingdom of Granada ending the Reconquista.

Main characteristics:
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The Catholic Monarchs increased the power of the Monarchy. Carlos I and
Felipe II were the most powerful monarchs of their times.
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Spain created a great Empire with territories in Europe, America, Africa and
Asia.
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There was a great artistic and cultural progress in above all in the 17th
century. Its called the Golden Age (Velzquez, Cervantes, etc). At the
same time the Spanish Empire started to weaken.

Contemporary Times
The Contemporary Times started with the French Revolution (1789) and continues to present day.

The French Revolution

Tired of their living conditions, the common people of France rebelled in 1789 against
the King, the nobility and the clergy.

The rebellion turned into a revolution that changed the society:

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Many countries changed the Absolutes Monarchies to parliamentary
systems.
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The French defined human rights for the first time. Those rights declared
that all humans are free and equal.

Since then, these ideas have spread around the world. Many countries nowadays
respect human rights and live under democratic systems.

The Industrial Revolution

Great advances in science and technology started an economic revolution during the
Contemporary Times

James Watt invented the steam engine at the end of the 18th century. This machine
helped to produce things quickly and cheaply.

Big factories were created

Scientific and technological advances promoted changes in other areas like transport
(invention of the train or steam boat).

All those changes improved trade, commerce, etc.

Social changes

Great change in the organization of the society:

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The working class: People that worked in factories and in the fields. They
were poor. Peasants emigrated to the cities because lack of work in the
farms.
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The burgess: This group benefited most from the Industrial Revolution.
Many were factory owners or merchants. They were the richest.

The cities grew a lot.

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The beginning of contemporary Times in Spain

War of Independence (1808-1814)
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In 1808, the French occupied Spain and removed the kings. The Spanish
people fought against the French, starting the War of Independence
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In 1812, the Spanish approved the Cadiz Constitution, the first
parliamentary system in Spain.
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During the 19th Century and 20th Century there were many struggles
between defenders of parliamentary systems and authoritarian systems.

The modernisation of Spain

Spain started the modernisation later than other European countries. After 1875 there
were many important changes:

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Industrial development: Big factories appeared, mainly in Catalonia and

Basque Country.
A transport revolution: Extensive railway and road systems helped trade
grow in the country.
Urban development: Cities with more factories grew quickly, like
Barcelona, Madrid or Bilbao.

Early 20th Century in Spain

In 1931 the second Republic was proclaimed. It was a period when the democratic
government contributed to quick political, social and economic changes. This created
tensions and confrontations.

These confrontations led to the Civil War in 1936. At the end of the war, in 1939, the
winning side, led by General Franco, established a dictatorship.

Early 20th Century in Spain

General Francos government was a dictatorship that limited the rights and freedoms of
Spains citizens.

The death of Franco in 1975 and the beginning of Juan Carlos I reign started a new
period in Spains history called the Democratic Transition:
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In 1977, the first democratic elections after the dictatorship were held. The
Spanish people elected representatives to write a constitution.
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In 1978, the current constitution was adopted. It defines our government as
a parliamentary monarchy and guarantees the rights and freedoms of every
citizen.

Returning to a democracy has let Spain achieve great social and economic
developments, It has been part of the European Union since 1986.