Spanish power and autonomy declined precipitously during the…
Spanish power and autonomy declined precipitously during the reign of [BLANK-1]. The decline was not entirely the monarch’s fault – he inherited a very precarious position in 1621 when he took the throne. Spain had become overly dependent on their silver mines, trade with their American colonies had declined as much as 60%, and diverse regions once controlled by Spain like Catalonia and Portugal rose up in rebellion. By the time of his death in the 1660s, Spain had been forced to cede control of the Dutch Republic and Portugal and yielded a considerable amount of territory to France. It would never again be a prominent empire.
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