Spain 2º Bachillerato History of Spain

Chapters: 3

1. Societies in time

The historian's work and historiography · Geostrategic role of the Iberian Peninsula · Nation-building in Spain · The Hispanic Monarchy and colonial legacy · Religion, Church and State in Spain · Liberal regimes and constitutionalism · Political ideologies in modern Spain · Transition to capitalism in Spain · Social change and new sociability · Work and living conditions · Rural and urban worlds · Struggle for equality and social justice · The Second Republic and its reforms · Coup of 1936, Civil War and Franco regime · Women in Spanish history

Historical Thinking: How Historians Work – History is the study of the past using evidence. Put events in order on a timeline and read them in their context. Use primary sources (made at the time) and secondary sources (made later). Judge each source: who made it, when, why, and what is missing. Events have many causes: slow long-term causes and a short trigger. Look for both change and continuity, decide what was significant, and build an argument backed by evidence.
Spain in the Age of Discovery, 1469–1598 – In 1469 Isabella of Castile married Ferdinand of Aragon, creating a union of crowns. The Catholic Monarchs restored royal authority, used religion as a tool of unity (Inquisition, fall of Granada, expulsion of Jews, forced conversion of Muslims) and backed Columbus. Their grandson Charles I (Emperor Charles V) inherited a vast empire and fought costly wars while conquerors took the Aztec and Inca empires. Philip II ruled the first global empire, won at Lepanto and gained Portugal, but faced the Dutch Revolt, the Armada's failure, Morisco revolt and repeated bankruptcy. American silver brought power, inflation and debt, and left a deep colonial legacy.
Constitutional History: How Rules Came to Limit Rulers – A constitution is the supreme law that sets out who holds power, how that power is limited and what rights people have. Limits on rulers grew slowly: Magna Carta (1215), noble parliaments such as the Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth with its elected kings (from 1569–1573), and England's Bill of Rights (1689). Enlightenment thinkers added the ideas of natural rights, the social contract, national sovereignty and separation of powers. The first written national constitutions followed: the United States (1787), Poland–Lithuania's 3 May Constitution and France (1791), and Spain's Cádiz Constitution (1812). In the 19th century liberal regimes were constitutional monarchies with census suffrage; the vote widened to all men and then all adults in the 20th century. Modern constitutions, such as India's (1950) and the post-1989 constitutions of Central and Eastern Europe, add guaranteed rights and constitutional courts.
Political Ideology: How People Answer the Big Questions of Politics – A political ideology is a connected set of ideas about people, society and the state, plus a plan to keep or change society. People pick up political ideas through political socialisation (family, school, friends, media, events). The words left and right come from seating in the French assembly of 1789. Core ideologies are liberalism (individual freedom and rights), conservatism (tradition, order, careful change) and socialism (equality and shared wealth). Others include feminism, ecologism, anarchism, multiculturalism and nationalism. A two-axis model (economy and freedom vs authority) shows positions better than one line. Ideologies shape party programmes, economic and social policy, and can be measured through opinion polls.
The Age of Industrialisation – Before factories, merchants gave raw material to peasant families who spun and wove at home (proto-industrialisation). From the 1760s Britain built cotton mills, machines like the spinning jenny and James Watt's improved steam engine. Change was slow: hand labour stayed cheap and common. In India, weavers once supplied world markets; the East India Company controlled them through gomasthas, and Manchester cloth later flooded India. From 1854 Indian mills grew in Bombay and elsewhere, and small workshops also grew. Makers sold goods through labels, calendars and adverts, and swadeshi adverts appealed to national pride.
Social Change and Social Order in Villages and Cities – Social change means a big, lasting change in how society is organised. It can be slow (evolutionary) or sudden (revolutionary), and it can change structures, ideas or values. It is caused by the environment, technology and the economy, politics and culture. Social order is the other side: the way society keeps itself steady through shared values, domination, authority and law. Order is always challenged by contest, crime and violence. Villages, towns and cities differ in size, density and work, and each changes in its own way.
Social History: How Ordinary People Lived – Social history studies the lives of ordinary people, not only kings, wars and treaties. It asks how people worked, lived, ate, dressed, married, worshipped, fell ill and had fun, and how society was divided into groups. Before modern times most societies were shaped like a pyramid: a small group of rulers and nobles, priests and rich families, a middle layer of townspeople, merchants and craftsmen, and a huge base of peasants, with some unfree people such as serfs or slaves. Villages ran their own communities; towns were places of markets, guilds and mixing between groups. Industrialisation moved people from farms to factories, created a working class and a growing middle class, and led to unions, new laws and later welfare states. Daily life changed with new light, transport, newspapers, schools and medicine. Social historians also look for 'hidden' people (women, the poor, minorities, migrants) and even at how feelings and customs changed.
Urbanisation: Why Cities Grow and How to Make Them Work – Urbanisation is the rise in the share of a country's or the world's people who live in towns and cities. In 1950 about 30% of the world was urban; since 2007 more than half is, and about 68% is expected by 2050. Cities grow by rural–urban migration (push factors from the countryside, pull factors to the city) and by natural increase. Today the fastest growth is in lower-income and newly emerging countries of Asia and Africa, where megacities of 10 million or more are forming; in many rich countries growth is slow and people also move out to suburbs (suburbanisation and counter-urbanisation). Fast growth brings opportunities (jobs, services) and problems (informal housing, traffic, pollution, waste, flooding, the urban heat island). Sustainable urban development tries to fix these with public transport, green spaces, clean water, recycling, affordable housing and renewable energy.
The Labour Movement: How Workers Won Their Rights – The labour movement is the long effort of working people to get fair pay, shorter hours, safe workplaces and a voice in society. It began when factories spread in the 1800s. Alone, a worker had no power, so workers formed trade unions, went on strike, bargained together and created political parties. Their pressure, along with reformers and governments, brought laws on child labour, working hours, safety, pensions and the right to join a union.
Women's Rights Through History – For most of history, laws and customs kept women out of politics, higher education and control of money. From the late 1700s women began to demand equal rights. The first wave (about 1848–1930s) won property rights, education and the vote. The second wave (1960s–70s) won equal pay laws and freedom in work, money and family life. The third and fourth waves (1990s onwards) focus on safety from violence, shared care and equal treatment for all women. Laws are now equal in many countries, but gaps in pay, care work and safety remain.

2. Challenges of today's world

Democratic memory · The national question in Spain · Economic growth and sustainability in Spain · The Transition and the 1978 Constitution · Spain in the European Union · Spain and the world

History and Memory: How We Remember the Past – Memory is how people and groups remember the past; history is the careful study of the past using evidence. After an event, witnesses keep living memory for a few generations. Sources such as documents, photos, objects and interviews survive longer. Societies turn memory into memorials, museums, street names and remembrance days. Different groups may remember the same event differently, so historians compare sources to test memory, correct myths and give a fair account. Remembering past wrongs can support justice and reconciliation.
The Rise of Nationalism in Europe – Before 1789, Europe was split into many kingdoms and people were loyal to a king. The French Revolution said power belongs to the people, who form one nation. Napoleon spread equal laws. After 1815 kings came back, but liberals, romantic writers and hungry common people pushed for nation-states in 1830 and 1848. Germany (1871) and Italy (1861) were built by joining many small states. Nations were shown as women figures like Marianne and Germania. By 1914, nationalism mixed with imperial rivalry, and the Balkans tension led to the First World War.
Economic History: How People Made a Living Through Time – Economic history studies how people produced, traded and shared wealth over time. For most of history, economies were based on farming, and rulers lived on taxes paid in crops, labour or coins. Trade, money and banks slowly raised incomes. The Industrial Revolution made output per person grow fast. In the 20th century, countries tried market, planned and mixed models. Growth came with crises: hyperinflation after the First World War, the Great Depression of 1929, the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the 2008 global crisis. Today the challenge is growth that is fair and sustainable.
The European Union – The European Union (EU) is a group of 27 European countries that share some decisions and laws. It began in 1951, when six countries pooled coal and steel to make war between them impossible. It grew step by step into a single market where goods, people, services and money move freely. The Commission proposes laws, the Parliament and the Council pass them, and the Court of Justice makes sure they are applied. 21 members share the euro. The United Kingdom left in 2020.
International Relations: How States Deal with Each Other – International relations (IR) studies how states and other actors (international organisations, companies, NGOs) interact. States are sovereign and there is no world government, so each state follows its national interest through foreign policy: diplomacy, trade, aid, alliances and, at worst, force. Conflicts arise from clashing interests over territory, resources, power and identity, and from the security dilemma. Cooperation grows through mutual gain, treaties, international law and organisations. Realism stresses power and security; liberalism stresses cooperation, trade and institutions. Peace is built by negotiation, mediation, peacekeeping and justice.

3. Civic engagement

Democratic awareness · Identity and belonging · Eco-social behaviour and the SDGs · Ethical digital citizenship · European values · Solidarity and cooperation · National and international security culture · Preserving historical heritage

Civic Participation: Taking Part in Your School and Community – Civic participation means citizens, including young people, taking part in the life of their community and country: getting informed, giving their view, voting, volunteering, joining associations, signing petitions and leading projects. In a democracy power comes from the people, so participation keeps it alive. School is the first place to practise it: a student council (student self-government) is elected by all students, meets, discusses and votes on proposals, and speaks with teachers and the local community. Good participation respects everyone's rights, includes people who are different (diversity, inclusion, no discrimination) and works with solidarity and cooperation. A social project follows clear steps: choose a real community problem, plan, act, and present the results. Remembering past struggles for rights (democratic memory) reminds us why these freedoms matter.
The Challenges of Cultural Diversity – India has many languages, religions, regions and tribes. Diversity means difference, not inequality. Communities give people belonging, but when they compete, a nation-state must decide how to treat them. India chose to accept and protect diversity through linguistic states, federalism, minority rights and a special kind of secularism. This lesson explains cultural communities, regionalism, religion and identity, communalism versus secularism, and why a strong civil society keeps an 'authoritarian state' in check.
Environment and Sustainable Development – The environment gives us resources, soaks up our waste, supports life and gives beauty. When we take resources faster than nature renews them, or throw waste faster than it can absorb, we cross its carrying capacity and face an environmental crisis. India faces land degradation, air and water pollution, forest and biodiversity loss. Burning fossil fuels traps heat and causes global warming; CFCs thin the ozone layer. Sustainable development meets today's needs without harming the ability of future generations to meet theirs, using clean energy, less waste and traditional knowledge.
Digital Footprints and Netiquette – A digital footprint is the trail of data we leave online. Active footprints are shared on purpose (posts, comments, forms); passive footprints are collected without us noticing (cookies, browsing history, location, IP address). Footprints are hard to erase and can be seen by others later. We live in a digital society where learning, banking, shopping and government services are online; a responsible user of it is a digital citizen (netizen). Net etiquette means being ethical (respect copyright, share reliable information), respectful (privacy, diversity, no bullying) and responsible (avoid oversharing, don't feed trolls). Communication etiquette asks us to be precise, polite and credible; social media etiquette asks us to choose passwords and privacy settings wisely, think before uploading, and verify before sharing.
The European Union – The European Union (EU) is a group of 27 European countries that share some decisions and laws. It began in 1951, when six countries pooled coal and steel to make war between them impossible. It grew step by step into a single market where goods, people, services and money move freely. The Commission proposes laws, the Parliament and the Council pass them, and the Court of Justice makes sure they are applied. 21 members share the euro. The United Kingdom left in 2020.
National Security: How a Country Keeps Its People Safe – National security means protecting a country's people, land, independence, democracy and economy from serious harm. Threats can be military (armed attack) or non-military (terrorism, cyber attacks, disasters, epidemics). A security system has three parts: armed forces, non-military services, and leaders who decide. Crises are handled in a cycle: prevent, prepare, respond, recover. Prepared citizens make the whole country stronger.
Cultural Heritage – Cultural heritage is everything a community receives from the past, values today and wants to pass on: buildings and monuments, objects in museums, languages, music, dance, festivals, crafts, food and knowledge. Tangible heritage can be touched (immovable like temples and bridges, movable like coins and manuscripts); intangible heritage is lived and practised; natural heritage covers special landscapes and wildlife. Heritage gives identity, teaches history, brings income through tourism and links people across cultures. It is threatened by weathering, pollution, crowds, careless development, neglect and conflict, and is protected by conservation, laws, museums, heritage lists, education and local communities.