The Spanish Empire: A Global History 1478-1975

This book brings together the history of the Spanish Empire and its entire imperial geography across four continents, from its inception at the end of the 15th century to its end in the 20th century.The authors trace the Empire's main characteristics, including the colonial societies shaped under its rule. They focus on the motivations for imperial expansion, the conquered populations and economies, and the transformations that the empire's nature and its governance underwent over time. Central to this transformation were the first colonial centuries, which strongly marked the social relations that would prevail in the history of the various territories. Starting with Castile's European Expansion and Atlantic and Pacific expansion, the book moves through the chronology of the global empire, taking in the wars of Independence, the empire's radical change and African "substitute" imperialism.The Spanish Empire will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students of Global, Imperial, Modern and Latin American History, and will be especially relevant to courses on Spanish imperialism, Global History of Empires, or History of Europe in its global contexts.

About the Author

Sarah Albiez-Wieck is Professor of Latin American History at the University of Münster, Germany, where she also is speaker of the Centre for Empire Studies. She holds a PhD in Anthropology of the Americas from the University of Bonn, Germany, and a Habilitation in Modern History from the University of Cologne, Germany.

Raquel Gil Montero is Senior Full-Time Researcher at the Centre for Research and Studies on Culture and Society - National Council for Scientific and Technical Research of Argentina, Argentina. Former president of the Argentine Association of History Researchers, she specialises in social history of the colonial Andes, labour history and data management.

Xosé M. Núñez Seixas obtained his PhD from the EUI in Florence, Italy, and is a full professor of modern history at the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. His research interests include comparative nationalism, the history of war and violence, and the memory of dictatorships.