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Monarchy of Spain
Monarchia Hispanica
Timeline: Ninety-Five Theses (Map Game)
OTL equivalent: Spain
Flag of Cross of Burgundy Greater Coat of Arms of Charles I of Spain, Charles V as Holy Roman Emperor (1530-1556)
Coat of arms
CapitalMadrid
Largest city Barcelona
Government
 -  King Charles I
Establishment1479
Population
 -   estimate 6.8 million 
Currency Spanish Dollar

The nation of Spain is part of the western half of Europe.


History[]

1500[]

The Aztec are defeated in 1520. In 1522 the colony of New Spain is formed in central America. In 1523 Carlos Fernandez first stop on his expedition around the world is a place called Morocco in northern Africa. Trade goes well with the natives. The next stop is to a place called Bissagos a group of island in Africa. We trade with the natives of the land. The stuff we get from the natives are mostly food and raw materials. The next stop on his exploration is called Bioko and Sao Tome. off the coast of west Africa. Most of the trade is done for food supplies and raw materials. After sailing for a little bit we stop in a place called Namibia. Again we trade with the native for African goods. Madagascar is the next place we stop in on the west side. With the natives we trade for African goods. The last top in Africa is Somalia. Trading with the natives goes well for African goods. After sailing for a while we land in a place called Sri Lanka. Since this island is more developed than the tribes of Africa, we explore the island more carefully and become more cautious of the islanders. We trade for Asian goods with them. Right across from Sri Lanka is the nation of Vijayanagara. We trade for Asian goods with the natives. In this nation we stay a little longer to rest for a little bit before setting sail in the vast ocean. After leaving the coast of India and sails for a little while until he hits the island of Nias. On the island trading is done with the natives. After a few days of exploring the island we leave and explore the coast of Indonesia. The exploration of Indonesia takes a few months because they explore all of the islands. Trading is done with most of the natives. After leaving Indonesia we land in Australia. We only explore the coastal line of Australia. After sailing a while we bump into New Zealand. Next we land in New Caledonia and Vanuatu. After leaving those islands we shoot up to the Solomon Islands. The after a very long few months at sea we land in Japan. After leaving the coast of Japan and sails into the the Pacific ocean. After a few months he reaches Alaska and maps out the coast. He keeps sailing down hill he reaches what is now OTL Seattle. Next he maps the coast of western side of north America all the way down to our colony of New Spain. After restocking in our colony we head down what is south America. While exploring the coast of south America we are interrupted by a group of natives called the Inca. With the natives we trade with them. In a few weeks we reach the tip of south America and then make our way to the Atlantic ocean. After a few months we finally make it back to Spain in 1525. Florida becomes a colony in 1526. In 1527 the war against Spain finishes with a loss. Our nation loses all of its vassals.

Military[]

Army[]

The power of aristocracies vis à vis states diminished throughout Western Europe during this period. Aristocrats' 200- to 400-year-old ancestral castles no longer provided useful defences against artillery. The nobility's importance in warfare also eroded as medieval heavy cavalry lost its central role in battle. The heavy cavalry - made up of armored knights - had begun to fade in importance in the Late Middle Ages. The English longbow and the Swiss pike had both proven their ability to devastate larger armed forces of mounted knights. However, the proper use of the longbow required a lifetime of training, making it impossible to amass very large forces of archers.

The proper use of the pike required complex operations in formation and a great deal of fortitude and cohesion by the pikemen, again making amassing large forces difficult. Starting in the early 14th-century, armourers added plate-armour pieces to the traditional protective linked mail armour of knights and men-at-arms to guard against the arrows of the longbow and crossbow. By 1415 some infantrymen began deploying the first "hand cannons", and the earliest small-bore arquebuses, with burning "match locks", appeared on the battlefield in the later 15th century.

While soldiers armed with firearms could inflict great damage on cavalry at a moderate distance, at close quarters the cavalry could slaughter the musket-armed infantry if they could break their formation and close to engage in melee combat. For many years infantry formations included a mix of troops armed with both firearms to provide striking power and pikes to allow for the defence of the arquebusiers or musketeers from a cavalry charge. The invention of the bayonet allowed the combining of these two weapons into one in the 1690s, which transformed the infantry into the most important branch of the early modern military—one that uniformly made use of flintlock muskets tipped with bayonets.

Infantry []

Column - This formation was typically used while marching, although with sufficient will and mass it was effective at breaking through line formations, albeit with heavy casualties.

Line - A simple two- or three-rank deep line formation allowed most muskets to be brought to bear and was the most commonly used battle formation. Often the first rank would kneel after firing to allow the second rank to fire.

Square - This formation was used against cavalry. Bayonets would be fixed, the first line would kneel with their muskets angled upward (much like a pike.) The second and third lines would fire at the cavalry when it came close. This formation was very ineffective when faced with combined cavalry and infantry, or artillery fire in the case of plain squares.

Skirmishers - Light infantry would advance and be the first to fire to draw the enemy to attack. Sharpshooters would not target common soldiers, but the officers so that the men were without leadership.

Cavalry[]

The cavalry, along with the infantry, became more professional in this period but it retained its greater social and military prestige than the infantry. Light cavalry was introduced for skirmishing and scouting because of its advantage in speed and mobility. The new types of cavalry units introduced in this period were the dragoons or mounted infantry.

Dragoons were intended to travel on horseback but fight on foot and were armed with carbines and pistols. Even orthodox cavalry carried firearms, especially the pistol, which they used in a tactic known as the caracole. Cavalry charges using swords on undisciplined infantry could still be quite decisive, but a frontal charge against well-ordered musketeers and pikemen was all but futile. Cavalry units, from the 16th century on, were more likely to charge other cavalry on the flanks of an infantry formation and try to work their way behind the enemy infantry. When they achieved this and pursued a fleeing enemy, heavy cavalry could still destroy an enemy army.

Navy[]

The spread of European power around the world was closely tied to naval developments in this period. The caravel for the first time made unruly seas like the Atlantic Ocean open to exploration, trade, and military conquest. While in all previous eras, European navies had been largely confined to operations in coastal waters, and were generally used only in a support role for land-based forces, this changed with the introduction of the new vessels like the caravel, carack and galleon and the increasing importance of international waterborne trade in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The new caravels were large enough and powerful enough to be armed with cannons with which they could bombard both shoreline defenses and other vessels.

Government[]

The Habsburg family was the head of Spain starting in 1516. 

Relationships[]

Good[]

  • Milan
  • Navarre 
  • Scotland
  • Genoa
  • Florence
  • Savoy
  • Austria

Bad[]

  • Portugal
  • England
  • Venice

Culture[]

Industry[]

Agriculture[]

Grapefruitlemons, and limes were also grown in quantity, Spain's other significant orchard crops were applesbananaspearspeachesapricotsplumscherriesfigs, and nutsThe principal vegetable crops were potatoestomatoesonionscabbagespeppers, and string beansAlso small quantities of tobaccocottonflax, and hemp are cultivated in the nation. Milk production from cowssheep, and goats are popular. Beef, lamb and mutton are the popular meat in the nation to eat. Fish is also popular to eat. 

Colonies And Vassals []

Colonies[]

  • Hispaniola
  • Cuba
  • Jamaica
  • Puerto Rico
  • New Spain
  • Canary Islands
  • Bermuda
  • Florida (Playa de Palmeras)
  • Namibia 
  • Bissagos 
  • Morocco 

Vassals[]

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