Spain has become a third-rate country. Why are there so many colonies?

Spain, located in Iberian Peninsula in southwest Europe, is at the junction of Europe and Africa, bordering Portugal in the west, the Bay of Biscay in the north, France and Andorra in the northeast, and Morocco in Africa across the Strait of Gibraltar in the south. Its territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic and Ceuta and Melilla in Africa. The country is a mountainous country with a total area of 505,925 square kilometers and a coastline of about 7,800 kilometers. The number of countries that use Spanish as the official language is the second in the world, second only to English.

The immigration factor is easy to understand. Why do European countries want to seize colonies? In fact, it was not for territory, because at that time, the territory outside Europe was worthless to European countries, and millions of square kilometers of overseas territory were not as good as hundreds of square kilometers of land in Europe. But for gold and silver, trade and colonization.

Gold and silver are easy to understand. Spain plundered a lot of gold in America. As for trade, the original purpose of British colonies in India and Southeast Asia was to set up trading posts. Not many people know about colonization.

In fact, the so-called colony was originally intended to alleviate the overpopulation at home and export the population abroad. For example, Britain has done this in North America and Australia, and the thirteen states in North America are actually thirteen colonies. Another point is for the balance of European countries. Before World War I, European civilization dominated, and the strength of European countries determined the world pattern. Spain once declined, and a large number of colonies were seized by France. But Napoleon was defeated, countries re-divided their spheres of influence, and these colonies were returned to Spain. This was mainly because Spain was Britain's younger brother with its back at that time. Of course, in fact, Spain's colonies in America were independent at that time, and countries only returned them to Spain in name. In fact, Spain has lost most of its territory, leaving only a few Caribbean islands such as the Philippines and Cuba. By the time the United States launched the Spanish-American War, these colonies were gone.