Modern States of Iberia: Map & History

Before 1095, Andorra had no military protection, and the bishop of Urgell, who knew that the count of Urgell wanted to reclaim the Andorran valleys, asked the Lord of Caboet for help and protection. In 1095, the lord of Caboet and the bishop of Urgell signed under oath a declaration of their co-sovereignty over Andorra. Arnalda de Caboet, daughter of Arnau of Caboet, married the viscount of Castellbò. Their daughter, Ermessenda de Castellbò, married the count of Foix, Roger-Bernard II. Roger-Bernard II and Ermessenda shared rule over Andorra with the bishop of Urgell.

From Wikipedia: Andorra · History: Middle Ages: The Paréages and founding of the co-principality (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Following the adoption of the 1993 constitution, Andorra, France and Spain concluded the Treaty of Good Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation, under which France and Spain each established diplomatic relations with Andorra. Andorra was admitted to the United Nations in 1993, joined the Council of Europe in 1994, and became a participating State of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 1996. Multilateral participation has been a central objective of Andorran foreign policy; the country also joined the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie and the Ibero-American Conference, reflecting its traditional effort to balance relations with France and Spain and their wider cultural communities. It became the 190th member of the International Monetary Fund in 2020 and has observer status at the World Trade Organization.

From Wikipedia: Andorra · Government and politics: Foreign relations (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Tourism, the mainstay of Andorra's economy, accounts for roughly 80% of GDP. An estimated 8 million tourists visit annually, attracted by Andorra's duty-free status and by its summer and winter resorts.

From Wikipedia: Andorra · Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Andorra is home to folk dances like the contrapàs and marratxa, which survive in Sant Julià de Lòria especially. Andorran folk music has similarities to the music of its neighbours, but is especially Catalan in character, especially in the presence of dances such as the sardana. Other Andorran folk dances include contrapàs in Andorra la Vella and Saint Anne's dance in Escaldes-Engordany. Andorra's national holiday is Our Lady of Meritxell Day, 8 September.

From Wikipedia: Andorra · Culture (CC BY-SA 4.0)

For nearly a century after the end of English rule in 1684, Tangier was primarily a military town, the main fortified outpost on the Moroccan Sultanate's side of the Strait of Gibraltar. This role evolved after Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah designated it in 1777 as the main point of contact between the Moroccan monarchy and European commercial interests, leading to the gradual relocation of a number of consulates to the city by the main European nations. Great Britain, an ally of the Sultanate since 1713 as it needed Moroccan help to provision Gibraltar, moved its consul from Tétouan to Tangier in the 1770s, and the consul of France similarly moved in from Rabat in the early 1780s. By 1830, Denmark, France, Portugal, Sardinia, Spain, Sweden, Tuscany, the United Kingdom, and the United States all had consulates in Tangier.

From Wikipedia: Tangier International Zone · Background: early international governance in Tangier (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The initial economic effect of the creation of the International Zone was sharply negative, because the Spanish protectorate authorities discouraged commerce with it and thus Tangier lost most of its traditional hinterland. Tangier had handled nineteen percent of Morocco's imports in 1906, but only four percent in 1929.

From Wikipedia: Tangier International Zone · Economy and culture (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The French and Spanish empires both colonized Morocco, and in 1912 the Treaty Between France and Spain Regarding Morocco established Spanish and French protectorates there.

From Wikipedia: Republic of the Rif · History: Background (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Riffian National Council held several sessions, approving a constitution of 40 articles based on the principle of popular authority. The members of the government were accountable to the National Assembly. Therefore, Abd-el-Krim was appointed President of the Council. According to Achtatou—cited by Salafranca—this constitution, along with numerous other documents, was burned by Spanish troops when they captured Ajdir. The Riffian state was named Dawlat Aljumhuriya Rifiya (Riffian Republican State). The next step was the formation of a modern government to put an end to the old traditional structures and introduce a democratic model based on a highly representative administration.

From Wikipedia: Republic of the Rif · Government and politics (CC BY-SA 4.0)

France and Spain did not recognize the Republic and collaborated to destroy it. They sent in 200,000 soldiers, forcing Abd el-Krim to surrender in 1926. He was exiled in the Pacific until 1947. Morocco became quiet, and in 1936 became the base from which Francisco Franco launched the fascist coup of July 1936.

From Wikipedia: Republic of the Rif · History: Fall (CC BY-SA 4.0)

With the new constitution approved in December 1931, once the constituent assembly had fulfilled its mandate of approving a new constitution, it should have arranged for regular parliamentary elections and adjourned. However, fearing the increasing popular opposition, the Radicals and Socialist majority postponed the regular elections, therefore prolonging their way in power for two more years. This way the republican government of Manuel Azaña initiated numerous reforms to what in their view would "modernize" the country.

From Wikipedia: Second Spanish Republic · History: Azaña government (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Second Spanish Republic's economy was mostly agrarian, and many historians call Spain during this time a "backward nation". Major industries of the Second Spanish Republic were located in the Basque region (due to it having Europe's best high-grade non-phosphoric ore) and Catalonia. This greatly contributed to Spain's economic hardships, as their center of industry was located on the opposite side of the country from their resource reserves, resulting in immense transportation costs due to the mountainous Spanish terrain. Compounding economic woes was Spain's low export rate and heavily domestic manufacturing industry. High levels of poverty left many Spaniards open to extremist political parties in search of a solution.

From Wikipedia: Second Spanish Republic · Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

On 12 July 1936, Lieutenant José Castillo, an important member of the anti-fascist military organisation Unión Militar Republicana Antifascista (UMRA), was shot by Falangist gunmen.

From Wikipedia: Second Spanish Republic · History: Assassinations of political leaders and beginning of the war (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Politically this faction rallied together various parties and organizations, such as the conservative CEDA, Falangists, Catholics and pro-monarchic movements such as the Agraristas and the Carlistas (among whom were the Requetés).

From Wikipedia: Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War) · Belligerents: Political groups (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Army of Africa was a field army garrisoned in Spanish Morocco – a legacy of the Rif War – under the command of General Francisco Franco. It consisted of the Spanish Foreign Legion and the Regulares, infantry and cavalry units recruited from the population of Spanish Morocco and with Spanish officers as commanders.

From Wikipedia: Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War) · Belligerents: Army of Africa (CC BY-SA 4.0)

On 1 October 1936, Franco was formally recognised as Caudillo of Spain—the Spanish equivalent of the Italian Duce and the German Führer—by the Junta de Defensa Nacional (National Defense Junta), which governed the territories occupied by the Nationalists. In April 1937, Franco assumed control of the Falange Española de las JONS, then led by Manuel Hedilla, who had succeeded José Antonio Primo de Rivera, who was executed in November 1936 by the Republican government. He merged it with the Carlist Comunión Tradicionalista to form the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS. The sole legal party of Francoist Spain, it was the main component of the Movimiento Nacional (National Movement).

From Wikipedia: Francoist Spain · Establishment (CC BY-SA 4.0)

After Franco's victory in 1939, the Falange was declared the sole legally sanctioned political party in Spain and it asserted itself as the main component of the National Movement. In a state of emergency-like status, Franco ruled with, on paper, more power than any Spanish leader before or since. He was not even required to consult his cabinet for most legislation. According to historian Stanley G. Payne, Franco had more day-to-day power than Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin possessed at the respective heights of their power. Payne noted that Hitler and Stalin at least maintained rubber-stamp parliaments, while Franco dispensed with even that formality in the early years of his rule. According to Payne, the lack of even a rubber-stamp parliament made Franco's government "the most purely arbitrary in the world."

From Wikipedia: Francoist Spain · Government (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Civil War had ravaged the Spanish economy. Infrastructure had been damaged, workers killed and daily business severely hampered. For more than a decade after Franco's victory, the economy improved little. Franco initially pursued a policy of fascist-style autarky similar to the Italian and German models, resulting in almost all international trade and essential aid being cut off. The policy had devastating effects and was a major contributing factor in the devastation and stagnation of the Spanish economy, alongside a famine that killed over 200,000 people. Only black marketeers could enjoy an evident affluence.

From Wikipedia: Francoist Spain · Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

For nearly twenty years after the war, Francoist Spain presented the conflict as a crusade against Bolshevism in defence of Christian civilization. In Francoist narrative, authoritarianism had defeated anarchy and overseen the elimination of "agitators", those "without God" and the "Judeo-Masonic conspiracy". Since Franco had relied on thousands of North African soldiers, anti-Islamic sentiment "was played down but the centuries-old myth of the Moorish threat lay at the base of the construction of the "communist menace" as a modern-day Eastern plague". The official position was therefore that the wartime Republic was simply a proto-Stalinist monolith, its leaders intent on creating a Spanish Soviet satellite. Many Spanish children grew up believing that the war had been fought against foreign enemies of Spain's historic greatness.

From Wikipedia: Francoist Spain · Narrative of the Civil War (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In Spain and abroad, the legacy of Franco remains controversial. In Germany, a squadron named after Werner Mölders has been renamed because as a pilot he led the escorting units in the bombing of Guernica. As recently as 2006, the BBC reported that Maciej Giertych, an MEP of the right-wing League of Polish Families, had expressed admiration for Franco's stature who he believed had "guaranteed the maintenance of traditional values in Europe".

From Wikipedia: Francoist Spain · Legacy (CC BY-SA 4.0)