Which state in Europe was the most powerful at the turn of the XVI-XVII centuries?

Which state in Europe was the most powerful at the turn of the XVI-XVII centuries? With which countries did he have contradictions? Why?

We are talking about the period around 1600. In Christian Europe, Spain was the most powerful state, although it was from this period that it entered a period of crisis, which was caused both by the failure of the war in the Netherlands and by the personalities of the kings with little initiative (Philip II, Philip III). From 1580 to 1640, the King of Spain controlled Portugal and all its colonies in South America, Africa and Asia, as well as all Spanish colonies, from California to Argentina, the entire Iberian Peninsula, the Spanish Netherlands (now Belgium), Sicily and possessions in the territory Italy. In addition, his allies were the Catholic rulers, the Pope and the Austrian branch of the House of Habsburgs.

They had contradictions for religious reasons with England and the Netherlands (Protestants), as well as because of the influence on the sea and in world trade (competition of fleets).

Another strong partially European state was the Ottoman Empire, which controlled the territory from the Black Sea (actually an inland sea for them) to the Adriatic coast. The Turks fought against the Hungarians, Austrians, Venetians, Rzeczpospolita over spheres of influence.



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