Spain: Religion and Economic Development

Religion and economic development have been linked very closely together throughout history. Religion has played a vital role in the birth of countries worldwide, simultaneously affecting the economic development of these countries. The first person to write about religion and economic development was Adam Smith, the father of modern economics. He argued that there should be a separation between a state and religion, which would allow a multitude of different faiths leading to fairness and reason (Smith, 1776). However, historical evidence shows that there has been a strong association between politics and religion. This paper will first focus on this connection; then it will analyze the effects religion had on economic development in Spain and Bangladesh.

In Spain, the Reconquista in the late 15th century united the country under the Catholic monarchs. The Catholic monarchs battled with the Muslims and were finally successful in 1492. Their plan was to unite Spain under one religion: Catholicism. This led to the Inquisition that was authorized by the Catholic Church to force Catholicism on the Spanish people. By 1525, most of the citizens of Spain were Catholics. Although it was a belief at that time that religious unity was required for political harmony, only in Spain was there such great determination to bring everyone under the Church (Congress, 1990). Here, we see the powerful effect that religion had on bringing people together as one country.

Ever since 1492, religion and the state have been closely associated together in Spain. In 1851, the official state religion of Spain was Roman Catholicism (Congress, 1990). Only in 1931, during the Second Republic, was this revoked but only for a short period of time. During Francisco Franco's rule, the relationship between the Church and the state was made even stronger and Catholicism was the official religion of the state. Finally in 1978, the Spanish Constitution separated the Catholic Church from the state and gave religious freedom.

The year 1492 was very important in Spanish history not only because of the success of the unification but also because it marked Christopher Columbus's arrival in America. From then on, it took the Spaniards less than half a century to colonize South and Central America. The Spaniards enforced Catholicism on the natives of America and since then it has become the dominant religion of that region. This led to the creation of the Spanish Empire which stretched across half the known world then. There was great economic success in Spain during the rule of the Spanish Empire from the 16th century till the 18th century. Thus, it can be established that unifying Spain under Catholicism led to prominent economic growth.

The Spanish Empire, however, came to a decline in the late 18th century due to rampant corruption and later due to the French invasion. Spain lost most of its colonies in the 19th century which also led to the empire's decline. Since then Spain has never gone back to the state of its former glory but has nevertheless become a very successful nation in Europe. Although the Spanish economy was ravaged by the civil war from 1936 to 1939, most of the world was also sharing a similar situation due to the Second World War. It has had a steady growth in its economy and has been in decline only in recent years due to the global financial crisis (Economist, 2012).

It will be worthwhile to look at how the former Spanish colonies in the Americas have fared in terms of economic development in comparison to its northern neighbors, the former British colonies. There have been various studies and research conducted on this topic. According to a hypothesis analyzed by Max Weber, the Protestant countries in Americas