<P> The marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile in 1469 created a dynastic union between the Crowns of Aragon and Castile, and both realms kept their own laws, institutions, borders and currency . In 1492 the Spanish colonization of the Americas began, political power began to shift away towards Castile . Tensions between Catalan institutions and the Monarchy, alongside the economic crisis and the peasants' revolts, caused the Reapers' War (1640--1652), being briefly proclaimed a Catalan Republic . The Principality of Catalonia retained its political status, but this came to an end after the War of Spanish Succession (1701--1714), in which the Crown of Aragon supported the claim of the Archduke Charles of Habsburg . Following Catalan surrender on 11 September 1714, the king Philip V of Bourbon, inspired by the model of France imposed a unifying administration across Spain, suppressing the Crown of Aragon and enacted the Nueva Planta decrees, banning the main Catalan political institutions and rights and merged into Castile as a province . These laws led to the eclipse of Catalan as a language of government and literature . Catalonia experienced economic growth, reinforced in the late 18th century when the Castile's trade monopoly with American colonies ended . </P> <P> In the 19th century Catalonia was severely affected by the Napoleonic and Carlist Wars . The Napoleonic occupation and subsequent war in Spain began a period of political and economic turmoil . In the second third of the century, Catalonia became a center of industrialization . As wealth from the industrial expansion grew, Catalonia saw a cultural renaissance coupled with incipient nationalism while several workers movements (particularly anarchism) appeared . </P> <P> In the 20th century, Catalonia enjoyed and lost varying degrees of autonomy . The Second Spanish Republic established Catalan self - governance and the official use of the Catalan language . Like much of Spain, Catalonia fought to defend the Republic in the Civil War of 1936--1939 . The Republican defeat established the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, which unleashed a harsh repression and suppressed the autonomy . With Spain devastated and cut off from international trade and the autarkic politics of the regime, Catalonia, as a commercial and industrial center, suffered severely; the economic recovery was slow . Between 1959 and 1974 Spain experienced the second fastest economic expansion in the world known as the Spanish Miracle, and Catalonia prospered as Spain's most important industrial and tourist destination . In 1975 Franco died, bringing his regime to an end, and the new democratic Spanish constitution of 1978 recognised Catalonia's autonomy and language . It regained considerable self - government in internal affairs and is now one of the most economically dynamic communities of Spain . In the 2010s there have been growing calls for Catalan independence . </P> <P> The first known human settlements in what is now Catalonia were at the beginning of the Middle Palaeolithic . The oldest known trace of human occupation is a mandible found in Banyoles, described by some sources as pre-Neanderthal some 200,000 years old; other sources suggest it to be only about one third that old . Some of the most important prehistoric remains were found in the caves of Mollet (Serinyà, Pla de l'Estany), the Cau del Duc in the Montgrí mountain ("cau" meaning "cave" or "lair"), the remains at Forn d'en Sugranyes (Reus) and the shelters Romaní and Agut (Capellades), while those of the Upper Paleolithic are found at Reclau Viver, the cave of Arbreda and la Bora Gran d'en Carreres, in Serinyà, or the Cau de les Goges, in Sant Julià de Ramis . From the next prehistoric era, the Epipaleolithic or Mesolithic, important remains survive, the greater part dated between 8000 BC and 5000 BC, such as those of Sant Gregori (Falset) and el Filador (Margalef de Montsant). </P>

When was the last time catalonia was independent
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