<P> Spain's world empire reached its greatest territorial extent in the late 18th century but it was under the Habsburg dynasty in the 16th and 17th centuries it reached the peak of its power and declined . When Spain's first Habsburg ruler Charles I became king of Spain in 1516, Spain became central to the dynastic struggles of Europe . After he became king of Spain, Charles also became Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and because of his widely scattered domains was not often in Spain . As he approached the end of his life he made provision for the division of the Habsburg inheritance into two parts . On the one hand was Spain, its possessions in Europe, North Africa, the Americas and the Netherlands; on the other hand was the Holy Roman Empire . This was to create enormous difficulties for his son Philip II of Spain . </P> <P> Philip II became king on Charles I's abdication in 1556 . Spain largely escaped the religious conflicts that were raging throughout the rest of Europe and remained firmly Roman Catholic . Philip saw himself as a champion of Catholicism, both against the Muslim Ottoman Empire and the Protestant heretics . </P> <P> In the 1560s, plans to consolidate control of the Netherlands led to unrest, which gradually led to the Calvinist leadership of the revolt and the Eighty Years' War . This conflict consumed much Spanish expenditure during the later 16th century . Conflicts included an attempt to conquer England--a cautious supporter of the Dutch--in the unsuccessful Spanish Armada, an early battle in the Anglo - Spanish War (1585--1604), and war with France (1590--98). </P> <P> Despite these problems, the growing inflow of New World silver from mid-16th century, the justified military reputation of the Spanish infantry and even the navy quickly recovering from its Armada disaster, made Spain the leading European power, a novel situation of which its citizens were only just becoming aware . The Iberian Union with Portugal meant that the monarch of Castile was also the monarch of Portugal, but they were ruled as separate entities both on the peninsula and in Spanish America and Brazil . In 1640, the House of Braganza revolted against Spanish rule and reasserted Portugal's independence . </P>

Which events led to the creation of a national identity in spain check all that apply