So in 1519, which was a heck of a year for Spain, Charles V united the kingdoms of Spain and Austria by being named head of the Holy Roman Empire, so-called because it was not holy, not Roman, and not an empire. Charles had this dream of a unified Central Europe, which was constantly being thwarted by German nobles who had a dream of a non-unified Central Europe, and eventually Charles V's ambitions were shattered and he gave the Austrian half of his kingdom to his son Ferdinand and gave Spain, with the American stuff, to Philip in 1556. Thanks Thought Bubble. So Philip II didn't only inherit all of Spain's holdings in the Americas and in Europe and in the Philip not a coincidence-enes. He also inherited a rebellion in the Netherlands because the Dutch were like, we're gonna be Protestant. Also, you guys know nothing about economics, which incidentally the Dutch are still saying to the Spanish. And then the English sided with the Dutch and there was a war featuring a disastrous invasion of England called the Spanish Armada in 1588.