In the 17th century, the Spanish monarchy crumbled, there were many factors that went into the collapse. One of the first factors of the collapse was when Spain developed international Absolutism on the basis of silver bullion from Peru. Spanish gold and silver, armies, and glory had dominated the continent for the most part of the 1500’s. In 1950 the decline started to steadily happen. The major part was the lack of a strong middle class. Largely in part of the expulsion of the Jews and Moors, the agricultural crisis, and population decline, also the failure to invest in productive enterprises, the intellectual isolation and psychological malaise all combined to reduce Spain to a second tier power by the year 1715. The extravagant flow of silver from Mexico and Peru, together with the sale of cloth, grain, oil, and wine to the colonies, greatly enriched Spain. In the 1600’s however the Dutch and the English started to exchange with the Spanish colonies, slicing into the revenues that had gone to Spain. Mexico and Peru developed local industries, lessening their need to deal with Spain. That moved crushed Spain. Between 1610 and 1650, Spanish trade with the colonies fell to 60 percent. The native Indians and African slaves worked under the South American silver mines, under conditions that would have put ancient Egyptian pharaohs to shame. The lodes started to run dry. So in contrast to the lodes running dry the quantity of metal produced for Spain steadily spiraled. The remedies applied in the face of a mountainous state debt and declining revenues were devaluation of the coinage and declarations of bankruptcy. In the years 1596, 1607, 1627, 1647, and 1680, Spanish kings found no solution to the problem of an empty treasury. Given the frequency of cancellation, public confidence in the state deteriorated. So the basic analysis of the Spanish downfall can be summarized by Spain developing international Absolutism on the basis of the silver bullion from Peru. The lack of a strong middle class, the Agricultural crisis, and the population decline played a huge role in the Spanish downfall. Also they failed to invest in Productive enterprises, intellectual isolation, and psychological malaise. Spain was one of the top powers of the world, and then all of a sudden they hit a massive downfall. They went from the wealth symbol to the peasant way of life.