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History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

Portugal and Spain, the pioneers in world exploration, were also first in the race to conquer overseas countries. Comment.

  • UPSC 1999
  • Imperialism and Colonialism

The Iberian powers did not merely lead the age of discovery — they treated exploration and conquest as two stages of a single continuous project, each voyage a scouting mission for the empire that followed.

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What the full answer covers

  • Portugal's Head Start: From Coastal Trade to Maritime Empire
  • Spain's Faster Conquest: From Discovery to Empire in a Generation
  • The Treaty of Tordesillas: Institutionalizing the Race
  • Conquest as the Logical Extension of Discovery

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