Spanish Empire: Sword and Cross

"Military campaigns were inseparable from missionary efforts as conversion to Christianity became both a justification for empire and a tool of control. Faith and force advanced together, reshaping societies across the Americas. Through the conquests of the Aztec and Incan empires, the documentary shows how Spanish power was established through violence, alliances and religious authority. The mission system spread across the Americas, reorganising Indigenous life around churches, labour regimes and colonial administration."

"Vast quantities of gold and silver were extracted from the Americas alongside the exploitation of Indigenous and enslaved labour. These resources fuelled European economies, financed global trade and helped integrate the Americas into an emerging world system built on extraction and inequality. By tracing how faith, conquest and wealth operated together, the documentary reveals how Spanish colonialism shaped global capitalism, religious power and imperial governance."

Spanish expansion married military conquest, missionary conversion and imperial extraction to establish global dominance. Crown, church and conquistadors formed an integrated system where conversion to Christianity justified and enforced colonial rule. Conquests of the Aztec and Incan empires relied on violence, alliances and religious authority to impose new political orders. The mission system reorganised Indigenous life around churches, labour regimes and colonial administration, promising salvation while enforcing obedience and cultural destruction. Massive extraction of gold and silver and exploitation of Indigenous and enslaved labour financed European economies and global trade. Those practices shaped emerging world systems, long-term inequalities, cultural erasure and modern power dynamics.

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