King Philip II: A Murderous Oppressor

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The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.”- Jim Rhon. A good leader should allow there people to be secure, and allow the people to grow financially, and he/she should be able to represent there peoples values. Philip II didn’t do any of that. Philip was a murderous oppressor, who acquired large debts from his military actions, and imposed high taxes on his citizens which evidently led to his ultimate failure. Philip is called close minded and said to be selfish with his money. The definition of a leader is a person who rules or guides or inspires others. Philip…show more content…
By placing high taxes on imported luxury goods, he inadvertently encouraged smuggling. Philip's monstrous palace and monastery at Escorial had consumed much of Spanish wealth.” (http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/bios/b2philip2-spain.htm). Clearly states that Philip II did not value his money at all. He owed 36 million ducats with an annual deficit of 1 million ducats; this was because of his recklessness with money and because of all the money he wasted on wars. Aside from reducing state revenues for overseas expeditions, the domestic policies of Philip II further burdened Spain and would in the following century, contribute to its decline. This caused inflation and a high tax for all the workers under his rule. The Spending of all this money lead to Spain's first bankruptcy in 1557 due to rising military costs. This eventually led to a failure in leading his people, and it was his debt that truly ended his reign. (http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Philip_II_of_Spain) (Spielvogel,456, The Human…show more content…
Also, his high debts led to taxes which he imposed on the citizens of Spain. Philip II did nothing a leader should do, a leader should be able to allow there people to be secure, allow the people to allow them to grow financially, and allow them to follow their religion of choice. Since Phillip failed at leading his people his whole kingship can be considered a failure. If Phillip II changed his tactics then his kingship may have led to success and prosperity. But in the end Philip II will go down in the Books as a Catholic Zealot who was reckless with money, and the loser of the Spanish armada. “All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.”- John Kenneth

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