'In the years 1529-1556, Charles V's commitments as Holy Roman Emperor badly weakened Spain' Assess the validity of this view. (25 marks)

Introduction:Start off by briefly introducing the topic. Acknowledge the size of Charles' empire by 1529, covering Castile and Aragon, Italy, Mediterranean islands, parts of North Africa and the Americas, Austria, the Netherlands, and influence over Germany as HRE.Then summarise what you will talk about in the essay by mentioning the main point of each of your paragraphs so how you will structure your essay is clear. This also helps you get into your argument before you write it.AGREE - Charles' extensive wars in Italy, the Mediterranean, and Germany, forces Spain to get involved in conflicts that aren't necessarily relevant to her.AGREE - His wars left Spain in a large amount of debt which would impact her beyond his death.AGREE - The councillor system was in place to run Spain, but needed Charles to head it so it could run efficiently.DISAGREE - He may have been unable to head the councillor system but he left regents in charge while he was in Germany (e.g. Philip from 1543).DISAGREE - Expanding into the Americas allowed Spain to become richer, and she overall became a more powerful country under Charles.Make an initial judgement on whether you agree or disagree - make it clear from the start what you're arguing for.
Main Body Paragraphs:In the introduction I laid out what my main points will be. In the main body of the essay I'm going to expand on this with examples to support my points.Make sure every point you make can be linked back to the question - this helps you stay focused on the task in hand rather than getting distracted with writing down everything you know about the topic, as well as helping you be selective with what you include in the essay if you think about how to link it back before you write it.Example Paragraph Plan:Charles' extensive wars in Italy, the Mediterranean, and Germany, forces Spain to get involved in conflicts that aren't necessarily relevant to her.In 1529, Charles has just finished a long war with France over Italy.Conflict with France over Italy was inherited from Ferdinand and Isabella, so it could be argues this didn't weaken Spain as it's a continuation of previous Spanish policy.But after 1529, Charles turns more to conflicts more relevant to the Empire.1532 - Charles has to take Vienna from the Turks, then spends a lot of the 1530s-1550s fighting Protestants in Germany, ending in him being forced to abdicate in 1555 as the position of Emperor is stripped of most of its power.Spain is untouched by the Protestant Reformation, so the conflict in Germany isn't relevant to Spain, but Charles' commitment as Emperor means he has to devote time and money to the conflict, which weakens Spain as it's his main source of income.Struggle with the Turks in the E. Mediterranean and loss of Ferdinand and Isabella's North African conquests.Fighting the Moors in North Africa is a continuation of F+I's policy, but Charles' commitment to fighting the Turks and the Protestants in Germany means he struggles to follow up his few successes, so Spain is arguably weakened by loss of North African possessions.Fighting the Turks fits with Spain's ideal of Holy War, but the E. Med is a long way from Spain, so it takes up Spanish resources in a conflict that's not overly relevant to them.But did it badly weaken Spain?Spain was weakened, but not badly. These conflicts being far away from Spain means she was internally at peace, even if overseas possessions were lost and money taken out of the country.Here, I have taken care to link to the question after every point. The question asks HOW valid the question is, not if it is or isn't, so try to assess how far each points supports the statement, not just if it does or doesn't.It's also a good idea to link paragraphs together where possible - foreign policy could be linked to Spain's debt in the next paragraph.
Conclusion:Summarise the points you have just made, but very briefly.Although it is good to link paragraphs together in the main body, it is more important to do it here. Do two points link together to weaken or strengthen Spain more than they do on their own? Mention it here when you're finishing everything off.Come to an overall judgement. Ideally this will be the same judgement you had in the introduction, but it can be slightly different (just not entirely if the essay is to flow).Assess HOW FAR the statement is supported rather than just it is or isn't as this will allow you to do more analysis in the conclusion.
REMEMBER: Introduce each point as if the person reading it has never studied this before.