in the 17th century, political and religious wars with britain, france, and the netherlands weakened the iberian peninsula. these three nations emerged as the main winners of the wars and became major powers like spain and portugal. in the next two centuries, the world became a battlefield of the three nations. britain and france held land in north america, in india and other distant places. the dutch colonized smaller parts of the americas, took the former portuguese trading centers around the indian ocean, and conquered indonesia. these three new great powers also had influence all around the world.