Final answer:
European powers responded to Spain's New World success with competitive colonization and trade efforts to undermine Spanish hegemony, establish their own colonies, and gain wealth, fueled by mercantilism and military conquest.
Step-by-step explanation:
The response of rival European powers to Spanish successes in the New World was characterized by intense competition, colonization efforts, and trade rivalries. Spain achieved early preeminence in the New World, amassing wealth and establishing a significant empire, which sparked envy and the competitive spirit among other European nations. Nations such as England, France, and the Dutch Republic, driven by mercantilism and religious motives, sought to establish their own colonies and trade networks to challenge Spanish dominance and gain access to the wealth of the Americas.
Spain's hegemony was first officially challenged by the Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided the non-European world between Spain and Portugal, leading to territorial disputes in regions like Brazil. As time progressed, France and the Netherlands focused on trade-based colonial models, with France engaging in the North American fur trade, and the Dutch conducting both trade and smuggling in the Caribbean through the Dutch West Indies Company.
Military conquest and settler colonialization allowed European powers to decimate or displace indigenous populations, ultimately undermining Spain's New World Empire. Spain's strict control over its colonies and the influx of wealth prompted other European nations to enter the fray, leading to an expanded global competition for trade and colonial influence.