Given that they were two of Britain's biggest rivals, are they going to be represented in the game? I could see the Dutch taking on a role of an eccentric merchant race like the Druuge or the Melnorme, and the spanish being a bit like the Ilwrath, worshipping the cog mostly because of its use in torture machines. And absolutely addicted to gold.
erm.... they were powerful in the 17th century, not so much the 18th or 19th. Also, at that point Britain wasn't unified.
Britain pretty much assimilated/destroyed them both but their colonial influence is still very much around. If wiki is to be believed Spain's empire collapsed around the turn of the 20th century (Spamish-American war was around 1898), while the Dutch empire took another fifty years or so (independence of Indonesia). Also, even if they were much weakened at the time, they were not burned out completely. It doesn't have to be 100% historically accurate anyway. Spamish? Spanish
Probably going to be original and funkified factions and nations. I'd be disappointed if CE pulls too much from history.
If Clockwork Empires is really a Pastiche of the 19th century Victorian English, the Russians, French, Germans, and even Americans are your main rivals. The Spanish presence as a world empire was pretty much over by 1700 (see - War of Spanish Succession). If it has some overseas colonies after that, it was only because it was too much bother to take them. The other big nations of the 17th century - the Netherlands, Portugal, even China - by the Victorian era they're all bloated, ineffective, dying empires - they exist, but don't represent a threat to the all important Balance of Power. Just punching bags you can take resources from when you feel like it.
