What if the Muslims Kept Spain? 

Wanted to remake this for a long time. The Reconquista fundamentally shifted the world, and I wanted to explore in detail a full alternate world where it never happens. Apologies on taking so long, this script took a while. I also have a second channel now. I talk about pointless stuff, like Battle LA, if you remember that. If you just like hearing me talk about stuff then check it out. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-WHkednE7TPk.html

The British: **land in America** The natives: "Salam, habibi" The British: "wtf"

This feels a lot like trying to predict the entire course of the rest of a Crusader Kings game after playing for 50 years, heh heh

This scenario has been recreated in 2022 in the form of Morocco beating Spain and Portugal in the World Cup

I spent several months living in Granada. It's a truly amazing city with rich history and beautiful architecture, yet somehow most people have never even heard of it. It's a must for Spain IMO.

So the thing about Asturias is "go around the mountains" wasn't a thing. The reason Asturias survived is cause there were no roads into it, and there were no roads because it was such a hard to get to back water that even the romans couldn't be bothered to build them. Though in hindsight it was the correct move, were you in the sultan's court and were urging him to cross over, you would have been dismissed from the court for incompetence, and expedition like that would have easily gone badly, and if it did that would have caused the entire kingdom to fall apart.

This would be a tragedy for Spanish Inquisition memes.

"Hey Cody, what if Moors held Spain?" "French Dialects" "Wow, what else?" "The Dutch are deleted" "What about things in Al Andalus, could they get to the new world?" "There can be only one Caliphate... Also yes but I'll discuss that later." "Yes!"

Damn, when you really think about it, this really is one of the most consequential PODs in history, as Cody mentions. So much of the modern world in this timeline would be unrecognizable without the Catholic Iberian monarchies, the protestant reformation, and the European colonization of the Americas. Mind-blowing.

Oh goodness, this would definitely make a different America.

3:13 Hey! I'm on TV!

I think it's awesome you remade this. I hope your other videos get the same treatment. Not saying they are terrible or anything, but there is nothing wrong for with going over something when you're skills improve

Literally I was just looking for a video like this a week ago, I was researching about Reconquista, so good you just uploaded one! Thanks!

“This all just seems like an elaborate way to make sure the Dutch don’t exist.” Lmao

England when they win against France but become french in the process: *I’ve won but at what cost*

I'm hyped for part two! Bgreat video!

18:56 Sailors: Ocean: *You’re going to Brazil*

Cody: "In this alternate timeline, even without the Portuguese, somebody eventually would find the America's, but that is for another time." Me: "Sequel?" Cody: "And yes this is a two part-er." STOP READING MY MIND CODY.

Brave to assume Henry VIII wouldn’t just have a different wife he’d want to divorce

Very excited for part 2 :)

Great video as always. One of my favorites for sure. Would be cool if you could do a video on Africa-India relations ive been researching it recently super interesting

Two empires, both claiming to be the true Empire, positioned on opposite ends of the Mediterranean with growing reasons to dislike each other? It’s Rome all over again, just Islamic this time.

I'm still theorizing on you europe wiped out video, thank you for releasing this. Big help.

Yay! A 2 part series!

"You know now that I think about it, this whole alternate timeline really just seems like an elaborate way to make sure the Dutch never exist" *Nigel Powers has entered the chat*

I miss your old white back ground. Nostalgic for me man. Sorta like my childhood. I remember when you posted videos and you didn’t speak and it was like a slide show. I think it was like what if Germany won WW2 or won the Battle of Britain. A looooong time ago. But you should redo the rome series if you are redoing videos.

You should start remaking more of the older vids you had some amazing concepts that I’d love to see fleshed out more

Awesome video Cody!

Another possible historical tangent: With a strong al-Andalus providing a counterweight to Ottoman Turkish rule of the Islamic world, it might be that the fight over the spice trade becomes more about a fight over Egypt than a search for a route to India around back of the world. al-Andalus tries to secure Egypt as an alternate route for the Silk Road, the Ottomans try to stymie them, and it turns into a political clusterfuck. Moreover, canal projects to connect the Mediterranean and Red Sea were floated a couple times in history, but maybe it's this fight between the Western and Eastern Caliphates that provides the necessary motivation. If the focus stays on the canal and it gets built, suddenly that's the new fulcrum of the world's trade... Which allows me to play my true endgame card, NEVERENDING GOLDEN AGE OF PIRACY BABY. Pirates of the Aegean! Mediterranean island-hopping, hidden ports of call all through Malaysia, Blackbeard with a turban! It's all coming up pirates!

I think Andalusia would heavily antagonize the Ottomans: they would threaten their title of Caliph, and also advance into the Mediterranean Isles for control. Probably the Mamluks would ask for andalusian help to remain independent, or Andalusia would ally with European states to combat the Ottomans, like the Battle of Lepanto.

YESSS I LITERALLY HAD THIS ON MY WISH LIST THANK YOU SO MUCH CODY

I for one am glad he is re visiting his older videos

You should do "What if Bismarck never left power and stayed chancellor?" What would European politics be like if the iron chancellor was in charge of Germany instead of Wilhelm II

"And yes this is a two parter" *Instant smile on my face*

Nice efforts 👍 looking forward to more videos 🤠

Another excellent video!!

I always love when people Talk about the iberian peninsula

"Somebody would eventually find the Americas" - the Polynesians. If Andalus was even a century later than our own timeline in sailing to the New World, chances are the Polynesians may have set up establishments on the west coast of South America.

Video idea: During the movie "The Final Countdown (1980)" an aircraft carrier travels back in time to the day of the attack on pearl harbor. At the end of the movie, the carrier returnes to its own time. What if, instead, the carrier stayed back in 1941? How would this have affected the war?

10:06 I just noticed it was one of ISP’s videos. Absolutely stellar

Here is an interesting idea: What if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had survived long-term?

funny thing mentioning "island French" it actually already exists, its jerriaise a hybrid of the two languages already in use.

Good video, though i have a small bit that I feel should be brought up: Malta. How would Malta be in this alternate timeline? Malta was an important strategic position in the Mediterranian, and it would not be too much of a stretch to say that control of Malta determined who had access to Sicily and, by extension, the Italian Peninsula. So in this alternate timeline we have to ask who would end up controlling Malta? Would a crusader order like the Hospitallers still hold it and use it as a naval base to mount counter-piracy and corsair skirmishes against the Barbary pirates and Ottoman Navy, and potentially the Andalusian Navy as well? Would there still be a Siege of Malta like in our timeline? Or would it fall to Muslim control and be used as a staging ground for constant invasions and skirmishes into Sicily and the Italian Peninsula? I know you said you aren't going to go into the nitty-gritty of each nation, but I think that, in this alternate timeline, there is a very real possibility of Malta, Sicily, and potentially Southern Italy, falling to Islamic control.

I for one fully support the remaking of old videos.

Very interesting video, although as a Portuguese it’s always when someone uses “Spain” when in reference for the whole Peninsula. Iberia, or even Hispania would be better. One interesting aspect is that the Christian “states” that emerge in the Reconquest, are based on the heterogeneous cultural substratum of the Peninsula, meaning that they are political reflections of local identities. It’s well likely that even if Muslim rule was maintained, distinct cultures would emerge in the Northeast and Northwest, analogous to Galicia-Portugal and Aragon-Catalonia. It’s very probable that political autonomies would emerge here as well, even becoming independent like in our timeline, just in a Muslim version like “Ghalisyya” and ‘“Arajun”. About the fact that this timeline denies the existence of the Netherlands as we know it. Well, there is another factor. Muslim Iberia was more tolerant to other religions. In our timeline, the Jews were expelled in the XVI century, many migrating precisely to the Netherlands, were they helped finance the emerging Dutch colonial empire. If Iberia had remained Muslim, the Netherlands would probably never become the financial powerhouse they were in our timeline. Finally I would just despite the claim the 80% of Al-Andalus was Muslim. The elites were, but the population remained largely Christian, although they followed their own rites. They were called the Mozarabs.

About how french would become the 'Upper Class Launguage' - It already was. Monarchs from all Western and central europe spoke French. Just like non English people naturally say "OK", Royals and nobility would speak french has the "fancy launguage". It was only in a post-Congress of Vienna(Or dare I Say late 1800s) that English become more widely spoken, mostly due to the Industrial Revolution. We still use some french, like "Coup d'ètat". Why? Because it's damn fancy and makes us seem smart. And that was exactly why the nobility spoke french: To draw a line, clearly marking themselves as superiors.

I noticed that the chapters have is a little bit wrong, its called al Andalus but overall the video was great!

Real nice Episode bro! Imagine the age of Exploration, kickstarted from the southern hemisphere

Cody actually brought up a pretty important here: dynastic linages. Europe's royal families since the time of Charlemagne are heavily intertwined in that all of the royal families are related through generations of intermarriage. In modern-day Europe, the last common ancestor of all current monarchs is Johan Willem Friso, Prince of Orange, and his wife, Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel, who only lived ~300 years ago. If any of Europe's kingdoms and dynasties were to somehow disappear off the map, then entire successions and lineages would be shifted and changed, and countless marriages and descendants would not exist.

I'm normally not here this fast. But considering the algorithm messed you up last time, you better believe I'm gonna try my best to support you this time!

Wooow good video Cory

I see you're redoing a good few of your vids, some definite improvements! Should do the fallout one next.

"The English would speak French." Me, an Englishman: NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

16:08 I'mma need you to speak up cody

How about an ''What if the Swedish Empire didn't go to Moscow and instead looked south'' video? Would be interesting I think and you could look at the ''Pax Swedeanica'' alternate timeline for some inspiration :)

Cody: "What if the Muslims kept Spain?" Portugal: "Am I a joke to you?"

Granada one of my favorite eu4 playthroughs. I would recommend people to try out ante bellum if you'd like to have this somewhat similar experience of Iberia being Muslim at the start date.

8:21 Cody: The English language as we know it fundamentally changes in such an important period of development. Book in the background animation: Я--русская книга.

Woot, 2 parter!

Regarding that last bit of the video, there is a book about it in the french series of Alt-Hist books called "Jour J". The specific book is called "Colomb Pacha" and assumes a converted Colomb working for a surviving Emirate of Cordoba.

¡Olé! I'm so hyped for part two, so happy you remade this.

"And yes, there's a part 2" - HELL YES!

Without Columbus's deliberate plans to reach across the Atlantic I doubt anyone swept across by accident would be able to make it back. It would take extra supplies, a general idea of how to get there (and thus back) and a direct journey insuring the vessels were in good shape (as opposed to a ship-wreck) upon arrival to have any guarantee of a return voyage and thus being able to inform your countrymen of your discovery.

It annoys the hell out of me that instead of commiting to one or more alternate timelines and exploring their potential, he just defaults to "I can't predict that" as if he's worried about arguments against his unrealistic and hypothetical scenarios. On a channel about "alternate history".

I literally looked this topic up like an hour before you posted this, it’s glorious

Spanish Inquisition: *cries intensely*

haha, I wasn't thinking this would be a 2-parter, but I was already idly wondering how it'd be different. Then you go and say that. If I weren't already subbed, I would be just to get that 2nd part.

"This whole timeline seems like an elaborate way to make sure the Dutch never exist" Well then as a Portuguese I humbly accept our new Muslim overlords with open arms

Imagine what would happend if the Ottomans never conquered the Balkans.

While I'm a big fan of Cody's work, I have to say that I disagree with one of the underlying assumptions of this video. The northern Christian kingdoms of Iberia we're not constantly and consistently pushing Southward throughout the entirety of Andalusian history, in fact throughout most of their history Andalusia had fairly strong Geographic protection from the north in the form of the Central and Iberian Mountain chains of Spain (yes that's what they're called). I bring this up because there was actually a much more natural point of Divergence much later in Andalusian history involving a war over the succession of Muslim Toledo between Leon and Seville. Leon ended up winning this war and it was because of that they were able to unite the rest of the peninsula, so it stands to reason that if Seville had won the war they would at least be able to unite the southern half over the peninsula under new Muslim rulership.

I can imagine a scenario where the new world becomes the center of a new wave of holy wars

I think it is basically impossible to predict anything that would happen on a scale this massive

This is already one of my top favorite videos(two-parter series) from Alt-Hist

I’m really looking forward to Cody redoing his older vids. I wanna see What if the Mongols never existed.

Music would be crazy if Spain was Muslim, dude

Very interesting topic, can you do the enxt time "What if Carthage won the punic wars?". That would change Europe as we know it today forever.

A Good Alternative History Video as Always Keep up the Good Work, Cody 👍

I loved this video! Great job! Can't wait for part 2!

I am Moroccan but I can't imagine life without LaLiga 🤣

I tried searching on what to do with suggestions, but I've been watching a whole lot of total war but I do have two ideas, not sure if one of them has been done before but the first is... "What if England and France never had the bitter animosity towards each other that they did and how may that have changed the present." idea number one doesn't mean they'd have to be staunch allies but they could be like indifferent to each other and the second one is "What would the world look like if the native tribes of america won."

Great video Cody! I've been watching your videos since I was about 15. I'm 21 now. Please don't stop.

Huh, was literally just halfway through a Granada campaign before origins fucked up my save file.

i don't know if this is on purpose but something weird happened to your audio at around 16:07. it just got really quiet then went back to normal

a video abouta cyberpunk lore would be pretty cool bc it's full of interesting stuff, like this little segment from the wiki "The fall of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War leads to a dissemination of nuclear weapons on the black market. Coupled with a US government "deep state" called the Gang of Four, the world soon finds itself in the midst of an economic crisis and the Collapse. Proxy wars, trade wars, and a resurgent Europe butt against the prevailing US world order. Eventually, brief nuclear exchanges and biological warfare around the globe cause the gradual decline of Western civilization. Societies collapse and many governments either dissolve or are reduced to reactionary, petty authoritarian states." again this is all from the wiki but a video about it would be really cool

My favorite way to see how this plays out is in Europa Universalis, playing as the Ottomans and assisting Granada in reclaiming Spain. This prevents any Spanish or Portuguese colonization in the New World.

I'm so glad this will have a second part

@AlternateHistoryHub You probably won't see this but for your part 2 you should try and go in depth of an Iberian Cordoba caliphate in the west vs the Fatimid caliphate of the South (at least until 1517 if not earlier) assuming both Cordoba & Ottomans don't wage war on north Africa to expand their domain much like West & East Rome. As well as the Italian Kingdoms such as Sardinia, Sicily & Venice. Since they would be caught in a 4 way trap. The Cordobans in the west, Ottomans in the east, Fatimids in the south, & the Germanic/Frankish kingdoms in the north. Also with the threat of multiple western powers replaced by just one the Ottomans should hypothetically be able to focus more on advancing themselves while being able to direct more resources against the Iranians. While this is going on the same time the Iranians should be more successful under Nader Shah in plundering the Mughal empire since they would have no competition from Russia from the north or the south from the like of the Spanish, Portuguese, Britain, & even France briefly concerning south & south east Asia. I would assume the Qing would continue to slowly lose power & influence to rising Berber, Turkish, & Iranian powers. Just slower than in our timeline to the Europeans. With Japanese remaining a hermit kingdom much longer like the Goryeans did. Since USA won't exist in this time line, America won't force the Japanese to open their markets to foreigners. Also the Ethiopian empire may or may not fall to the hands of the Ottomans, Iranians, or Cordobans. Perhaps a little bit to all 3 of them; with the deep interior heartland remaining free of occupation. It really depends on how the Ethiopians manage their proto & early industrialization process from 1852 to 1952. Also one other huge major thing we have to remember is since we are talking about the world basically being dominated by theocracies. Not godless secularism/nationalism. Whether monotheistic (Islam & Christianity) or polytheistic like Hinduism. There would be no push for birth control & population control. So contraceptives & infanticide/abortion wouldn't be globally practiced in the modern godless/secular world. Also there wouldn't be a separation of "Church/Masjid/Temple & state" since the 1789 French revolution would have happened nor the USA constitution. Both greatly emphasizing separation of Religion & government. In the late 18th century. Both of which became great powers one colonial the other a superpower hegemon. Spreading their ideas, values, & systems to the rest of the world which was technologically inferior. Going by various estimates from worldometers, UN data, & Wikipedia from 1500 & onwards. Especially from 1950 & forwards the human population in this case would be between 10,412 millions to 10,679 millions . The good news is that we wouldn't have an aging world population. The bad news is that currently we only produce enough food for 10.7 to 10.8 billions people. SO either farming technology would have to advance more quickly than our timeline. Or the vast open spaces not being used right now would be turned into farms. So more unused arable land I would assume lead to more intensive farming practices. With more strain on fresh water (r.i.p. Canada & Russia), fertilizer, mineral soil, & biotic forms of phosphorus. Also in this scenario I imagine the midwest of USA & Canada along with the S.American countries like Argentine, Chile, Uruguay, etc. would see much heavier immigration from Eurabia & Eurasia. Also Australia, Papau new Guinea, & new Zealand would get colonized for their arable land resources for the booming populations of Eurabia & Eurasia with much less regard for managing their own populations, & in general apathy for foreigners in the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, & Oceania. Personally I feel like this should be a 3 part series. if you want to go really in depth with this part 2 can cover 1492 to 1793 (301 years). & Part 3 1793 to 2021 (228 years). I get it this part 1 basically covered the context leading from the black plague up until the Reconquista. Without Cordoba/Andulus/Grenada falling to the Iberians. With Berbers(Morrocans) & Arabs (Algerians) still in charge of south west Europe half of north Africa & half of the Mediterranean Sea up until the Italian kingdoms. While on the opposite side controlled by the Ottomans from the East (Anatolia/Hattistan) up to the Italian kingdoms. With north African states trying not to be assimilated into one of 2 great powers. I hope this helps if you do read it.

"And yes, this is a two parter".. ME: Let's goooo :') This was awesome!

haven't clicked this fast in a while, been waiting for this for a while and its worth it.

Wow Cody this was excellant, i'm really looking forward to part 2

I think it would be vastly more likely for denmark or england to discover north america through deep sea fishing before Al-Andalus discoveres america, than the other way around. Al-Andalus would be mostly focused on coastal sailing along africa and inland sea trading through the mediterrainian. But england and denmark in our time were deep sea fishing so far out, they were quite significantly closer to north america than europe, starting in the 1300s, but would only reach those extremities by 1400s-1500s. If america isn't discovered by 1600 it's almost a guarantee that either of these 2 would. But it's likely to have happened in the 1500s already if columbus wasn't first.

I’m going to Mexico in two weeks and I’m wondering: had this scenario happened, would I be speaking my mother tongue there, Arabic, instead of my current humble level of Spanish?

I learned more on the alternate history hub than I ever did in history class

Looking forward to part 2. Very interesting scenario.

14:04 i been waiting for u talk about the netherlands/dutch xd

this was really interesting

I never thought the day would come but holy unexpected spanish inqusition it's here. It's actually here.

Great video and I can imagine why you have chosen not to elaborate on the Ottoman Empire and their further expansion into Europe after the fall of Constantinople, because it is a complicated calculation. Indeed, the lack of a Spanish armada puts the Ottomans at an advantage on the sea at least on paper, because removing the spaniards from Lepanto is basically giving the turks a free win (provided that Al-Andalus does not participate against them!). However, in land it is VERY difficult to hypothesize an outcome: you could assume Habsburgs would be weaker (no dynastic ties to Spain, reduced impact on the HRE) making things easier for the turks, but you have to consider as well that the lack of Reformation also implies a more stable central Europe and, more importantly, no wars of religion, particularly the desvastating Thirty Years War. In any case it is a fun scenario to hypothesize with and it was a good effort. I hope to see the second part soon!

You confused Ferdinand II of Austria with Ferdinand II of Aragon.

I think you accidentally showed the portrait of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor instead of Ferdinand II of Aragon