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So, after the rule of the Catholic Monarchs there are a couple of very likely POD's that see the unification of Iberia (Spain) under a the Portuguese King. This is not a new WI for the site, for example the excellent Prince of Peace, but I have a question.

If we assume this timeline is somewhat fortuitous for the Spanish, and the Castile's wealth from the Americas is ploughed into the Portuguese Eastern Trade routes (enhancing their sustainability and profitability), as well as Aragon's Western Mediterranean "Empire" including significant influence on the Italian Peninsula, we could potentially see a very powerful, highly involved State building itself up from its strong advantages.

Factor in religious war in Spain's biggest competitors, England, France, HRE etc. (maybe even Catholic refugees) and a less than stellar performing Ottoman Empire, let's throw one more thing into the mix:

A determined effort by the Spanish to go into the North African interior far more than in the OTL, capturing not only the coastal cities but important centres like Fez and Marrakesh. Basically, resources that Spain sunk into religious wars in Europe instead get sunk here, but with Portugal and Spain one entity and arguably even more profitable an entity.

What I'm wondering is, considering military technology at the time, logistics, population potential, etc. How likely is such a scenario successful such that come 1700, 1800, etc. Spain still has effective control of much of interior North Africa?
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