WI battle of guadalete(711) in Spain ends in Visigoth victory

Guadalete

It's quite possible that the Muslims may re-invade at a later date. They were not that far away..A second invasion could very well be successful, as the Visigothic kingdom was very weak at the time.
 
It's quite possible that the Muslims may re-invade at a later date. They were not that far away..A second invasion could very well be successful, as the Visigothic kingdom was very weak at the time.

That's true. If not the Muslims, probably the Franks could try to invade it later.
 
It's quite possible that the Muslims may re-invade at a later date. They were not that far away..A second invasion could very well be successful, as the Visigothic kingdom was very weak at the time.

Or instead, Visigoth Spain survived and later invaded Morocco. ;)
 

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Guess it depends how the muslims view the battle..

If they think they got slaughtered them might not want to risk trying again for a while. If they think the battle was close and the Visgoths are greatly weakened then they may launch another attack as soon as they can.

Perception is often key...
 
Guadalete

Guess it depends how the muslims view the battle..

If they think they got slaughtered them might not want to risk trying again for a while. If they think the battle was close and the Visgoths are greatly weakened then they may launch another attack as soon as they can.

Perception is often key...
If I recall, the initial Muslim army that invaded Iberia was not that large. If they were defeated, they could re-invade with a much larger army. The Iberian peninsula was very rich, especially in the south with it's large cities and arable lands.
 
If I recall, the initial Muslim army that invaded Iberia was not that large. If they were defeated, they could re-invade with a much larger army. The Iberian peninsula was very rich, especially in the south with it's large cities and arable lands.

Seconded, especially since the Caliphate is pretty big. The Arabs could simply consolidate on the other side of Gibraltar and try again later.

Even after the Frankish victory at Tours, there was at least one other battle (possibly involving a naval invasion) before the Arabs backed off. Tours was their high-water mark.

However, what if in this hypothetical second war, the Franks get involved? Could they go in as allies of the Visigoths (who are Germanic and Christian like themselves) or cynically divide Spain with the Arabs?
 
Visigoths had problems, they wore in a civil war between Wittiza supporters and Roderic, the Basques wore in rebellion, they wore persecuting the Jews.
Tariq ibn Ziyad itself was following Tarif, he had plunder part of the land in 710 answering a call by the Wittizan side for help made by the Ceuta Visigoth governor.


The army that Tariq led, about 7000 Berbers later reinforced it was about 12000 about the time of the battle of Guadalete, was just the advance units of an army led by Musa ibn Nusair, with that arrived in 712 with 18000 solders.
In the battle itself part of the flank of the Visigoths, the Wittizan units, change sides to be with its allies, the Berbers of Tariq.

As Tariq advance to North the cities allied with Roderic tried to resist and those allied with Wittiza open their doors; in some cities Jews open the doors to be free of the tyranny of the Visigoths.
And a few historians are saying that at that time in some costal cities there wore Muslim merchants that could have helped Tariq.

When the success and money start to arrive to Musa, he send his Arabic army to advance and order Tariq to stop.
As they advance to North they wore falling in a state of bad relations.

And that started the bad relations between the Berbers and the Arabs that crippled the Al-Andalus defenses every time that there was a crisis in Al-Andalus.
 
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