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What if in 1492 Castile didn't stop at the Mediterranean Sea. The events that caused Columbus to discover the Americas would already be set in motion as of 1492. However, soon there after Spain launch military invasions of the Barbary Coast. This emphasis on reconquering North Africa for Christiandom may deter Spanish conquistadors from traveling all the way across the Atlantic when they can fight for God & honor much closer to home in North Africa. As a result the Aztec Empire may not fall in the 1520s. Spain would still claim lands in the Americas but have much less of an influence on Latin America culturally & administratively in this timeline. The Aztec & Incan Empires may enter into the Spanish Empire as client states in this timeline. The abundant resources of the Americas would be seen as necessary to further Spain's primary agenda, the Holy War in North Africa. Many of the Spanish settlers who traveled to the New World would rather claim tracts of land in Barbary. The Hafsid dynasty (Tunisia) seeing the writing on the wall would agree to become a client state of the Ottoman Empire rather than fall to the Christians. Roughly the coastal areas of our modern day Morocco & Algeria would be under Castilian Control and Tunisia, Libya & Egypt under that of the Ottoman Empire. This division of North Africa would serve to be a stable power dynamic. This region would be referred to as El Maghreb by the Spanish. The Arabo-Berbers & Berbers would be forcibly converted to Roman Catholicism & gradually assimilated into Spanish culture.

Maghreb.png

[Distribution of Indo-European Languages Today]

The Maghreb would mostly be "Westernized" before the 17th century. This would give Maghrebi Spanish time to diverge from that of the northern Peninsula. Maghrebi Spanish would develop into its own language differentiable from Spanish yet still semi-intelligible especially the more Western region of the Maghreb. It's almost impossible to predict fully how this timeline will impact the New World but I would predict that Spain's colonies remain part of the Empire much later perhaps even until WWII. This being because the Independence movements of Latin America were largely founded & led by Creoles (Europeans born in the New World). Having such a smaller stock of Spanish settlers would probably result in a lack of the institutions necessary for Latin American Colonies to wage a successful war for Independence & sustain those newly founded nations. The Maghreb as well would probably remain a subject of Spain until WWII. In this timeline the Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War flee to Algiers once mainland Spain is lost to Franco. The Republican forces declare the Republic of the Maghreb. One interesting part of this timeline would be how the Maghreb is viewed by us. The Meghreb is seen as a Western Country. The population being a mix of Iberians & Berbers would be viewed as "white" having a similar complexion & appearance to Greeks or Turks.

Maghreb Flag.png

[Flag of the Republic of The Maghreb]
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