"Should Spain apologise for the reconquista?" | Featuring youtube channel History with Hilbert

Within the Moriscos, there was literally a pro-Turkish Islamic fifth column, and there was extensive Islamic aggression, subversion and sabotage following the liberation of Granada in 1492. Spain's Catholic rulers were willing to accommodate the sizable and influential Morisco community, but there was not a cooperative attitude from the other side. The existence of Morisco community, constituted a danger to Catholic Spain, and strong counter-measures were inevitable. Responsibility ultimately lies with the Ottoman Empire and its aggression towards Christian lands.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/i332089

In spring 1570 Ottoman scribes registered in the record book of important affairs two commands that confirmed Ottoman involvement in the second rebellion of the region of Alpujarras (1568-1570).

The second order is an imperial command, addressed to the Andalusians, dealing with the question of Ottoman aid for the embattled Muslim population in Granada. Thesummary of previous events, at the head of the Sultan's orders, described the main elements of Philip II's attack on Morisco customs and outlined the early stages of the Muslim rebellion in which Ottomans had already participated. Writing to the Andalusians, the Sultan said

"You have informed [me] . . . that now 20,000 armed men in number have come into being and an unarmed 100,000 are [also] certain and that, with the arrival of an amount of arms from Algeria, confidence has been produced and many defeats have been given to the evil-acting Unbelievers."

There was the threat that Islamic subjugation would be restored in Spain. The conquest of Toledo in 1085 compelled Muslim rulers to look for support from the powerful Almoravid state in North Africa. The Almoravids and their successors then invaded Spain to rule Islamic-occupied territory and to continue the jihad against Catholics. Thus the Islamic reaction in the period of retreat included the decline of Muslim strength in Spain, the rise of Islamic power, based on religion, in North Africa, and the subsequent invasion of Spain from the south.

Dangerous forces everywhere posed a threat to newly liberated Catholic Spain. In North Africa and Hungary, there was Islamic Turkish aggression. Germany was consumed with rebellion influenced by Protestantism. An always dangerous France, allying itself with the Turks during the reign of Charles V, showed a growth of Protestantism in the second half of the century. In the Netherlands, Calvinism triggered a revolt that led to an exhaustive conflict. Protestant England added further difficulties by entering the conflict on the side of the Dutch. When the Moriscos rebelled in 1568, their revolt formed part of a widespread, political and religious movement against Catholics.

When Germany was defeated, it lost its pre-war territories and millions of Germans were resettled within Germany's new borders. These were consequences of having started a war that killed a lot of people and caused destruction for the world. No different than the Christian liberation of Spain - those that waged war on Spanish Christians inevitably experienced consequences. There were analogous developments when the Balkans were freed from Islamic Turkish slavery, and they were necessary and successful nation-building exercises, and the failure to take such measures would have contributed to continuous instability and strife.

It must be remembered that Muslim-occupied Spain was not at all the paradise of tolerance the revisionists portray it. In those lands, Christians were victims of periodic massacres. There was considerable evidence about a fifth column to the detriment of Christians among people in Spain that weren't Christians. This aroused popular indignation and tension. After the Muslim occupation was put to an end, Islamic forces waged illegal armed struggle against the Christian authorities, as seen with the Rebellion of the Alpujarras. The Ottoman Empire expanded its aggression throughout the Mediterranean Sea, with bases in Oran, Tunisia, Algiers and North African islands. The attacks on the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands were continuous by Turkish and Berber fleets.

It's important to note that Christianity predates the presence of Islam in Spain by about 700 years. Spanish people felt that they were resisting foreign occupation that lacked legitimacy. All of the good things that Spain accomplished such as the discovery of America in 1492, the publishing of Don Quixote, and others were accomplished under Christian leadership, not Islamic. Spain's first university was built not by Islam, but by Christians in the kingdom of Leon.

If you look at the history of the Ottoman Empire, the Persian Empire and the lands occupied by them, Islamic rule contributes to tyranny, backwardness, oppression, and genocide. The Ottoman Empire in the 19th century had a literacy rate of about 5 percent, compared to a literacy rate of about 50% for France on the eve of the Revolution.

/r/badhistory Thread