Ottoman Malta

[Ricardolindo]

Say the Ottomans succeeded in taking Malta in 1565. How long could they have held onto it? How many Maltese would have converted to Islam? Could they have used it as a base for an invasion of Sicily?

 

[Ricardolindo]

@Abdul Hadi Pasha

 

[Stikfigur]

First and foremost, it would give the Ottomans a base in the mediterranian, to project power to italy or further. It would also allow them to dominate Medditerranian trade even more, I assume.

 

[Gary Oswald]

First and foremost, it would give the Ottomans a base in the mediterranian, to project power to italy or further. It would also allow them to dominate Medditerranian trade even more, I assume.

Which is precisely why it'd be the first and main target of Spain. I did a timeline years ago with this as the POD and my instinct then was that the Ottomans wouldn't hold it for long but it maybe sucks in the Spanish forces who in otl attacked Tunis so the Turks hold on there instead.

But it's been a long time since I read all those dull books comparing Spanish and Ottoman Naval powers.

 

[Ricardolindo]

@Abdul Hadi Pasha

First and foremost, it would give the Ottomans a base in the mediterranian, to project power to italy or further. It would also allow them to dominate Medditerranian trade even more, I assume.

Which is precisely why it'd be the first and main target of Spain. I did a timeline years ago with this as the POD and my instinct then was that the Ottomans wouldn't hold it for long but it maybe sucks in the Spanish forces who in otl attacked Tunis so the Turks hold on there instead.

But it's been a long time since I read all those dull books comparing Spanish and Ottoman Naval powers.

I asked him via Messenger and he said "They could have held if for a very long time - look how long just the Hospitallers did. The Spanish could potentiall take it back, but then after that it could last until the Napoleonic Wars. That's probably too late in time for the Maltese to convert to Islam, although maybe because their language is related to Arabic there might be more progress, plus trade ties to the Ottoman world, but I'd be inclined to say there would only be a minority. It could be used as a base for the invasion of Sicity, but it's somewhat limited, so not against strong resistance. That's a large change to history so it's hard to imagine all the butterfiles."
"It would cement Ottoman control of the central and eastern Med and probably make that last longer."

 

[TheIO]

There'd also be the question of where the Hospitallers go - they'd been kicked out of Rhodes in 1522 and were homeless before being given Malta & Tripoli, and now they've lost those too. If Malta isn't recaptured any time soon - would the Spanish kings have any Mediterranean holdings they'd be willing to hand over a second time (e.g. any of their other North African cities)? Maybe they'd end up in the Caribbean a century ahead of schedule?

 

[Ricardolindo]

There'd also be the question of where the Hospitallers go - they'd been kicked out of Rhodes in 1522 and were homeless before being given Malta & Tripoli, and now they've lost those too. If Malta isn't recaptured any time soon - would the Spanish kings have any Mediterranean holdings they'd be willing to hand over a second time (e.g. any of their other North African cities)? Maybe they'd end up in the Caribbean a century ahead of schedule?

Very few Knights would have lived. Because of their attacks on Hajj pilgrims, the Ottomans regretted having allowed them to leave when they took Rhodes.