[treerex]

From the 20th Century, definitely Adolf Hitler: the fallout from the war he started has shaped modern world. The Cold War was certainly accelerated as a result of the land grab after Germany's surrender and the US development of the atomic bomb. I would argue that Israel gained its independence from Palestine in 1948 because of the Shoah. It may have happened later, but one cannot deny that the Zionists used it to their advantage. Once Israel existed tensions in the middle east increased, forcing us to take sides and make strong enemies in the Muslim world.

[hga]

Our "strong enemies in the Muslim world" are upset at the 1942 Reconquista, which kicked the Moors out of what they still held of Spain. The end of your above history is highly revisionist and completely ignores, say, the Muslim division of the world into two parts (what they are is left as an exercise to the reader).

[hga]

Oops, that would be the 1492, which was the end of 781 years of land war in Western Europe proper.